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Chapter 1. Upgrade Overview

Warning

If you have Satellite 6 installed in a high availability configuration, contact Red Hat Support before upgrading to Satellite 6.3.

This chapter details the prerequisites and available upgrade paths to Red Hat Satellite 6.3. Review this information before upgrading your current Red Hat Satellite 6 installation.

In this guide, the terms update, upgrade, and migrate have the following meanings:

  • Upgrading — The process of advancing your Satellite Server and Capsule Server installations from a y-stream release to the next, for example Satellite 6.2 to Satellite 6.3.
  • Updating — The process of advancing your Satellite Server and Capsule Server installations from a z-stream release to the next, for example Satellite 6.2.10 to Satellite 6.2.11.
  • Migrating — The process of moving an existing Satellite installation to another Red Hat Enterprise Linux server.

For interactive upgrade instructions, you can also use the Red Hat Satellite Upgrade Helper on the Red Hat Customer Portal. This application provides you with an exact guide to match your current version number. You can find instructions that are specific to your upgrade path, as well as steps to prevent known issues. For more information, see Satellite Upgrade Helper on the customer portal.

Important

The Red Hat Satellite Server and Capsule Server y-stream versions must match. For example, a 6.2 Satellite Server is not compatible with a 6.3 Capsule Server and a 6.3 Satellite Server is not compatible with a 6.2 Capsule Server. Mismatching Satellite Server and Capsule Server versions will result in the Capsule Server failing silently. However, a Capsule Server using one z-stream version older than the Satellite Server is supported. For example, a Satellite 6.2.11 Satellite Server is compatible with a 6.2.10 Capsule Server.

1.1. Prerequisites

Upgrading to Satellite 6.3 affects your entire Satellite infrastructure. Before proceeding, complete the following:

  • Read the Red Hat Satellite 6.3 Release Notes.
  • Review this guide so that you are aware of the upgrade process and its impact.
  • Plan your upgrade path. For more information, see Section 1.2, “Upgrade Paths”.
  • Plan for the required Satellite downtime. The upgrade process requires that Satellite services be shut down for the duration.
  • Plan for the storage requirements. The storage requirements for Red Hat Satellite 6.3 have changed from the previous version. For more information, see Storage Requirements and Recommendations in the Installation Guide.
  • Back up your Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers. For more information, see Backup and Disaster Recovery in the Red Hat Satellite 6.2 Server Administration Guide.
Warning

If you customize configuration files, manually or use a tool such as Hiera, these customizations are overwritten when the installation script runs during upgrading or updating. You can use the --noop option with the satellite-installer script to test for changes. For more information, see the Red Hat Knowledgebase solution How to use the noop option to check for changes in Satellite config files during an upgrade.

1.2. Upgrade Paths

The upgrade path to Red Hat Satellite 6.3 is determined by your environment. Satellite 6.3 is supported only on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Satellite Servers and Capsule Servers on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 must be updated to Satellite 6.2.13 or later, migrated to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, then upgraded to Satellite 6.3. Satellite Servers and Capsule Servers on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 must be updated to Satellite 6.2.11 or later, then upgraded to Satellite 6.3.

Figure 1.1. Overview of Satellite 6.3 Upgrade Paths

Overview of Satellite 6.3 Upgrade Paths

Supported upgrade paths:

  • Satellite 6.2.11 or later → Satellite 6.3
  • Satellite 6.1.9 or later → Satellite 6.2.11 or later → Satellite 6.3
  • Satellite 6.0.x → Satellite 6.1.9 or later → Satellite 6.2.11 or later → Satellite 6.3
Warning

Upgrading from the Beta to GA version is not supported.

The high level steps in upgrading to Satellite 6.3 are as follows. If your installation already meets some of the following requirements, omit that step. For example, if Satellite 6.2.11 is already installed, you can omit the update step.

  1. Upgrade Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers from Satellite 6.0.x to Satellite 6.1.9. For more information, see Upgrading Red Hat Satellite Server and Capsule Server in the Red Hat Satellite 6.1 Installation Guide.
  2. If Satellite 6.1 is installed, upgrade Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers from Satellite 6.1.9 or later to Satellite 6.2.11 or later. For more information, see Upgrading Red Hat Satellite Server and Capsule Server in the Red Hat Satellite 6.2 Installation Guide.
  3. If Satellite 6.2.x is installed, but not Satellite 6.2.11 or later, update Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers to Satellite 6.2.11 release. Satellite Servers and Capsule Servers on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 must be updated to Satellite 6.2.13. For more information, see Updating Satellite Server, Capsule Server, and Content Hosts in the Red Hat Satellite 6.2 Installation Guide.
  4. Migrate Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. For more information, see Section 2.3, “Migrating from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7”.
  5. Upgrade Satellite Server and all Capsule Servers to Satellite 6.3. For more information, see Section 2.4, “Upgrading Satellite Server”.
  6. Upgrade the Satellite tools on all Satellite clients. For more information, see Section 2.7.2, “Upgrading Satellite Clients”.

Self-Registered Satellites

Red Hat Satellite no longer supports self-registered Satellites. You must register self-registered Satellite Servers to the Red Hat Content Delivery Network. For more information about self-registered Satellites, see Section 2.1, “Preparing a Self-Registered Connected Satellite”.

1.3. Following the Progress of the Upgrade

Because of the lengthy upgrade time, use a utility such as screen to suspend and reattach a communication session. You can then check the upgrade progress without staying connected to the command shell continuously. For more information about using the screen command, see How do I use the screen command? article in the Red Hat Knowledge Base. You can also see the screen manual page for more information.

If you lose connection to the command shell where the upgrade command is running you can see the logs in /var/log/foreman-installer/satellite.log to check if the process completed successfully.