Red Hat NETWORK 3.2 - MANAGEMENT Reference Manual

Also see for NETWORK 3.2 - PROVISIONING: Reference guide

34 Chapter 2. Red Hat Update AgentNoteSystems running versions of Red Hat Linux older than 8.0 need version 2.7.20 or higher of therhn_register package. It is highly recommended you obtain the latest version before using activa-tion keys.Before using an activation key, you must first generate one through the RHN website. Refer to Section4.4.7 Activation Keys for precise steps.To use an activation key, as root from a shell prompt on the system to be registered, run the rhnreg_kscommand followed by the key. For example:rhnreg_ks --activationkey=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281bSystems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS and older versions of Red Hat Linux will use the--serialnumber instead of --activationkey, like so:rhnreg_ks --serialnumber=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281bThis command performs all the actions of the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the regis-tration function of the Red Hat Update Agent. Do not run either of these applications for registrationafter running rhnreg_ks.A System Profile, including software and hardware information, is created for the system and sentto the RHN Servers along with the unique activation key. The system is registered with RHN underthe account used to generate the key, entitled to an RHN service offering, and subscribed to the RHNchannels and system groups selected during key generation. The system will not be subscribed tochannels that contain packages not suitable for the system. For example, a Red Hat Linux 7.2 systemcannot be subscribed to the Red Hat Linux 7.1 channel.The unique Digital Certificate for the system is generated on the system in/etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid.When using activation keys to assign channels, a couple of rules should be kept in mind:• A key may specify either zero or one base channel. If specified, it must be a custom base channel. Ifnot, the base channel corresponding to the system’s RHL distribution will be chosen. For instance,you may not take a 7.1 system and subscribe it to the 7.2 channel.• A key may specify any number of child channels. For each child channel, subscription is attempted.If the child channel matches the system’s base channel, subscription succeeds. If it does not, thesubscription fails silently. Refer to Section 4.6 Channels for more information.• Keys created by an Organization Administrator are available for modification and use by otherOrganization Administrators within the organization. These permissions are set through the Userstab of the RHN website. Refer to Section 4.8 Users for details.• Systems registered by activation keys are tied to the organization or overall account in which thekey was created, not the key itself. After registration, a key can be safely deleted without any affecton the systems it was used to register.