Red Hat NETWORK - USER REFERENCE GUIDE 3.1 Product information sheet

Red Hat Network

User Reference Guide 3.1

ISBN: N/A

Red Hat, Inc.

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RHNurg(EN)-3.1-Print-RHI (2001-09-05T14:52-0400)

ditions set forth in the Open Publication License, V1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available

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All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.

Printed in Canada, Ireland, and Japan

Contents

Red Hat Network

Introduction................................................................................... v

Document Conventions.................................................................... v

MoretoCome.............................................................................. viii

Chapter 1 What is Red Hat Network? .................................... 9

1.1 Software Manager................................................................ 10

1.2 Automatic Notifications........................................................... 10

1.3 Security, Quality Assurance, and Red Hat Network .......................... 11

1.4 Before You Begin ................................................................. 11

Chapter 2 Red Hat Network Registration Client................... 13

2.1 Configuring the Red Hat Network Registration Client ........................ 13

2.2 Starting the Red Hat Network Registration Client............................. 14

2.3 Registering a User Account ..................................................... 16

2.4 Registering a System Profile.................................................... 19

2.5 Finishing Registration............................................................ 22

2.6 Entitling Your System............................................................. 24

2.7 Text Mode RHN Registration Client............................................. 25

Chapter 3 Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool ......... 27

3.1 Configuring the Red Hat Update Agent ........................................ 27

3.2 General Settings.................................................................. 27

3.3 Retrieval/Installation Settings ................................................... 28

3.4 Package Exceptions Settings ................................................... 30

3.5 Command Line Version of Red Hat Update Agent Configuration Tool...... 31

Chapter 4 Red Hat Update Agent........................................... 33

4.1 Starting the Red Hat Update Agent ............................................ 33

4.2 Choosing a Channel ............................................................. 35

iii

4.3 Choosing Packages to Update.................................................. 36

4.4 Installing Updated Packages .................................................... 39

4.5 Update Agent Finished........................................................... 40

4.6 Command Line Version of Red Hat Update Agent............................ 41

4.7 Manual Package Installation..................................................... 45

4.8 Synchronizing Your System Profile ............................................. 46

4.9 LogFile............................................................................ 46

Chapter 5 Software Manager .................................................. 47

5.1 Logging into Software Manager................................................. 47

5.2 Introduction to the Web Interface ............................................... 48

5.3 YourRHN.......................................................................... 51

5.4 Systems ........................................................................... 53

5.5 Channels and Packages......................................................... 57

5.6 Errata.............................................................................. 60

5.7 Scheduled Actions................................................................ 62

Chapter 6 Red Hat Network Daemon..................................... 65

Chapter 7 Using Red Hat Network with Red Hat Linux 6.2.67

Chapter 8 Frequently Asked Questions................................ 69

Glossary......................................................................................... 73

Section 0.1:Document Conventions v

Introduction

Welcome to the Red Hat Network User Reference Guide 3.1.

The Red Hat Network User Reference Guide will guide you through registering your system for Red

Hat Network and using its many features. Depending on which version of Red Hat Linux you have

installed, the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the Red Hat Update Agent might be

different than the ones described in this manual as new features are added. All version of this manual

are available in HTML and PDF formats at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/RHNetwork/. Once

you use Red Hat Network to update these applications, you can use the latest version of this manual.

This version of the manual covers version 2.7.0 of the Red Hat Update Agent and version 1.5.0 of the

Red Hat Network Registration Client.

For a more detailed, technical overview of Red Hat Network, please refer to the Red Hat Network

Technical Paper available at http://www.redhat.com/products/network/.

Document Conventions

When you read this manual, you will see that certain words are represented in different fonts, type-

faces, sizes and weights. This highlighting is systematic; different words are represented in the same

style to indicate their inclusion in a specific category. The types of words that are represented this way

include the following:

command

Linux commands (and other operating system commands, when used) are represented this way.

This style should indicate to you that you can type in the word or phrase on the command line

and press [Enter] to invoke a command. Sometimes a command contains words that would be

displayed in a different style on their own (e.g., filenames). In these cases, they are considered

to be part of the command, so the entire phrase will be displayed as a command. For example:

Use the cat testfile command to view the contents of a file, named testfile, in the

current working directory.

filename

Filenames, directory names, paths and RPM package names are represented this way. This style

should indicate that a particular file or directory exists by that name on your Red Hat Linux

system. Examples:

The .bashrc file in your home directory contains bash shell definitions and aliases for your

own use.

The /etc/fstab file contains information about different system devices and filesystems.

vi Introduction

The /usr/share/doc directory contains documentation for various programs.

Install the webalizer RPM if you want to use a Web server log file analysis program.

application

This style should indicate to you that the program named is an end-user application (as opposed

to system software). For example:

Use Netscape Navigator to browse the Web.

[key]

A key on the keyboard is shown in this style. For example:

To use [Tab] completion, type in a character and then press the [Tab] key. Your terminal will

display the list of files in the directory that start with that letter.

[key]-[combination]

A combination of keystrokes is represented in this way. For example:

The [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Backspace] key combination will restart the X Window System.

text found on a GUI interface

A title, word or phrase found on a GUI interface screen or window will be shown in this style.

When you see text shown in this style, it is being used to identify a particular GUI screen or an

element on a GUI screen (e.g., text associated with a checkbox or field). Examples:

On the GNOME Control Center screen, you can customize your GNOME window manager.

Selectthe RequirePasswordcheckbox if you wouldlikeyour screensavertorequire a password

before stopping.

top level of a menu on a GUI screen or window

When you see a word in this style, it indicates that the word is the top level of a pulldown menu.

If you click on the word on the GUI screen, the rest of the menu should appear. For example:

Under Settings on a GNOME terminal, you will see the following menu items: Preferences,

Reset Terminal,Reset and Clear, and Color selector.

If you need to type in a sequence of commands from a GUI menu, they will be shown like the

following example:

Click on Programs=>Applications=>Emacs to start the Emacs text editor.

button on a GUI screen or window

This style indicates that the text will be found on a clickable button on a GUI screen. For ex-

ample:

Section 0.1:Document Conventions vii

Click on the Back button to return to the Web page you last viewed.

computer output

When you see text in this style, it indicates text displayed by the computer on the command line.

You will see responses to commands you typed in, error messages and interactive prompts for

your input during scripts or programs shown this way. For example:

Use the ls to display the contents of a directory:

$ls

Desktop axhome logs paulwesterberg.gif

Mail backupfiles mail reports

The output returned in response to the command (in this case, the contents of the directory) is

shown in this style.

prompt

A prompt, which is a computer’s way of signifying that it is ready for you to input something,

will be shown in this style. Examples:

[stephen@maturin stephen]$

leopard login:

user input

Text that the user has to type, either on the command line, or into a text box on a GUI screen, is

displayed in this style. In the following example, text is displayed in this style:

To boot your system into the text based installation program, you will need to type in the text

command at the boot: prompt.

Another example, with the word root displayed as something the user needs to type in:

If you need to log in as root when you first log into your system, and you are using the graphical

password.

Additionally, we use several differentstrategies to drawyour attention to certain piecesof information.

In order of how critical the information is to your system, these items will be marked as a note, a

caution or a warning. For example:

viii Introduction

Note

Remember that Linux is case sensitive. In other words, a rose is not a ROSE

is not a rOsE.

CAUTION

Do not do routine tasks as root — use a regular user account unless you need

to use the root account to administer your system.

WARNING

If you choose not to partition manually, a server installation will remove

all existing partitions on all installed hard drives. Do not choose this

installation class unless you are sure you have no data you need to save.

More to Come

The Red Hat Network User Reference Guide is constantly expanding as new Red Hat Network features

and service plans are launched.

Send in Your Feedback

If you would like to make suggestions about the Red Hat Network User Reference Guide, please men-

tion this guide’s identifier:

RHNurg(EN)-3.1-Print-RHI (2001-09-05T14:52-0400)

You can send mail to:

[email protected]

What is Red Hat Network? 9

1 What is Red Hat Network?

Have you ever read about a new version of a software package and wanted to install it but could not

find it?

Have you ever tried to find an RPM through an Internet search engine or an RPM Repository and been

linked to a site that you have never heard of?

Have you ever tried to find an RPM but instead you are only able to find the source files that you have

to compile yourself?

Have you ever spenthours or even daysvisiting different websites to see if you have the latest packages

installed on your system, only to have to do it again in a few months?

Those days are over with Red Hat Network (RHN). RHN provides the solution to all your system

software management needs.

Red Hat Network is an Internet solution for managing a Red Hat Linux system or a network of Red

Hat Linux systems. All Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts (collective known

as Errata Alerts) can be downloaded directly from Red Hat. You can even have updates automatically

delivered directly to your system as soon as they are released.

The three main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:

• The Red Hat Network Registration Client

• The Red Hat Network user interface

• Red Hat Network Daemon

The Red Hat Network Registration Client allows you to create a unique RHN user name and pass-

word and probes the hardware and software on your system to create a System Profile. The System

Profile is sent to RHN and RHN returns a unique System ID to your system (see Chapter 2,

Red Hat

Network Registration Client

for further information).

You can use either of the two Red Hat Network user interfaces:

• Software Manager Web interface available at http://rhn.redhat.com

• The Red Hat Update Agent

Both the Web interface and the Red Hat Update Agentallow you to view all Errata Alerts included in

the Red Hat Errata list. Only packages relevant to your system are shown. Red Hat Network can also

be configured to verify packages once downloaded, ignore update notifications for certain packages,

and view package details before downloading them.

10 Chapter 1:What is Red Hat Network?

The Red Hat Network Daemon (rhnsd) runs in the background as a service and probes the Red Hat

Network for notifications and updates at set time intervals (see Chapter 6, Red Hat Network Daemon

for further information).

Many Red Hat Network terms are used throughout this manual. As you read the Red Hat Network

User Reference Guide, refer to the Glossary as necessary for explanation of common terms.

1.1 Software Manager

The first subscription service offered through Red Hat Network is Software Manager. Additional

service offerings will be available in the near future. Registering a system with Red Hat Network is

free as well as one subscription to Software Manager. Additional subscription to Software Manager

can be purchased at http://rhn.redhat.com/purchase_info.pxt.

With each Software Manager subscription, you receive:

• Errata Alerts — learn when Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts are issued

for all the systems in your network through the Software Manager interface

• Automatic email notifications — receive an email notification when an Errata Alert is issued for

your system

• Scheduled Errata Updates — schedule delivery of Errata Updates with optional automatic instal-

lation

• Package installation — Schedule package installation on one or more systems with the click of a

button.

•Red Hat Update Agent — use the Red Hat Update Agent to download the lastest software

packages for your system with optional installation of packages

1.2 Automatic Notifications

During registration, you can configure Red Hat Network to send you email notifications of new and

updated software packages. Automated notifications of the latest updates:

• Reduce the time and effort required by system administrators to stay on top of the Red Hat errata

list

• Minimize security vulnerabilities in your network by providing the patches as soon as Red Hat

releases them

• Filter out package updates not relevant to your network

• Provide a reliable method of managing multiple systems with similar configurations

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