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Chapter 4. Preparation for a RHEL conversion using Insights

Before running the pre-conversion analysis by using Red Hat Insights and performing the conversion, you must first complete all necessary preparation steps.

4.1. Prerequisites

  • You have a RHEL subscription. You can obtain a subscription using one of the following methods:

4.2. Preparing for a RHEL conversion using Insights

Prepare your system for the pre-conversion analysis by using Red Hat Insights and then performing the conversion to RHEL with the steps below.

Prerequisites

  • You are planning to convert CentOS Linux 7 systems to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7. Conversions from CentOS Linux 8 and other Linux distributions must be performed in the command-line or Satellite.
  • You have an account and activation key at Red Hat Customer Portal. For more information, see Getting started with activation keys on the Hybrid Cloud Console.
  • You have stopped important applications, database services, and any other services that store data to reduce the risk of data integrity issues.
  • You have temporarily disabled antivirus software to prevent the conversion from failing.
  • You have disabled or adequately reconfigured any configuration management system, such as Salt, Chef, Puppet, Ansible, to not attempt to restore the original system.
  • The sos package is installed. You must use this package to generate an sosreport that is required when opening a support case for the Red Hat Support team.
  • You have enabled Simple Content Access (SCA). Red Hat accounts created after July 15, 2022 have SCA enabled by default.

Procedure

  1. Back up your systems and verify that they can be restored if needed.
  2. Check Known issues and limitations and verify that your system is supported for conversion. Apply workarounds where applicable.
  3. Ensure that the standard CentOS Linux kernel is the booted kernel. If the kernel your system is booted into is not the standard kernel, change the default kernel to the standard kernel and reboot your system to apply the changes. For more information, see Making Persistent Changes to a GRUB Menu Using the grubby Tool.

  4. If you are converting with a firewall or through a proxy server, ensure that you have access to the following connections:

  5. Install the Red Hat client tools:

    1. Download the Red Hat GPG key: 

      # curl -o /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release https://security.access.redhat.com/data/fd431d51.txt

    2. Install the client-tools repository file: 

      # curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/client-tools.repo https://cdn-public.redhat.com/content/public/repofiles/client-tools-for-rhel-7-server.repo

    3. Install the client tools packages: 

      # yum -y install subscription-manager subscription-manager-rhsm-certificates rhc rhc-worker-script insights-client

  6. Enable Remote Host Configuration, register your systems with Red Hat Subscription Manager (RHSM), and connect your systems with Red Hat Insights: 

    # rhc connect --activation-key <activation_key> --organization <organization_ID>

    Replace organization_id and activation_key with the organization ID and activation key from the Red Hat Customer Portal. For more information on Remote Host Configuration, see the Remote Host Configuration (rhc) Knowledgebase article.

Verification

  1. Log in to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console and go to Red Hat Insights > RHEL > Inventory > Systems.
  2. Verify that your CentOS Linux systems appear as expected.
Note

The only Red Hat Insights service you can use with registered CentOS Linux systems is the RHEL conversion. All other Insights services are available only after the conversion to RHEL.

4.3. Preparing for a RHEL conversion with a proxy server

If you are using a proxy server with your operating system, before running the pre-conversion analysis by using Red Hat Insights to perform the conversion, you must complete the following procedure.

Prerequisites

  • The http_proxy environment variable is set: 

    # export http_proxy='http://<proxy_hostname>:<proxy_port>'

    Where http://<proxy_hostname>:<proxy_port> is your proxy server.

  • The repository for client tools is set: 

    # curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/client-tools-for-rhel-7-server.repo https://ftp.redhat.com/redhat/client-tools/client-tools-for-rhel-7-server.repo

  • You have the Red Hat GPG public key to verify the downloaded client tools packages: 

    # curl -o /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release https://security.access.redhat.com/data/fd431d51.txt
  • The yum command is configured to use HTTP proxy. For more information, see the Red Hat Knowledgebase solution How to enable Proxy Settings for Yum Command on RHEL?.

  • The following packages are installed:

    • subscription-manager
    • subscription-manager-rhsm-certificates
    • insights-client
    • rhc
    • rhc-worker-script.

Procedure

  1. Edit the /etc/systemd/system/rhcd.service.d/proxy.conf file for the Remote Host Configuration (RHC) daemon to use your proxy server: 

    [Service]
Environment="HTTP_PROXY=http://<proxy_hostname>:<proxy_port>"
Environment="HTTPS_PROXY=http://<proxy_hostname>:<proxy_port>"

    Where http://<proxy hostname>:<proxy port> is your proxy server.

  2. Reload the RHC daemon to apply new configuration: 

    # systemctl daemon-reload

  3. Edit the /etc/insights-client/insights-client.conf file for the Insights to use your proxy server: 

    [insights-client]
proxy=http://<proxy_hostname>:<proxy_port>

    Where http://<proxy_hostname>:<proxy_port> is your proxy server.

  4. Edit the /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf file to configure the Red Hat Subscription Manager to use a proxy server: 

    proxy_hostname = <proxy_hostname>
proxy_port = <proxy_port>
proxy_scheme = http

    Where <proxy_hostname> and <proxy_port> are parameters of you proxy server.

  5. Register your system with the Red Hat Subscription Manager and Insights: 

    # rhc connect --activation-key <activation_key> --organization <organization_ID>

    Where the <activation_key> and the <organization_ID> are the activation key and organization ID from the Red Hat Customer Portal. For more information on Remote Host Configuration, see the link: Remote Host Configuration (rhc) Knowledgebase article.

Verification

  1. Log in to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console and go to Red Hat Insights > RHEL > Inventory > Systems.
  2. Verify that your CentOS Linux systems appear as expected.

Next steps

Note

The only Red Hat Insights service you can use with registered CentOS Linux systems is the RHEL conversion. All other Insights services are available only after the conversion to RHEL.

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