Chapter 1. Introducing remote host configuration and management
Remote host configuration is a powerful tool that enables the following capabilities:
- Easy registration. With the rhc client, you can register systems to Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM) and Red Hat Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Configuration management. Using the remote host configuration manager, you can configure the connection with Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux for all of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems in your infrastructure. You can enable or disable the rhc client, direct remediations, and other application settings from Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
- Remediations from Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. When systems are connected to Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the rhc client, you can manage the end-to-end experience of finding and fixing issues. Registered systems can directly consume remediation playbooks executed from the Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux application.
Supported configurations
- The rhc client is supported on systems registered to Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.5 and later, and RHEL 9.0 and later.
- Single-command registration is supported by RHEL 8.6 and later, and RHEL 9.0 and later.
1.1. Remote host configuration components
The complete remote host configuration solution comes with two main components: a client-side daemon and a server-side service to facilitate system management.
The remote configuration client. The rhc client comes preinstalled with all Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.5 and later installations, with the exception of minimal installation. The rhc client consists of the following utility programs:
-
The
rhcddaemon runs on the system and listens for messages from the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. It also receives and executes remediation playbooks for systems that are properly configured. -
The
rhccommand-line utility for RHEL.
-
The
- The remote host configuration manager. With the remote host configuration manager user interface, you can enable or disable Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux connectivity and features.
To maximize the value of remote host configuration, you must install additional packages. To allow systems to be managed by remote host configuration manager and to support the execution of remediation playbooks, install the following additional packages:
-
ansibleoransible-core -
rhc-worker-playbook
Starting with RHEL 8.6 and RHEL 9.0, the ansible-core and rhc-worker-playbook packages should automatically be installed in the background to make your system fully manageable from the remote host configuration manager user interface. However, a known bug is preventing the process from completing as expected. Thus, the packages must be installed manually after registration.
1.2. User Access settings in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console
User Access is the Red Hat implementation of role-based access control (RBAC). Your Organization Administrator uses User Access to configure what users can see and do on the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console (the console):
- Control user access by organizing roles instead of assigning permissions individually to users.
- Create groups that include roles and their corresponding permissions.
- Assign users to these groups, allowing them to inherit the permissions associated with their group’s roles.
1.2.1. Predefined User Access groups and roles
To make groups and roles easier to manage, Red Hat provides two predefined groups and a set of predefined roles.
1.2.1.1. Predefined groups
The Default access group contains all users in your organization. Many predefined roles are assigned to this group. It is automatically updated by Red Hat.
If the Organization Administrator makes changes to the Default access group its name changes to Custom default access group and it is no longer updated by Red Hat.
The Default admin access group contains only users who have Organization Administrator permissions. This group is automatically maintained and users and roles in this group cannot be changed.
On the Hybrid Cloud Console navigate to Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console > the Settings icon (⚙) > Identity & Access Management > User Access > Groups to see the current groups in your account. This view is limited to the Organization Administrator.
1.2.1.2. Predefined roles assigned to groups
The Default access group contains many of the predefined roles. Because all users in your organization are members of the Default access group, they inherit all permissions assigned to that group.
The Default admin access group includes many (but not all) predefined roles that provide update and delete permissions. The roles in this group usually include administrator in their name.
On the Hybrid Cloud Console navigate to Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console > the Settings icon (⚙) > Identity & Access Management > User Access > Roles to see the current roles in your account. You can see how many groups each role is assigned to. This view is limited to the Organization Administrator.
See User Access Configuration Guide for Role-based Access Control (RBAC) for additional information.
1.2.2. Access permissions
The Prerequisites for each procedure list which predefined role provides the permissions you must have. As a user, you can navigate to Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console > the Settings icon (⚙) > My User Access to view the roles and application permissions currently inherited by you.
If you try to access Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux features and see a message that you do not have permission to perform this action, you must obtain additional permissions. The Organization Administrator or the User Access administrator for your organization configures those permissions.
Use the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console Virtual Assistant to ask "Contact my Organization Administrator". The assistant sends an email to the Organization Administrator on your behalf.
1.2.3. User Access roles for remote host configuration and management
There are several User Access roles that are relevant for Red Hat Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux users. These roles determine if an Insights user can simply view settings or change them, and use remediation features.
User Access roles for using the Remote Host Configuration Manager in the Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux web console
- RHC administrator. Members in a group with this role can perform any operations in the rhc manager.
- RHC viewer. This is a default permission for all users on your organization’s Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console account, allowing anyone to see the current status of the configuration.
User Access roles for using remediation features in the Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux web console
- Remediations administrator. Members in a group with this role can perform any available operation against any remediations resource, including direct remediations.
- Remediations user. Members in a group with this role can create, view, update, and delete operations against any remediations resource. This is a default permission given to all Hybrid Cloud Console users on your account.
