Chapter 8. Changing the insights-client schedule
You can disable, enable, and modify the schedule that controls when the Insights client runs. By default, the Insights client runs every 24 hours. The timers in the default schedules vary so that all systems do not run the client at the same time.
8.1. Disabling the Insights client schedule
You must disable the client schedule before you can change the default Insights client settings and create a new schedule.
The procedure you use to disable the insights-client schedule depends on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux and client versions.
Additional resources
8.1.1. Disabling the client schedule on RHEL 7.4 and earlier with Client 1.x
Client 1.x is no longer supported.
The --no-schedule option is deprecated in Client 3.x and later.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
Procedure
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--versionoption to verify the client version.[root@insights]# insights-client --version Client: 1.0.2-0 Core: 1.0.76-1
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--no-scheduleoption to disable the client schedule. This command removes the symbolic link in/etc/cron.daily.[root@insights]# insights-client --no-schedule
Open the
/etc/insights-client/insights-client.conffile with an editor and add the following line.no_schedule=True
8.1.2. Disabling the client schedule for RHEL 7.5 and later with Insights client 1.x
Insights client 1.x is no longer supported.
The --no-schedule option is deprecated in Insights client 3.x and later.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
Procedure
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--versionoption to verify the client version.[root@insights]# insights-client --version Client: 1.0.2-0 Core: 1.0.76-1
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--no-scheduleoption to disable the client schedule.[root@insights]# insights-client --no-schedule
8.1.3. Disabling the client schedule for RHEL 6, RHEL 7 and later with Client 3.x
Client 1.x is no longer supported.
The --no-schedule option is deprecated in Client 3.x and later.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
Procedure
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--versionoption to verify the client version.[root@insights]# insights-client --version Client: 3.0.6-0 Core: 3.0.121-1
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--disable-scheduleoption to disable the client schedule.[root@insights]# insights-client --disable-schedule
8.2. Enabling the Insights client schedule
When you first enable the client schedule, it runs using its default settings. If you make changes to the schedule, those settings take precedence.
When you run insights-client from the command line, Insights client runs using the settings you specify for only that session. When the next scheduled run takes place, it uses the default settings.
8.2.1. Enabling the Insights client schedule on RHEL 7.4 or earlier and Client 1.x
You can enable the client schedule so that it runs on its default settings. If you change the default schedule settings, the changed settings take precedence.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
- The client schedule is disabled.
- (Optional) You modified the default schedule.
Procedure
To verify the client version, enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--versionoption.[root@insights]# insights-client --version Client: 1.0.2-0 Core: 1.0.76-1
Open the
/etc/insights-client/insights-client.conffile with an editor. Add the following line to the file. If your configuration file already has a value forno_schedule, change it toFalse.no_schedule=False
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--registeroption to enable the client.[root@insights]# insights-client --register
8.2.2. Enabling the Insights client schedule on RHEL 7.5 or later and Client 1.x
You can enable the client schedule so that it runs on its default settings. If you change the default schedule settings, the changed settings take precedence.
Client 1.x is no longer supported.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
- The client schedule is disabled.
- (Optional) You modified the default schedule.
Procedure
To verify the client version, enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--versionoption.[root@insights]# insights-client --version Client: 1.0.2-0 Core: 1.0.76-1
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--registeroption to enable the client schedule.[root@insights]# insights-client --register
8.2.3. Enabling the Insights client schedule on RHEL 7 or later and Client 3.x
You can enable the client schedule so that it runs on its default settings. If you change the default schedule settings, the changed settings take precedence.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
- The client schedule is disabled.
- (Optional) You modified the default schedule.
Procedure
To verify the client version, enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--versionoption.[root@insights]# insights-client --version Client: 3.0.6-0 Core: 3.0.121-1
Enter the
insights-clientcommand with the--enable-scheduleoption to enable the client schedule.[root@insights]# insights-client --enable-schedule
8.3. Modifying the Insights client schedule
To change when the Insights client runs, modify the schedule. The method that you use depends on the RHEL release and client version that your system is running.
Select the procedure that matches your version of RHEL.
-
For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 and earlier, use
cronto modify the system schedule. -
For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 and later, update the
systemdsettings and theinsights-client-timerfile.
8.3.1. Scheduling the Insights client with cron
Use this procedure for systems running RHEL 7.4 releases and earlier with Client version 1.x.
Client 1.x is no longer supported.
To change the default schedule for running insights-client, update a system cron file.
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the /etc/crontab file automatically executes scripts in several subdirectories at regular periods.
/etc/cron.hourly /etc/cron.daily /etc/cron.weekly /etc/cron.monthly
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
- The Insights client schedule is disabled.
Procedure
-
Select a schedule and set up
cronto executeinsights-clienton it. -
Enable the
insights-clientschedule when you finish making changes.
Additional resources
-
Review the man pages for
crontab(1)andcron(8)to understand thecrondependencies. -
What is
cronand how is it used?
8.3.2. Scheduling insights-client using systemd settings
Use this for systems running RHEL 7.5 and later with Client 3.x.
You can change the default schedule for running insights-client by updating the system systemd settings and the insights-client.timer file.
Prerequisites
- Root-level access to your system.
Procedure
To edit the settings in the
insights-client.timerfile, enter thesystemctl editcommand and the file name.[root@insights]# systemctl edit insights-client.timer
This action opens an empty file with the default system editor.
Enter different settings to modify the schedule. The values in this example are the default settings for
systemd.[Timer] OnCalendar=daily RandomizedDelaySec=14400
Enable the
insights-clientschedule.[root@insights]# insights-client --enable-schedule
Additional resources
-
Review the man pages for
systemctl(1),systemd.timer(5), andsystemd.time(7)to understandsystemd -
What is
cronand how is it used?
8.3.3. Refreshing the package cache for systems managed by Red Hat Satellite
Insights now provides the optional --build-packagecache command to provide accurate reporting for applicable updates on Satellite-managed systems. This option rebuilds the yum/dnf package caches for insights-client, and creates a refreshed list of applicable updates for the system.
You can run the command manually to rebuild the package caches immediately, or you can edit the client configuration file (/etc/insights-client/insights-client.conf) to rebuild the package caches automatically each time the system checks in to Insights.
Additional resources
-
For more information about how to run the
--build-packagecachecommand, see System Patching using Remediation Playbooks. -
For more information about the
--build-packagecacheoptions, see the following KCS article: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/7041171 - For more information about managing errata in Red Hat Satellite, see Managing content.
