RHN Satellite - Client configuration (RHEL 6)

Client side configuration:

The following document has been prepared from the installation guide link from my own RHN satellite server web page GUI -> help -> Installation guide.

Important: Red Hat strongly recommends that clients connected to a RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server be running the latest update of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to ensure proper connectivity. Additionally, if client firewalls are configured, ports 80 and 443 should be open for proper functionality with Red Hat Network.

2.1. Deploying the Latest Red Hat Network Client RPMs:

The Package Updater (pup), yum, and Red Hat Network Registration Client (rhn_register) on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (up2date on earlier versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux) are prerequisites for using much of Red Hat Network's enterprise functionality. It is crucial to install them on client systems before attempting to use RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server in your environment.

The example below demonstrates a simple approach of deploying yum, pup, and rhn_register (or up2date) for the first time by an administrator assuming the machines don't already have a working RHN.

The administrator has populated the /var/www/html/pub/ directory with a copy of the yum, pup, and rhn_register (or up2date) RPMs that the client systems need, and then has simply deployed those RPMs onto the client systems with a simple rpm -Uvh command.

Run from a client, this command installs the RPMs to that client, assuming the domain name, paths, and RPM versions are correct:

# rpm -Uvh

http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/rhn-setup-0.4.17-8.el5.i386.rpm

http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/yum-3.2.8-9.el5.i386.rpm

http://your_proxy_or_sat.your_domain.com/pub/pirut-1.3.28-13.3l5.noarch.rpm

2.2. Configuring the Client Applications:

Every customer who uses RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server must reconfigure the Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) and possibly the Red Hat Network Registration Client (rhn_register) to redirect it from Red Hat Network to their RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server.

To bypass SSL, change the protocol for serverURL from https to http in configuration file: /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date.

By default, the rhn_register and up2date refer to the main Red Hat Network Servers. Users must reconfigure client systems to refer to their RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server.

Deploying the CA SSL Public Certificate to Clients

Both the RHN Proxy Server and RHN Satellite Server installation processes make client deployment relatively easy by generating a CA SSL public certificate and RPM. These installation processes make those publicly available by placing a copy of one or both into the /var/www/html/pub/ directory of the RHN Server.

The CA SSL public certificate in that directory can be downloaded to a client system using wget or curl. For example:

# curl -O http://proxy-or-sat.example.com/pub/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT

# wget http://proxy-or-sat.example.com/pub/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT

Note: If the CA SSL public certificate RPM resides in the /pub directory, it can be installed on a client system directly:

# rpm -Uvh http://proxy-or-sat.example.com/pub/rhn-org-trusted-ssl-cert-VER-REL.noarch.rpm

The generally accepted location for that CA SSL public certificate is in the /usr/share/rhn directory.

Note: The next sections describe three methods of configuring the client systems to access your RHN Satellite Server or RHN Proxy Server:

1. Using an Activation Key,

2. Up2date --configure and

3. Manually updating the configuration files.

2.2.1. Registering with Activation Keys

2.2.2. The up2date --configure Option

2.2.3. Updating the Configuration Files Manually:

As an alternative to the GUI interface described in the previous section, users may also reconfigure the Red Hat Update Agent by editing the application's configuration file.

To configure Red Hat Update Agent on the client systems connecting to the RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server, edit the values of the serverURL and noSSLServerURL settings in the /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date configuration file (as root). Replace the default Red Hat Network URL with the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the RHN Proxy Server or RHN Satellite Server. For example:

serverURL[comment]=Remote server URL (use FQDN)

serverURL=https://192.168.1.4/XMLRPC

noSSLServerURL[comment]=None

noSSLServerURL=http://192.168.1.4/XMLRPC

sslCACert[comment]=The CA cert used to verify the ssl server

sslCACert=/usr/share/rhn/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT <by default>

enableProxy[comment]=Use a HTTP Proxy

enableProxy= <leave blank>

proxyPassword[comment]=The password to use for an authenticated proxy

proxyPassword= <leave blank>

enableProxyAuth[comment]=To use an authenticated proxy or not

enableProxyAuth=0

proxyUser[comment]=The username for an authenticated proxy

proxyUser= <leave blank>

Warning:

The httpProxy setting in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date does not refer to the RHN Proxy Server. It is used to configure an optional HTTP proxy for the client. With an RHN Proxy Server in place, the httpProxy setting must be blank (not set to any value).

After making changes in the up2date file you need to do this too:

# /etc/init.d/rhnsd restart

# rhn_check –v

Note: If the configuration file is not properly configured or edited, you will find the following message:

[root@client1 ~]# rhn_check -v

There was an error parsing the RHN proxy settings.

RHN Satellite or RHN Classic support will be disabled.

You can also run the following command to check the process:

[root@client1 ~]# ps auxw | grep rhn

root      4491  0.0  0.0 100892   380 ?        Ss   11:41   0:00 rhnsd

root      4588  0.0  0.0 103240   812 pts/0    S+   12:20   0:00 grep rhn

To register the client system to the satellite server, follow the process:

# rhn_register

 

Note: Redhat network location automatically generated as the changes have already been made in rhn.conf file.

Note: When I click on “advance network configuration” button, I get the message as in the background.

 

Now in server web page GUI, the client has been shown registered.

Now, if everything goes fine, run the command on client system:

# rhn_check –v

  

# yum update

 It will install the packages on the system.

Checkout the other part of the topic also:
http://rohitchauhanit.blogspot.in/2015/11/rhn-satellite-server-configuration-rhel.html