Red Hat NETWORK 3.7 - CHANNEL MANAGEMENTT GUIDE Manual

Also see for NETWORK 3.7 -: Configuration guide Reference guide

Red Hat NETWORK 3.7 - CHANNEL MANAGEMENTT GUIDE Manual Manual pdf 8 page image

4 Chapter 2. Introduction to RHN Channelscustom channels through the website. For more information on subscribing to channels online, referto the RHN Website chapter of the RHN Reference Guide.2.3. Channel AvailabilityThere are many channels in Red Hat Network. Some are available to all users, some are availableto users in a particular organization, and others are available only to customers who have purchasedaccess to them. Channels fall into three main categories:• Paid Service Channels - These channels are available to customers who have purchased access tothem either directly or in conjunction with a particular Red Hat product. Red Hat Enterprise Linuxis a paid service channel.• Custom Channels - These channels are created by customers to manage custom packages. Thesechannels, also known as private channels, appear only to the organization who creates them; theycan never be accessed by anyone else.For immediate and secure service, a customer may create a custom channel for an organization andhost the channel on the organization’s private RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server. Thisdocument focuses on that process.2.4. Tools, Repositories, and PracticesBefore creating and managing channels, you should note the differences between the various toolsand repositories at your disposal. This is especially important if you will be deploying both a RHNSatellite Server and RHN Proxy Server, as this increases the utilities and storage locations available.Further, a Proxy-Satellite combination offers certain best practices for optimal performance.First, become familiar with these package management tools:• RHN Package Manager - This application is used to push custom packages into custom channelson an RHN Proxy Server.• RHN Push - This application is used to push custom packages into custom channels on an RHNSatellite Server.• RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool - This application is used to import and synchronize standardpackages on an RHN Satellite Server with Red Hat Network. either via the Internet or CD-ROM.Each of these tools has a corresponding package repository. Both the RHN Package Manager andthe RHN Push require the creation of a temporary staging directory for placement of custom pack-ages that will be uploaded to the Proxy or Satellite. The RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool mayalso necessitate a temporary directory to hold channel ISOs, if the Satellite is not synchronized overthe Internet. All three of these repositories should be deleted after use. Red Hat recommends firstarchiving the custom packages used by RHN Package Manager and RHN Push.Customers using both RHN Proxy Server and RHN Satellite Server should be using only the RHNPush (as well as the RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool for importing and syncing) because thiscombination requires custom packages and channels be uploaded to the Satellite only. From there, theProxies will obtain the packages and distribute them to client systems.