Appendix B. Host Management Without Goferd
From Satellite 6.2.11 onward, errata and package management via remote execution is available using a yum plugin. This allows the goferd service daemon to be disabled, thereby reducing memory and CPU load on content hosts.
The yum plugin is included with the katello-host-tools. This shipped with the Satellite 6.2.11 client update.
B.1. Prerequisites
The following must be made on all content hosts to allow host management by remote execution.
- Ensure katello-agent is installed on the content host by following Section 3.5.3, “Installing the Katello Agent”.
Stop the goferd service:
# systemctl stop goferd.service
Disable the goferd service:
# systemctl disable goferd.service
- Distribute the SSH keys to the content hosts by following Section 5.1, “Establishing a Secure Connection for Remote Commands”.
B.2. Configuring Host Management Without Goferd as the System Default
These steps configure host management to use remote execution as the system default for future package deployments.
To Configure Host Management Without Goferd as the System Default:
- Log in to the Satellite web UI.
- Navigate to Administer > Settings.
- Select the Content tab.
- Set the Use remote execution by default parameter to Yes.
The Satellite server now uses host management by remote execution instead of goferd.
B.3. Limitations with Hammer
The following applies if you are using the hammer command to push errata. The hammer command is dependent on goferd to manage errata on content hosts. As a workaround, use Satellite’s remote execution feature to apply errata.
To Use Hammer Remote Execution Commands:
For example, perform a yum -y update on host123.example.org:
# hammer job-invocation create \ --job-template "Run Command - SSH Default" \ --inputs command="yum -y update" \ --search-query "name ~ host123" Job invocation 24 created [.........................................] [100%] 1 task(s), 1 success, 0 fail

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