Chapter 1. Introducing remote host configuration and management
Remote host configuration is a powerful tool that enables the following capabilities:
- Easy registration. With the rhc client, you can register systems to Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM) and Red Hat Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Configuration management. Using the remote host configuration manager, you can configure the connection with Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux for all of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems in your infrastructure. You can enable or disable the rhc client, direct remediations, and other application settings from Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Remediations from Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. When systems are connected to Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the rhc client, you can manage the end-to-end experience of finding and fixing issues. Registered systems can directly consume remediation playbooks executed from the Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux application.
Supported configurations
- The rhc client is supported on systems registered to Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.5 and later, and RHEL 9.0 and later.
- Single-command registration is supported by RHEL 8.6 and later, and RHEL 9.0 and later.
1.1. Remote host configuration components
The complete remote host configuration solution comes with two main components: a client-side daemon and a server-side service to facilitate system management.
The remote configuration client. The rhc client comes preinstalled with all Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.5 and later installations, with the exception of minimal installation. The rhc client consists of the following utility programs:
-
The
rhcddaemon runs on the system and listens for messages from the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. It also receives and executes remediation playbooks for systems that are properly configured. -
The
rhccommand-line utility for RHEL.
-
The
- The remote host configuration manager. With the remote host configuration manager user interface, you can enable or disable Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux connectivity and features.
To maximize the value of remote host configuration, you must install additional packages. To allow systems to be managed by remote host configuration manager and to support the execution of remediation playbooks, install the following additional packages:
-
ansibleoransible-core -
rhc-worker-playbook
Starting with RHEL 8.6 and RHEL 9.0, the ansible-core and rhc-worker-playbook packages should automatically be installed in the background to make your system fully manageable from the remote host configuration manager user interface. However, a known bug is preventing the process from completing as expected. Thus, the packages must be installed manually after registration.
1.2. User Access considerations
An Organization Administrator on your account configures settings in User Access to control access to Red Hat Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux features. All users on your account have access to most of the data in Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. However, performing some actions requires users to have elevated access.
Access is granted in User Access in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. To grant or change access, an Organization Administrator or User Access administrator must add you to a User Access group with the required roles in Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console > Settings menu (gear icon) > Identity & Access Management > User Access.
In this documentation, prerequisites for procedures declare whether you need elevated access to perform the procedure.
Important predefined groups and roles relevant to understanding User Access are:
- Default access group
- Default admin group
- Organization Administrator role
Brief overview about some predefined groups and roles
The following predefined groups and roles are relevant to access:
- Default access group. All users on the account are members of the Default access group. Members of the Default access group have read-only access, which allows you to view most information in Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Default admin access group. All users on the account who are Organization Administrators are members of this group. Users cannot modify the roles in the Red Hat-managed Default admin access group. Members of the Default admin access group have read-write access, which allows you to view and perform other actions in Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Organization Administrator role. All users on the account who are Organization Administrators can create and modify User Access groups and grant access to other account users. To find out whether you are an Organization Administrator, click your name in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console header, in the upper right of your screen, and see whether the words “Org. Administrator” show under your username.
Requesting elevated access If you do not have access to features that you need, you can:
Contact Customer Service to get Organization Administrator details for your account.
- Provide your account number when you send the request.
Contact the Organization Administrator and ask for access, providing the following information:
- The name of the role you need access to, for example, Remediations administrator
- A link to full User Access documentation, to help inform the Organization Administrator about how to give you access.
1.2.1. User Access roles for remote host configuration and management
There are several User Access roles that are relevant for Red Hat Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux users. These roles determine if an Insights user can simply view settings or change them, and use remediation features:
User Access roles for using the Remote Host Configuration Manager in the Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux web console
- RHC administrator. Members in a group with this role can perform any operations in the rhc manager.
- RHC viewer. This is a default permission for all users on your organization’s Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console account, allowing anyone to see the current status of the configuration.
User Access roles for using remediation features in the Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux web console
- Remediations administrator. Members in a group with this role can perform any available operation against any remediations resource, including direct remediations.
- Remediations user. Members in a group with this role can create, view, update, and delete operations against any remediations resource. This is a default permission given to all Hybrid Cloud Console users on your account.