Red Hat Satellite 5 is life cycle management tool that includes the ability to deploy, manage and monitor a large number of systems. Satellite 5 can be set up in a connected or disconnected mode in which Red Hat software is distributed to client systems using the original pooled subscription approach. The pooled subscription concept is similar to the way in which clients consume entitlements from Red Hat Network Classic.

Features and Functionality

The popular functionality of Satellite 5 includes the ability to provision a large number of systems using kickstart files and activation keys to install and configure systems to a predictable state. This provisioning process associates systems to designated organizations, software and configuration channels, as well as placing systems in predefined system groups. The Satellite 5 provisioning functionality enables administrators to provision thousands of systems in a consistent manner.

Another popular feature is the ability to manage software and configuration files across large numbers of systems in local or remote environments after those systems have been provisioned. One of the well understood concepts of managing software and configuration files in Satellite 5 is the concept of channels. All software and configuration is managed and distributed through channels, and any client needing access to software or configuration content needs to be associated with one or more relevant channels. Further, the ability to clone channels enabled administrators to create the much needed development-production environments required by most enterprises.

Red Hat Satellite 5 provides organizations with the benefits of Red Hat Network without the need for public Internet access for servers or client systems. This brings together the tools, services, and information repositories needed to maximize the reliability, security, and performance of your systems.

Red Hat Satellite 6 is the evolution of Red Hat’s life cycle management platform. It provides the capabilities that administrators have come to expect in a tool focused on managing systems and content for a global enterprise. Satellite 6 covers the use cases requested by Satellite 5 customers, but also includes functionality that enables larger scale, federation of content, better control of systems during the provisioning process, and a much more simplified approach to life cycle management. Satellite 6 also further evolves the inherent approach to certificate-based entitlements and integrated subscription management.

The following table outlines some key concepts and their respective implementation in both Satellite 5 and Satellite 6.

Red Hat Satellite 5 is based on an open source project called Spacewalk and is comprised of several key components arranged in the following architecture.

Figure 2.1. Red Hat Satellite 5 System Architecture

Red Hat Satellite 6 is based upon several open source projects arranged in the following architecture.

Figure 2.2. Red Hat Satellite 6 System Architecture

Note that Red Hat Satellite 6 can be installed only on x86_64 architecture systems.

Red Hat Satellite 5 architecture includes Red Hat Satellite Proxy Server, a package-caching mechanism that reduces the bandwidth requirements for Red Hat Satellite and enables custom package deployment. The Satellite Proxy acts as a go-between for client systems and the Satellite Server.

From the client’s perspective, there is no difference between a Satellite Proxy and a Satellite. From the Satellite Server’s perspective, a Satellite Proxy is a special type of Satellite client.

Satellite Proxy servers are exclusive to Satellite 5; you cannot use Satellite Proxy servers with Satellite 6. Instead, Satellite 6 introduces the concept of Capsules, which provide much the same functionality.

Satellite 6 architecture includes Capsule Servers to provide a similar level of functionality for Satellite 6 that Proxy servers provide for Satellite 5.

Figure 2.3. Comparison of Satellite 5 Proxy and Satellite 6 Capsule Servers

The first release of Capsule Servers, delivered with Satellite 6.0, can provide the following functionality:

Red Hat Satellite 5 achieves disconnected content management by using the katello-disconnected utility and a synchronization host. An intermediary system with an Internet connection is needed to act as a synchronization host. This synchronization host is in a separate network from Satellite Server.

The synchronization host imports content from the Red Hat Content Delivery Network (CDN). The content is then exported onto a media, such as DVDs, CDs, or external hard drives and transferred to the disconnected Satellite Server.

Red Hat Satellite 6 achieves disconnected content management by using a second Internet facing Satellite and the Inter-Satellite Synchronization (ISS) feature.

The connected Satellite imports content from the Red Hat Content Delivery Network (CDN). The content is then exported onto a media, such as DVDs, CDs, or external hard drives and transferred to the disconnected Satellite Server. The Inter-Satellite Synchronization feature enables full or incremental updates to be made. See Synchronizing Content Between Satellite Servers in the Content Management Guide for more information.

Red Hat Satellite 5 can group systems, content, and configuration into multiple and distinct organizations. This is useful for companies with multiple divisions, such a Finance, Marketing, Sales, and so forth. Each organization acts as an individually managed Satellite, each with their own configuration and system profiles. However, Satellite can share content (software channels) among multiple organizations.

Red Hat Satellite 5 also has the ability to synchronize content across multiple Satellite Servers. This allows administrators to provide geographically dispersed Satellites that share the same software channels. For example, a company might have offices in three separate locations and each might require a Satellite, but synchronizing content from a chosen parent Satellite Server.

Figure 2.4. Example Topology for Red Hat Satellite 5

All systems management operations occur on the Satellite to which they are registered.

Red Hat Satellite 6 takes a consolidated approach to Organization and Location management. System administrators define multiple Organizations and multiple Locations in a single Satellite Server. For example, a company might have three Organizations (Finance, Marketing, and Sales) across three countries (United States, United Kingdom, and Japan). In this example, the Satellite Server manages all Organizations across all geographical Locations, creating nine distinct contexts for managing systems. In addition, users can define specific locations and nest them to create a hierarchy. For example, Satellite administrators might divide the United States into specific cities, such as Boston, Phoenix, or San Francisco.

Figure 2.5. Example Topology for Red Hat Satellite 6

The main Satellite Server retains the management function, while the content and configuration is synchronized between the main Satellite Server and a Satellite Capsule assigned to certain locations.

The application life cycle in Red Hat Satellite 5 follows stages in a path. For example, applications might move along a path from "Development" to "Testing" to "General Availability". Each stage in Red Hat Satellite 5 uses System Definitions to manage systems at a particular point in the life cycle. A System Definition in Red Hat Satellite 5 is a set of Software Channels and Configuration Channels that are used in Kickstart Profiles.

Figure 2.6. The Application Life Cycle of Red Hat Satellite 5

The Red Hat Satellite 6 application life cycle is broken up into two key components: Life Cycle Environments and Content Views.

The application life cycle is divided into life cycle environments, which mimic each stage of the life cycle. These life cycle environments are linked in an environment path. You can promote content along the environment path to the next life cycle stage when required. For example, if development completes on a particular version of an application, you can promote this version to the testing environment and start development on the next version.

Figure 2.7. An Environment Path Containing Four Environments.

Content views are managed selections of content, which contain one or more yum or Puppet repositories with optional filtering. These filters can be either inclusive or exclusive, and tailor a system view of content for life-cycle management. They are used to customize content to be made available to client systems. Content view versions are promoted along an environment path during the application life cycle. Published content views are used with life cycle environments.

The bootstrap script package, katello-client-bootstrap, is installed by default on the base system of Satellite Server and the script itself is installed in the /var/www/html/pub/ directory to make it available to clients. It can be accessed using a URL in the following form:

satellite.example.com/pub/bootstrap.py

The script includes documentation in a readme file. To view the file on the Satellite CLI:

$ less /usr/share/doc/katello-client-bootstrap-version/README.md

For more information about using the bootstrap script, see Registering Hosts to Red Hat Satellite Using The Bootstrap Script in Managing Hosts.

This section describes how to migrate subscriptions from the old Satellite 5 Server to the new Satellite 6 Server.

The examples in this section describe different ways to list systems and hosts available to the user who logged in.

Using Python to List Available Systems on Satellite 5

This example uses a Python script to connect to Satellite 5, authenticate, and retrieve a list of available systems.

#!/usr/bin/python
import xmlrpclib

# Define Satellite location and login details
SATELLITE_URL = "http://localhost/rpc/api"
SATELLITE_LOGIN = "admin"
SATELLITE_PASSWORD = "password"

client = xmlrpclib.Server(SATELLITE_URL, verbose=0)

# Authenticate and get session key
key = client.auth.login(SATELLITE_LOGIN, SATELLITE_PASSWORD)

# Get list of systems available to user
list = client.system.listSystems(key)
for system in list:
   print system.get('id')
   print system.get('name')

# Logout
client.auth.logout(key)

Using Python to List Available Hosts on Satellite 6

This example uses a Python script to connect to Satellite 6, authenticate, and retrieve a list of available hosts.

#!/usr/bin/python
import json
import requests

# Define Satellite location and login details
SAT_API = "https://localhost/api/v2/"
USERNAME = "admin"
PASSWORD = "changeme"
SSL_VERIFY = False

def get_json(location):
    """
    Performs a GET using the passed URL location
    """

    r = requests.get(location, auth=(USERNAME, PASSWORD), verify=SSL_VERIFY)

    return r.json()

def main():
    # List all hosts available to the user
    hosts = get_json(SAT_API + "hosts/")

    # Pretty Print the returned JSON of Hosts
    print json.dumps(hosts, sort_keys=True, indent=4)

if __name__ == "__main__":

    main()

Using Ruby to List Available Hosts on Satellite 6

This example uses a Ruby script to connect to Satellite 6, authenticate, and retrieve a list of available hosts.

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
require 'json'
require 'rest-client'

url = 'https://localhost/api/v2/'
$username = 'admin'
$password = 'changeme'

def get_json(location)
    response = RestClient::Request.new(
        :method => :get,
        :url => location,
        :user => $username,
        :password => $password,
        :headers => { :accept => :json,
        :content_type => :json }
    ).execute
    results = JSON.parse(response.to_str)
end

hosts = get_json(url+"hosts/")
#puts JSON.pretty_generate(hosts)

puts "Hosts within Satellite are:"
hosts['results'].each do |name|
      puts name['name']
end

exit()

Using the Command Line to List Available Systems on Satellite 5

Use the following command to list available systems on Satellite 5:

# spacecmd -u username -p password system_list

An example session might appear as follows:

# spacecmd -u admin -p password system_list

INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin
test_02.example.com

Using the Command Line to List Available Hosts on Satellite 6

Use the following command to list available hosts on Satellite 6:

# hammer host list

An example session might appear as follows:

# hammer host list

[Foreman] password for admin:
---|-----------------|-------------------|------------|--------------|------------------
ID | NAME            | OPERATING SYSTEM  | HOST GROUP | IP           | MAC
---|-----------------|-------------------|------------|--------------|------------------
1  | test.example.com | RHEL Server 6.5  |            | 10.34.34.235 | e4:1f:13:6b:ed:0c

The examples in this section describe different ways to locate, create, and delete users.

Using Python to Manage Users on Satellite 5

This example uses a Python script to connect to and authenticate against a Satellite 5 Server. It then goes on to search for a specific user (example), to delete that user if it exists, and then recreate it with Administrator privileges.

#!/usr/bin/python
import xmlrpclib

# Define Satellite location and login details
SATELLITE_URL = "http://localhost/rpc/api"
SATELLITE_LOGIN = "admin"
SATELLITE_PASSWORD = "password"

client = xmlrpclib.Server(SATELLITE_URL, verbose=0)

# Authenticate and get session key
key = client.auth.login(SATELLITE_LOGIN, SATELLITE_PASSWORD)

# Get list of users
list = client.user.list_users(key)
print "Existing users in Satellite:"
for user in list:
   print user.get('login')

# Look for user example and if found, delete the user
for user in list:
   if user.get('login') == 'example':
       deleteuser = client.user.delete(key, 'example')
       if deleteuser == 1:
           print "User example deleted"

# Create a user called example
createuser = client.user.create(key, 'example', 'password', 'Example', 'User', "root@localhost")
if createuser == 1:
    print "User example created"
    # Admin Org Admin role to the example user
    adminrole = client.user.addRole(key, 'example', 'org_admin')
    if adminrole == 1:
        print "Made example an Org Admin"

# Logout
client.auth.logout(key)

Using Python to Manage Users on Satellite 6

This example performs the same task as the previous example. That is, it uses a Python script to connect to and authenticate against a Satellite 6 Server, search for a specific user, delete that user if it exists, and then recreate it with Administrator privileges.

#!/usr/bin/python
import json
import requests

# Define Satellite location and login details
SAT_API = "https://localhost/api/v2/"
POST_HEADERS = {'content-type': 'application/json'}
USERNAME = "admin"
PASSWORD = "changeme"
SSL_VERIFY = False

def get_json(location):
    """
    Performs a GET using the passed URL location
    """
    r = requests.get(location, auth=(USERNAME, PASSWORD), verify=SSL_VERIFY)

    return r.json()

def post_json(location, json_data):
    """
    Performs a POST and passes the data to the URL location
    """
    result = requests.post(
        location,
        data=json_data,
        auth=(USERNAME, PASSWORD),
        verify=SSL_VERIFY,
        headers=POST_HEADERS)

    return result.json()

def delete_json(location):
    """
    Performs a DELETE and passes the id to the URL location
    """
    result = requests.delete(
        location,
        auth=(USERNAME, PASSWORD),
        verify=SSL_VERIFY)

    return result.json()

def main():
    # List all users within the Satellite
    users = get_json(SAT_API + "users/")

    #print json.dumps(users, indent=4)
    print "Users known are:"
    for login in users['results']:
        print login['login']

    # Look for user example and if found, delete the user
    for delete in users['results']:
        if delete['login'] == 'example':
            id = delete ['id']
            id = str(id)

            delete = delete_json(SAT_API + "/users/" + id)
            #print json.dumps(delete, indent=4)
            print "User example deleted"

    # Create a user called example as admin role
    createuser = post_json(SAT_API + "/users/", json.dumps({ "mail": "root@localhost", "firstname": "Example", "lastname": "User", "login": "example", "password": "redhat", "admin": 'true', "auth_source_id": 1 }))
    #print json.dumps(createuser, indent=4)
    print "Admin user example created"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Using Ruby to Manage Users on Satellite 6

This example uses Ruby to perform the same task as the previous examples.

#!/usr/bin/env ruby
require 'json'
require 'rest-client'

url = 'https://localhost/api/v2/'
$username = 'admin'
$password = 'changeme'

def get_json(location)
    response = RestClient::Request.new(
        :method => :get,
        :url => location,
        :user => $username,
        :password => $password,
        :headers => { :accept => :json,
        :content_type => :json }
    ).execute
    results = JSON.parse(response.to_str)
end

def post_json(location, json_data)
    response = RestClient::Request.new(
        :method => :post,
        :url => location,
        :user => $username,
        :password => $password,
        :headers => { :accept => :json,
        :content_type => :json},
        :payload => json_data
    ).execute
    results = JSON.parse(response.to_str)
end

def delete_json(location)
    response = RestClient::Request.new(
        :method => :delete,
        :url => location,
        :user => $username,
        :password => $password,
        :headers => { :accept => :json,
        :content_type => :json }
    ).execute
    results = JSON.parse(response.to_str)
end

# List all users within the Satellite
users = get_json(url+"users/")

#puts JSON.pretty_generate(users)
puts "Users known are:"
users['results'].each do |name|
    puts name['login']
end

# Look for user example and if found, delete the user
users['results'].each do |name|
    if name['login'] == 'example'
        id = name['id']
        delete = delete_json(url+"users/"+id.to_s)
        #puts JSON.pretty_generate(delete)
        puts "User example deleted"
    end
end

# Create a user called example as admin role
data = JSON.generate({ :mail => "root@localhost", :firstname => "Example", :lastname => "User", :login => "example", :password => "password", :admin => 'true', :auth_source_id => 1})
createuser = post_json(url+"users/", data)

#puts JSON.pretty_generate(createuser)
puts "Admin user example created"

exit()

Using the Command Line to Manage Users on Satellite 5

This example uses the spacecmd command to perform the same task as the previous examples.

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_list
# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_delete example
# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_create
# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_addrole example org_admin

An example session might appear as follows:

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_list
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin
admin
example

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_delete example
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin

Delete this user [y/N]: y

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_list
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin
admin

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_create
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin
Username: example
First Name: Example
Last Name: User
Email: root@localhost
PAM Authentication [y/N]: n
Password:
Repeat Password:

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_list
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin
admin
example

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_addrole example org_admin
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin

# spacecmd -u admin -p password user_details example
INFO: Spacewalk Username: admin
INFO: Connected to https://localhost/rpc/api as admin
Username:      example
First Name:    Example
Last Name:     User
Email Address: root@localhost
Organization:  MY ORG
Last Login:
Created:       8/19/14 8:42:52 AM EDT
Enabled:       True

Roles
-----
activation_key_admin
channel_admin
config_admin
monitoring_admin
org_admin
system_group_admin

Using the Command Line to Manage Users on Satellite 6

This example uses the hammer command to perform the same task as the previous examples.

# hammer shell
> user list
> user delete --id 4 --login example
> user create --admin true --firstname Example --lastname User --login example --mail root@localhost --password redhat --auth-source-id 1

An example session might appear as follows:

# hammer shell
[Foreman] password for admin:
Welcome to the hammer interactive shell
Type 'help' for usage information

hammer> user list
---|---------|--------------|---------------
ID | LOGIN   | NAME         | EMAIL
---|---------|--------------|---------------
4  | example | Example User | root@localhost
3  | admin   | Admin User   | root@localhost
---|---------|--------------|---------------

hammer> user delete --id 4 --login example
User deleted
hammer> user list
---|-------|------------|---------------
ID | LOGIN | NAME       | EMAIL
---|-------|------------|---------------
3  | admin | Admin User | root@localhost
---|-------|------------|---------------

hammer> user create --admin true --firstname Example --lastname User --login example --mail root@localhost --password redhat --auth-source-id 1
User created
hammer> user list
---|----------|--------------|---------------
ID | LOGIN    | NAME         | EMAIL
---|----------|--------------|---------------
3  | admin    | Admin User   | root@localhost
5  | example  | Example User | root@localhost
---|----------|--------------|---------------
hammer>