Chapter 6. Red Hat Network Website 1216.6.1. Software ChannelsThe Software Channels page is the first to appear in the Channels category. A softwarechannel is a list of Red Hat Enterprise Linux packages grouped by use. Channels are usedto choose packages to be installed on a system.There are two types of software channels: base channels and child channels. A base chan-nel consists of a list of packages based on a specific architecture and Red Hat EnterpriseLinux release. For example, all of the packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for the x86architecture make up a base channel. The list of packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1for the Itanium architecture make up a different base channel. A child channel is a channelassociated with a base channel that contains extra packages. For instance, an organizationcan create a child channel associated with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for the x86 ar-chitecture that contains extra packages needed only for the organization, such as a customengineering application.A system must be subscribed to one base channel only. This base channel is assignedautomatically during registration based upon the Red Hat Enterprise Linux release andsystem architecture selected. In the case of public free channels, the action will succeed.In the case of paid base channels, this action will fail if an associated entitlement doesn’texist.A system can be subscribed to multiple child channels of its base channel. Only packagesincluded in a system’s subscribed channels can be installed or updated on that system.Further, RHN Satellite Server and RHN Proxy Server customers have channel managementauthority. This authority gives them the ability to create and manage their own customchannels. Refer to the RHN Channel Management Guide for details.Channels can be further broken down by their relevance to your systems. Two such listsemerge: Relevant and All.6.6.1.1. Relevant ChannelsAs shown in Figure 6-10, the Relevant Channels page is shown by default when youclick Software Channels in the left navigation bar. It displays a list of channelsnow associated with your systems. Links within this list go to different tabs of theSoftware Channel Details page. Clicking on a channel name takes you to the Detailstab. Clicking on the number of packages takes you to the Packages tab. Clicking onthe number of systems number takes you to the Subscribed Systems tab. Refer toSection 6.6.1.4 Software Channel Details for details.
