Red Hat NETWORK BASIC - USER REFERENCE GUIDE 4.2 User Reference Manual

Chapter 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 notfind it?Have you ever tried to find an RPM through an Internet search engine or an RPM Repository and beenlinked to a site that you have never heard of?Have you ever tried to find an RPM but instead found only the source files that you had to compileyourself?Have you ever spent hours or even days visiting different websites to see if you have the latest packagesinstalled 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 systemsoftware management needs.Red Hat Network is an Internet solution for managing a Red Hat Linux system or a network of RedHat Linux systems. All Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts (collectively knownas Errata Alerts) can be downloaded directly from Red Hat. You can even have updates scheduled tobe delivered directly to your system as soon as they are released.The main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:• The Red Hat Update Agent• The Red Hat Network Website• Red Hat Network Daemon• The Red Hat Network Registration Client - for systems running Red Hat Linux 6.2-7.3 and RedHat Enterprise Linux 2.1 only.The Red Hat Update Agent provides your initial connection to the Red Hat Network. Once regis-tered, it enables channel subscription, package installs, and management of System Profiles. Red HatLinux 8.0 systems will even use the Red Hat Update Agent to be registered to RHN. See Chapter 2Red Hat Update Agent for further information.You can use either of the two Red Hat Network user interfaces:• https://rhn.redhat.com• The Red Hat Update AgentBoth the website and the Red Hat Update Agent allow you to view Errata Alerts from in the RedHat Errata list. Only packages relevant to your system are shown. Red Hat Network can also beconfigured to verify packages once downloaded, ignore update notifications for certain packages, andview package details before downloading them.The Red Hat Network Daemon (rhnsd) runs in the background as a service and probes the Red HatNetwork for notifications and updates at set time intervals (see Chapter 5 Red Hat Network Daemonfor further information). This daemon is necessary if you want to schedule updates or other actionsthrough the website.The Red Hat Network Registration Client allows you to register your older Red Hat Linux (prior to8.0) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (2.1) systems with RHN. Registration involves creating a uniqueRHN username and password, probing the hardware on your system to create a Hardware Profile, and