How to subscribe to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 ELS channel to continue receiving updates

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On October 31, 2010 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 reached its end of life. You can read more about all Red Hat Enterprise Linux product life cycles at http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/errata/. When Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 reached end of life, the product moved to a publicly available location (from "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server" Channel Family to "Red Hat Public Channels" Channel Family) within Red Hat Network (RHN), and all subscribed Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 systems were instantly unsubscribed.

Due to this change, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 installations no longer count as installed systems. You may continue to run them without a subscription and not be in violation of Terms and Conditions. This includes access to legacy Red Hat Enterprise Linux content in tools like the Knowledgebase and RHN with any valid subscription. Note, however, that customers who want to directly subscribe a system to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 channels will continue to consume a subscription entitlement.

Actively maintained machines under Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS), on the other hand, continue to count as installed systems. Customers choosing the ELS option require a valid Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server subscription and a matching ELS subscription for each installed machine. For customers who have purchased the Extended Life Cycle Support (ELS) product, continued updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 will be delivered via a new Base Channel in Red Hat Network (RHN) Classic and Red Hat Network (RHN) Satellite.

How to subscribe to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) channel

For Red Hat Network (RHN) Classic users:

Your systems may be automatically resubscribed. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 systems will be automatically subscribed to available ELS channels, starting with your oldest profile(s).

If you have purchased an ELS subscription, it is suggested that you log into your account to ensure that subscriptions meet your expectations. If you need to make any changes you can either do so manually or using the Red Hat Network (RHN) API.

1. To manually resubscribe, click on the system profile that needs ELS

2. Click on the blue "Alter Channel Subscriptions" link

3. Select the ELS channel from the drop down selection box on the following page

• Either Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS ELS (v. 3 for x86) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES ELS (v. 3 for x86)

4. To unsubscribe any systems, it is recommended that you delete the system profile entirely

You may also chose to use an Red Hat Network (RHN) API call to update your system profile subscriptions.

Troubleshooting note: If you have trouble subscribing to this channel, confirm that the redhat-release file on your system is the correct one by running

rpm -q redhat-release

in a terminal. The package name should be either redhat-release-3AS-13.9.11 or redhat-release-3ES-13.9.11 .

For Red Hat Network (RHN) Satellite users:

After your purchase, you will need to request a new Satellite certificate that contains your ELS products by contacting your regional Global Support Services staff member via telephone or online ticket submission. Following the End of Life date, you will also need to run Satellite Sync to get the ELS content.

ELS customers using cloned RHEL 3 channels on their satellite will need to create new clones of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS ELS (v. 3 for x86) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES ELS (v. 3 for x86) channels and resubscribe their systems to these channels.