Chapter 12. Migrating from RHN to RHSM


Red Hat Network (RHN) is to be decommissoned, and this has an impact on existing Red Hat Satellite 5 installations. All Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems must have their registration migrated to Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM). For Satellite 5 installations, this requires the registration of the Satellite 5 system be migrated, possibly also the registration of the Managed Database system. This chapter provides the instructions for migrating the registration of an existing Red Hat Satellite 5 installation to RHSM.
Red Hat Satellite 5 currently requires access to RHN for both registration and content hosting. When a system is registered to RHN, a system ID is created. The system authenticates to Red Hat Network with its system ID, entitling it to receive updates, errata, and synchronize content. Without a valid system ID, a system cannot receive updates or synchronize content.
Before RHN is decommissoned, Satellite 5 systems must have their registration migrated to RHSM. When a system is migrated from RHN to RHSM, the system ID is deleted, and replaced with a subscription management UUID. Satellite 5 systems whose registration has been migrated to RHSM continue to synchronize content with RHN.
Red Hat Satellite 5 can be installed in one of several configurations: embedded database, managed database, and external database. All configurations require the Satellite 5 host's registration to be migrated. In the managed database configuration, if the Managed Database host is registered with RHN, its registration must also be migrated. If the Managed Database host is registered to the Satellite server, no subscription migration is required. Hosts managed by Satellite 5 continue to get their subscriptions and content from the Satellite server.

Warning

Registration migration from Red Hat Network to Red Hat Subscription Manager is a one-way process. Red Hat recommends you take a complete backup of the Satellite 5.7 system prior to proceeding.
To migrate the Satellite 5 host's registration, complete the following procedures:
To migrate the Managed Database host's registration, complete the following procedures.

Warning

If the Managed Database host is registered to the Satellite server, its subscription does not need to be migrated to Red Hat Subscription Manager.

Procedure 12.1.  Upgrading the Satellite 5 Database Schema

Before proceeding with the migration, it is important that the Satellite 5 database schema be up to date.

Procedure 12.2.  Removing the Satellite 5 Subscription from Red Hat Network

The Satellite 5 subscription must be removed from Red Hat Network so that the subscription can be applied via Red Hat Subscription Manager.
  1. Open a web browser, log into the Red Hat Customer Portal, click Subscriptions, click Satellite in the list of Subscription Management Applications, then click on the Satellite tab.
  2. Find the desired Satellite instance in the list, and click on the host name.
    Details of the Satellite 5 Subscription

    Figure 12.1. Details of the Satellite 5 Subscription

  3. Click the check box beside the Red Hat Satellite subscription to be migrated, click Remove Selected, then click Remove to confirm.

    Warning

    Remove only the Red Hat Satellite subscription. All other subscriptions must remain.
    The successful removal of the Red Hat Satellite subscription is confirmed by the message: The subscription(s) you selected have been removed.
  4. In the Version drop-down list, select the version of Satellite 5 which you are currently running.
  5. Click Download Satellite Certificate and save the certificate file locally.
    The Satellite 5 entitlement certificate, contained in the file downloaded, is required in Procedure 12.3, “ Migrating the Satellite 5 Registration ”.

Procedure 12.3.  Migrating the Satellite 5 Registration

  1. Record the Red Hat Network username which was used to register the Red Hat Enterprise Linux instance. This username and its password is required by the migration script.
    # grep -A1 name\>username /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
    
    In this example, the username is admin@example.com.
    <name>username</name>
    <value><string>admin@example.com</string></value>
    
  2. On the Satellite 5 server, ensure that all packages are current.
    # yum update
    
  3. Confirm the version of the spacewalk-backend package is at version 2.0.3-42 or higher.

    Note

    If this is the Managed DB host, skip this step.
    # rpm -q spacewalk-backend
    spacewalk-backend-2.0.3-42.el6sat.noarch
    

    Warning

    If version 2.0.3-42 (or higher) of spacewalk-backend package is not available, or cannot be installed, do NOT proceed with the migration. Contact Red Hat Support for assistance.
  4. Install the packages subscription-manager and subscription-manager-migration.
    The subscription-manager-migration package contains the Satellite 5 subscription script.
    # yum install subscription-manager
    # yum install subscription-manager-migration
    
  5. Run the Satellite 5 Red Hat Network to Red Hat Subscription Manager migration script.
    # rhn-migrate-classic-to-rhsm
    Legacy username: Red Hat Network username
    Legacy password:  Red Hat Network password
    The Legacy username and Legacy password are the same credentials which were used to register the server to Red Hat Network. The username was obtained in the prior step.
    Example output from rhn-migrate-classic-to-rhsm.
    Retrieving existing legacy subscription information...
    
    +-----------------------------------------------------+
    System is currently subscribed to these legacy channels:
    +-----------------------------------------------------+
    rhel-x86_64-server-6
    redhat-rhn-satellite-5.7-server-x86_64-6
    
    +-----------------------------------------------------+
    Installing product certificates for these legacy channels:
    +-----------------------------------------------------+
    rhel-x86_64-server-6
    redhat-rhn-satellite-5.7-server-x86_64-6
    
    Product certificates installed successfully to /etc/pki/product.
    
    Preparing to unregister system from legacy server...
    System successfully unregistered from legacy server.
    
    Attempting to register system to destination server...
    Registering to: subscription.rhsm.redhat.com:443/subscription
    The system has been registered with ID: 284e025c-4a60-4084-b49c-4cb26fd7cf93
    
    Installed Product Current Status:
    Product Name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
    Status:       Subscribed
    
    Product Name: Red Hat Satellite
    Status:       Subscribed
    
    System 'satellite.example.com' successfully registered.
    
    The message System 'satellite.example.com' successfully registered. confirms that the Satellite 5 system's migration to Red Hat Subscription Manager has been successful. In this example, the Satellite 5 server has been given a Red Hat Subscription Management UUID of 284e025c-4a60-4084-b49c-4cb26fd7cf93.
  6. Disable all repositories.
    # subscription-manager repos --disable '*'
    
  7. Enable only the following repositories.
    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
    # subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-6-server-rpms
    # subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-6-server-satellite-5.7-rpms
    
    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
    # subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-5-server-rpms
    # subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-5-server-satellite-5.7-rpms
    
  8. Reactivate the Satellite 5 instance.

    Note

    If this is the Managed DB host, skip this step.
    The rhn-satellite-activate command requires the certificate downloaded in Procedure 12.2, “ Removing the Satellite 5 Subscription from Red Hat Network ”. In this example, the certificate was saved in file Satellite-57.cert.
    # rhn-satellite-activate -vvv --rhn-cert=Satellite-57.cert
    RHN_PARENT: satellite.rhn.redhat.com
    
    When the Satellite Server is reactivated, you may see the following error message. This is expected, and can be safely ignored, because the systemid file is the Red Hat Network system ID. The system ID file is deleted when the host's registration is migrated to Red Hat Subscription Manager.
    ERROR: Server not registered? No systemid: /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
    
  9. If Satellite is installed on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, optionally remove the packages which were previously used to communicate with Red Hat Network.

    Warning

    Do not remove the packages if Satellite is installed on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. Removing these packages from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will result in the failure of Satellite.
    # yum remove yum-rhn-plugin rhn-check rhn-setup rhnsd
    
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