Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 Deployment Manual

Also see for NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 - CHANNEL MANAGEMENT: Installation guide Management guide Configuration guide Installation guide Release note

Contents

Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.3.0 Deployment Manual Manual pdf 15 page image

Chapter 2.7Satellite Operation GuidanceRed Hat Network (RHN) is the environment for system-level support and management of RedHat systems and networks of systems. Red Hat Network brings together the tools, services, andinformation repositories needed to maximize the reliability, security, and performance of their systems.To use RHN, system administrators register software and hardware profiles, known as SystemProfiles, of their client systems with Red Hat Network. When a client system requests packageupdates, only the applicable packages for the client are returned.RHN Satellite Server allows organizations to utilize the benefits of Red Hat Network without havingto provide public Internet access to their servers or other client systems. System Profiles are storedlocally on the customer's RHN Satellite Server. The Red Hat Network website is served from a localweb server and is only accessible to systems that can reach the Satellite. All package managementtasks, including Errata Updates, are performed through your network.RHN Satellite Server provides a solution to organizations requiring absolute control over and privacyof the maintenance and package deployment of their servers. It allows Red Hat Network customersthe greatest flexibility and power in keeping systems secure and updated. Modules can be added tothe Satellite Server to allow extra functionality. This document provides guidance on several commonsupporting operations which are essential when running RHN Satellite Server.2.1. Automating SynchronizationManually synchronizing the RHN Satellite Server repository with Red Hat Network can be an arduoustask. In addition, staff levels tend to be highest at peak usage times. For this reason, you shouldautomate synchronization in late evening or early morning to better balance load and ensure quicksynchronization. Synchronization should occur randomly for best performance.This automation can be set easily by the addition of a simple cron job. To do this, edit the crontab asroot:crontab -eThis opens the crontab in a text editor, by default vi. Another editor can be used by first changing theEDITOR variable, e.g., export EDITOR=gedit. Once opened, use the first five fields (minute, hour, day,month, and weekday) to schedule the synchronization.Remember, hours use the 24-hour clock. Edit the crontab to include random synchronization:0 1 * * * perl -le 'sleep rand 9000' && satellite-sync --email >/dev/null 2>1This particular job will run randomly between 1:00 AM and 3:30 AM system time each night anddiscards stdout and stderr from cron to prevent duplicating the more easily read message fromsatellite-sync. Options other than --email can also be included. Once you exit from the editor, themodified crontab is installed immediately.2.2. Backup and Restore RoutinesTo backup, verify, and restore a Satellite system, perform the tasks in this chapter.