Preface

Red Hat Network provides system-level support and management of Red Hat systems and networks. It brings together the tools, services, and information repositories needed to maximize the reliability, security, and performance of Red Hat systems. To use Red Hat Network, system administrators register software and hardware profiles, known as System Profiles, of their client systems with Red Hat Network. When a client system requests package updates, only the applicable packages for the client are returned.

Red Hat Satellite allows organizations to use the benefits of Red Hat Network without having to provide public Internet access to their servers or other client systems. System profiles are stored locally on the Satellite server. The Satellite website is served from a local web server and is only accessible to systems that can reach the Satellite. All package management tasks, including errata updates, are performed through the Satellite server.

Red Hat Satellite provides a solution for organizations that require absolute control over and privacy of the maintenance and package deployment of their servers. It allows Red Hat Network customers the greatest flexibility and power in keeping systems secure and updated. Modules can be added to the Satellite server to provide extra functionality.

This document provides guidance on essential operations for running Red Hat Satellite.