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Chapter 5. Troubleshooting

5.1. Web Interface
Q: I'm having problems with the RHN Satellite user interface. Which log files should I check?
5.2. Anaconda
Q: I'm getting an error that says Error downloading kickstart file. What is the problem and how do I fix it?
Q: I'm getting a package installation error that says The file chkconfig-1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm cannot be opened.. What is the problem and how do I fix it?
5.3. Tracebacks
Q: I'm getting emails with "WEB TRACEBACK" in the subject. What should I do about them?
5.4. Registration
Q: The rhnreg_ks command is failing when I run it, saying ERROR: unable to read system id. What is the problem?
5.5. Kickstarts and Snippets
Q: What is the directory structure for kickstarts?
Q: What is the directory structure for Cobbler snippets?

5.1. Web Interface
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Q:
I'm having problems with the RHN Satellite user interface. Which log files should I check?
A:
If you experience errors viewing, scheduling, or working with kickstarts in the RHN Satellite user interface, check the /var/log/tomcat5/catalina.out log file.
For all other user interface errors, check the /var/log/httpd/error_log log file.

5.2. Anaconda
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Q:
I'm getting an error that says Error downloading kickstart file. What is the problem and how do I fix it?
A:
This error is usually the result of a network issue. To locate the problem, run the cobbler check command, and read the output, which should look something like this: 
# cobbler check
The following potential problems were detected:
#0: reposync is not installed, need for cobbler reposync, install/upgrade yum-utils?
#1: yumdownloader is not installed, needed for cobbler repo add with --rpm-list parameter, install/upgrade yum-utils?
#2: The default password used by the sample templates for newly installed machines (default_password_crypted in /etc/cobbler/settings) is still set to 'cobbler' and should be changed
#3: fencing tools were not found, and are required to use the (optional) power management features. install cman to use them
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If cobbler check does not provide any answers, check the following:
  • Verify httpd is running: service httpd status
  • Verify cobblerd is running: service cobblerd status
  • Verify that you can fetch the kickstart file using wget from a different host: 
    wget http://satellite.example.com/cblr/svc/op/ks/profile/rhel5-i386-u3:1:Example-Org
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Q:
I'm getting a package installation error that says The file chkconfig-1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm cannot be opened.. What is the problem and how do I fix it?
A:
Clients will fetch content from RHN Satellite based on the --url parameter in the kickstart. For example: 
url --url http://satellite.example.com/ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3
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If you receive errors from Anaconda stating it can't find images or packages, check that the URL in the kickstart will generate a 200 OK response. You can do this by attempting to wget the file located at that URL: 
wget http://satellite.example.com/ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3
--2011-08-19 15:06:55--  http://satellite.example.com/ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3
Resolving satellite.example.com... 10.10.77.131
Connecting to satellite.example.com|10.10.77.131|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 0 [text/plain]
Saving to: `ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3.1'
2011-08-19 15:06:55 (0.00 B/s) - `ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3.1' saved [0/0]
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If you get a response other than 200 OK, check the error logs to find out what the problem is. You can also check the actual file Anaconda tried to download by searching the access_log file: 
# grep chkconfig /var/log/httpd/access_log
10.10.77.131 - - [19/Aug/2011:15:12:36 -0400] "GET /rhn/common/DownloadFile.do?url=/ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-
5-u3/Server  /chkconfig-1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm HTTP/1.1" 206 24744 "-" "urlgrabber/3.1.0 yum/3.2.19"
10.10.76.143 - - [19/Aug/2011:15:12:36 -0400] "GET /ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3/Server/chkconfig-
1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm HTTP/1.1" 206 24744 "-" "urlgrabber/3.1.0 yum/3.2.19"
10.10.76.143 - - [19/Aug/2011:15:14:20 -0400] "GET /ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3/Server/chkconfig-  
1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm HTTP/1.1" 200 162580 "-" "urlgrabber/3.1.0 yum/3.2.19"
10.10.77.131 - - [19/Aug/2011:15:14:20 -0400] "GET /rhn/common/DownloadFile.do?url=/ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server- 
5-u3/Server/chkconfig-1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm HTTP/1.1" 200 162580 "-" "urlgrabber/3.1.0 yum/3.2.19"
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If the requests are not appearing in the access_log file, the system might be having trouble with the networking setup. If the requests are appearing but are generating errors, check the error logs.
You can also try manually downloading the files to see if the package is available: 
wget http://satellite.example.com/ks/dist/ks-rhel-i386-server-5-u3/Server/chkconfig-1.3.30.1-2.i386.rpm
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5.3. Tracebacks
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Q:
I'm getting emails with "WEB TRACEBACK" in the subject. What should I do about them?
A:
A typical traceback email might look something like this: 
Subject: WEB TRACEBACK from satellite.example.com
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2011 20:28:01 -0400
From: RHN Satellite <dev-null@redhat.com>
To: admin@example.com

java.lang.RuntimeException: XmlRpcException calling cobbler.
	at com.redhat.rhn.manager.kickstart.cobbler.CobblerXMLRPCHelper.invokeMethod(CobblerXMLRPCHelper.java:72)
	at com.redhat.rhn.taskomatic.task.CobblerSyncTask.execute(CobblerSyncTask.java:76)
	at com.redhat.rhn.taskomatic.task.SingleThreadedTestableTask.execute(SingleThreadedTestableTask.java:54)
	at org.quartz.core.JobRunShell.run(JobRunShell.java:203)
	at org.quartz.simpl.SimpleThreadPool$WorkerThread.run(SimpleThreadPool.java:520)
Caused by: redstone.xmlrpc.XmlRpcException: The response could not be parsed.
	at redstone.xmlrpc.XmlRpcClient.handleResponse(XmlRpcClient.java:434)
	at redstone.xmlrpc.XmlRpcClient.endCall(XmlRpcClient.java:376)
	at redstone.xmlrpc.XmlRpcClient.invoke(XmlRpcClient.java:165)
	at com.redhat.rhn.manager.kickstart.cobbler.CobblerXMLRPCHelper.invokeMethod(CobblerXMLRPCHelper.java:69)
	... 4 more
Caused by: java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 503 for URL: http://someserver.example.com:80/cobbler_api
	at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:1236)
	at redstone.xmlrpc.XmlRpcClient.handleResponse(XmlRpcClient.java:420)
	... 7 more
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This indicates that there has been a problem with Cobbler communicating with the taskomatic service. Try checking the following:
  • Verify httpd is running: service httpd status
  • Verify cobblerd is running: service cobblerd status
  • Verify that there are no firewall rules that would prevent localhost connections

5.4. Registration
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Q:
The rhnreg_ks command is failing when I run it, saying ERROR: unable to read system id. What is the problem?
A:
At the end of the kickstart file, there is a %post section that registers the machine to the RHN Satellite: 
# begin Red Hat management server registration
mkdir -p /usr/share/rhn/
wget http://satellite.example.com/pub/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT -O /usr/share/rhn/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT   
perl -npe 's/RHNS-CA-CERT/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT/g' -i /etc/sysconfig/rhn/*  
rhnreg_ks --serverUrl=https://satellite.example.com/XMLRPC --sslCACert=/usr/share/rhn/RHN-ORG-TRUSTED-SSL-CERT --activationkey=1-c8d01e2f23c6bbaedd0f6507e9ac079d
# end Red Hat management server registration
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Interpreting this in the order it was added in, this will:
  • Create a directory to house the custom SSL cert used by the RHN Satellite.
  • Fetch the SSL certificate to use during registration.
  • Search and replace the SSL certificate strings from the rhn_register configuration files, and then register to the RHN Satellite using the SSL certificate and an activation key. Every kickstart profile includes an activation key that assures that the system is assigned the correct base and child channels, and gets the correct system entitlements. If it is a reprovisioning of an existing system, the activation key will also ensure it is associated with the previous system profile.
If the rhnreg_ks command fails, you might see errors like this in the ks-post.log log file: 
ERROR: unable to read system id.
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These errors will also occur if an attempt is made to perform an rhn_check and the system has not registered to the RHN Satellite.
The best way to troubleshoot this is to view the kickstart file and copy and paste the four steps directly at the command prompt after the kickstart has completed. This will produce error messages that are more detailed to help locate the problem.

5.5. Kickstarts and Snippets
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Q:
What is the directory structure for kickstarts?
A:
The base path where the kickstart files are stored is /var/lib/rhn/kickstarts/. Within this directory, raw kickstarts are in the upload subdirectory, and wizard-generated kickstarts are in the wizard subdirectory: 
Raw Kickstarts: /var/lib/rhn/kickstarts/upload/$profile_name--$org_id.cfg
Wizard Kickstarts: /var/lib/rhn/kickstarts/wizard/$profile_name--$org_id.cfg
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Q:
What is the directory structure for Cobbler snippets?
A:
Cobbler snippets are stored in /var/lib/rhn/kickstarts/snippets. Cobbler accesses snippets using the symbolic link /var/lib/cobbler/snippets/spacewalk. 
Snippets:  /var/lib/rhn/kickstarts/snippets/$org_id/$snippet_name
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Important

RHN Satellite RPMs expect the Cobbler kickstart and snippet directories to be in their default locations, do not change them.
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