6.4.2.9.2. System Details ⇒ Software
This tab and its accompanying sub-tabs allow you to manage the software of the system: errata, packages and package profiles, and software channel memberships.
6.4.2.9.2.1. System Details ⇒ Software ⇒ Errata
This sub-tab contains a list of Errata Alerts applicable to the system. Refer to Section 6.1.3, “Errata Alert Icons” for meanings of the icons on this tab. To apply updates, select them and click the button. Double-check the updates to be applied on the confirmation page, then click the button. After confirming, the action is added to the Pending Actions list under Schedule. Errata that have been scheduled cannot be selected for update. In the place of a checkbox is a clock icon that, when clicked, takes you to the Action Details page.
To help users determine whether an update has been scheduled, a Status column exists within the Errata table. Possible values are: None, Pending, Picked Up, Completed, and Failed. This column identifies only the latest action related to an Erratum. For instance, if an action fails and you reschedule it, this column shows the status of the Erratum as Pending only (with no mention of the previous failure). Clicking a status other than None takes you to the Action Details page. This column corresponds to the one on the Affected Systems tab of the Errata Details page.
6.4.2.9.2.2. System Details ⇒ Software ⇒ Packages
This sub-tab allows you to manage the packages on the system.
— When selecting packages to install, upgrade, or remove, Provisioning customers have the option of running a remote command automatically before or after the package installation. Refer to Section 6.4.2.9.1.3, “System Details ⇒ Details ⇒ Remote Command —
” for more information.
- Packages
- The default display of the Packages tab describes the options available to you and provides the means to update your package list. To update or complete a potentially outdated list, possibly due to the manual installation of packages, click the Update Package List button on the bottom right-hand corner of this page. The next time the RHN Daemon connects to RHN, it updates your System Profile with the latest list of installed packages.
- List/Remove
- Lists installed packages from the system's software System Profile and enables you to remove them. Click on a package name to view its Package Details page. To delete packages from the system, select their checkboxes and click the button on the bottom right-hand corner of the page. A confirmation page appears with the packages listed. Click the button to remove the packages.
- Upgrade
- Displays a list of packages that have a new version available based on the package versions in the channels for the system. Click on the latest package name to view its Package Details page. To upgrade packages immediately, select them and click the button. To download the packages as a .tar file, select them and click the button.
- Install
- Enables you to install new packages on the system from the available channels. Click on the package name to view its Package Details page. To install packages, select them and click the button.
- Verify
- Validates the packages installed on the system against its RPM database. This is the equivalent of running
rpm -V. Specifically, this tab allows you to compare the metadata of the system's packages with information from the database, such as MD5 sum, file size, permissions, owner, group and type. To verify a package or packages, select them, click the button, and confirm this action. Once finished, you can view the results by selecting this action within the History sub-tab under Events. - Profiles
- Gives you the ability to compare the packages on this system with the packages of stored profiles and other Management and Provisioning systems. To make the comparison with a stored profile, select that profile from the pulldown menu and click the Compare button. To make the comparison with another system, select it from the associated pulldown menu and click the Compare button. To create a stored profile based upon the existing system, click the button, enter any additional information you desire, and click the button. These profiles are kept within the Stored Profiles page linked from the left navigation bar.
— Once package profiles have been compared, Provisioning customers have the ability to synchronize the packages of the selected system with the package manifest of the compared profile. Note that this action may delete packages on the system not in the profile, as well as install packages from the profile. To install specific packages, select the checkboxes of packages from the profile. To remove specific packages already installed on the system itself, select the checkboxes of packages showing a difference of This system only. To synchronize fully the system's packages with the compared profile, select the master checkbox at the top of the column. Then click the button. On the confirmation screen, review the changes, select a time frame for the action, and click the button.
6.4.2.9.2.3. System Details ⇒ Software ⇒ Software Channels
Software channels provide a well-defined method to determine which packages should be available to a system for installation or upgrade based upon its operating systems, packages, and functionality.
Note
Subscribing a virtual guest to a base or child channel does not generally consume a channel entitlement. However, there are two cases in which they do:
- Subscribing a guest to a layered product channel, such as Red Hat Directory Server, consumes a channel entitlement.
- If a guest is the fifth or later guest on a host that has a Virtualization entitlement, channel subscriptions are not consumed - however, it is important to note that this violates your organization's Service Level Agreement.
Click a channel name to view its Channel Details page. To modify the child channels associated with this system, use the checkboxes next to the channels and click the button. You will receive a success message or be notified of any errors. To change the system's base channel, select the new one from the pulldown menu and click the button. Refer to Section 6.6.1, “Software Channels” for more information.
