Chapter 2. Understanding your workflow for subscribing with Red Hat products
Before you can register your system to Red Hat, you need an active subscription. Subscriptions can be purchased through the Red Hat Store or by contacting Sales directly. With a registered system and an active subscription, you can do the following tasks:
- View or manage any systems for your account in the Systems inventory on the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console
- View or manage any subscriptions for your account in the Subscription Inventory on the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console
- Download software packages and updates from the content delivery network for as long as the subscription is active
Each element in the subscription service must be uniquely identified. This allows true relationships to be established between the system, the products, and the subscriptions. The subscription service generates and installs these certificates on the local system:
- An identity certificate for the system. This certificate is created when the system is registered. The system uses it to authenticate to the subscription service and periodically check for updates.
- A product certificate for each Red Hat product installed on the system. This certificate is installed on the system along with the product. It identifies the product, but it is not unique to the system.
- A subscription certificate for each subscription associated with the system. This certificate includes information about the subscription from the inventory.
Subscription management delivers better information and offers administrators better control over their infrastructures.