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Chapter 1. Channel Management

A Red Hat Satellite channel is a collection of software packages. Channels help you segregate packages by sensible rules: a channel may contain packages from a specific Red Hat distribution. A channel may contain packages for an application or family of applications. Users may also define channels for their own particular needs; a company may create a channel that contains packages for a specific architecture in the organization's network.
This chapter will discuss two basic channel types available in Red Hat Satellite:
  1. Red Hat Channels - are official Red Hat repositories containing Red Hat released packages.
  2. Custom Channels - are channels created by a Satellite administrator based on an organization or group's needs. These are managed by the organization and may contain third-party packages and repositories.

1.1. Managing Red Hat Network Channels

A Red Hat Satellite channel is a collection of software packages.

1.1.1. Differentiating Base Channels and Child Channels

There are two types of channels: base channels and child channels. A base channel consists of packages based on a specific architecture and Red Hat Enterprise Linux release. A child channel is a channel associated with a base channel that contains extra packages.
A system must be subscribed to only one base channel. A system can be subscribed to multiple child channels of its base channel. A subscribed system can only install or update packages available through its Satellite channels.
When a system is registered with Satellite, it is assigned to the base channel that corresponds to the system's version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Once a system is registered, its default base channel can be changed to a private base channel on a per-system basis via the Satellite web interface or APIs. Alternatively, activation keys associated with a custom base channel can be used so that systems registering with those keys are automatically associated with the custom base channel.
On the Satellite web interface, the Channels page (located under the Channels tab on the top navigation bar) provides a list of all base channels and their child channels. Clicking on the name of a channel displays the Channel Details page, which provides a list of all of the packages in that channel, its errata, and any associated systems.

1.1.2. Subscribing a System to the Red Hat Satellite

Subscribe systems to channels in the following ways:
  • Registration through activation keys - Because of the simplicity and speed of activation keys, this is the preferred method for registering systems as clients of either Red Hat Satellite Proxy Server or Red Hat Satellite Server. Systems registered using an activation key are subscribed to all channels associated with that activation key. For more information about activation keys, consult the Red Hat Satellite Client Configuration Guide and the Red Hat Satellite Reference Guide.
  • Install registration - After initial registeration through either the Red Hat Update Agent or the Red Hat Network Registration Client, it is automatically assigned to the base channel that corresponds to the version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the system. Once a system is registered, its default base channel can be changed to a private base channel on a per-system basis using Red Hat Satellite. For more information about using these applications, see the respective chapter of the Red Hat Satellite Reference Guide for your entitlement level (Management or Provisioning).
  • Website subscription - Various specific child channels are available for subscription, depending on the system's base channel. The system may be subscribed to the child channel through the Satellite web interface. If the organization has created custom base channels, the systems may also be reassigned to these custom channels through the website. For more information about subscribing to channels online, see the Satellite web interface chapter of the Red Hat Satellite Reference Guide.
  • Using the spacewalk-channel command-line tool (CLI) - the spacewalk-channel allows you to subscribe systems to specific channels via the command line without logging on to the Red Hat Network website.
    For example, to subscribe to two channels: 
    # spacewalk-channel --add -c rhn-tools-rhel-x86_64-server-6 -c \
    rhel-x86_64-server-6 --user username --password password
    To unsubscribe from the channels: 
    # spacewalk-channel --remove -c rhn-tools-rhel-x86_64-server-6 -c \
    rhel-x86_64-server-6 --user username --password password
    To list subscribed channels: 
    # spacewalk-channel --list

1.1.3. Deleting a Red Hat Base Channel from Red Hat Satellite

There are several situations that would require administrators to remove Red Hat base channels. Some examples are:
  • The specific architecture is not supported by the organization and should not be available.
  • The subscription for the specific architecture has expired and updates are unavailable.
  • The product channel has reached end of life.
  • The Red Hat Satellite server needs disk space.
Prerequisites:

The spacewalk-backend-tools, version 0.5.28.49 or newer, is required to run the commands below.

To delete a Red Hat base channel from the Red Hat Satellite:
  1. Log in as root on the Red Hat Satellite server.
  2. List all subscribed channels the Satellite is subscribed to: 
    # spacewalk-remove-channel --list
    Take note of the channel to be removed. This is called the channel_label and will be used in the next step.
  3. Remove the channel from the Satellite: 
    # /usr/bin/spacewalk-remove-channel -c channel_label --unsubscribe
    Where:
    • --unsubscribe will automatically unsubscribe all systems subscribed to the channel being removed.

Note

This procedure is only applicable to Red Hat Satellite 5.3 and newer. For Red Hat Satellite 5.2 or older, a script can be used to remove the Red Hat provided channels from Red Hat Satellite. See the Knowledgebase article How do I delete a Red Hat Base channel from my Red Hat Satellite?

1.1.4. Managing Repositories

A repository contains a set of packages much like a channel. However, while a channel can house several repositories, a repository contains only package sets. In Red Hat Satellite, most repositories are created using yum tools. These repositories are added to the Red Hat Satellite's custom channels in order to provide packages for specific applications, usually third-party.

1.1.4.1. Adding Repositories

Repositories can be added to allow additional packages from different sources to synchronize with your custom channels. The repository URL must point to the root directory of a yum repository.
  1. Log in as a Channel Administrator or Organizational Administrator.
  2. Click on Channels Manage Software Channels Manage Repositories.
  3. On the top right-hand corner of the page, click Create New Repository.
  4. Fill in the following:
    • Repository Label - An identifying name for the repository
    • Repository URL - A valid URL where the repository resides
    • SSL CA Certificate - The SSL Certificate Authority required for accessing repositories over HTTPS
    • SSL Client Certificate - The SSL Certificate required for accessing repositories over HTTPS
    • SSL Client Key - The SSL Key required for accessing repositories over HTTPS

      Note

      Create new SSL certificates and manage existing ones by navigating to Systems Kickstart GPG and SSL Keys.
    • Filters - Defines a package filter to apply to the repository. Use plus (+) to include packages, or minus (-) to exclude packages. The following example filters out the kernel package and any packages beginning with zsh except for zsh-html: 
      -zsh*,kernel +zsh-html
  5. Click Create Repository.

1.1.4.2. Adding Repositories to a Channel

In order to use repositories on the Red Hat Satellite, repositories need to be added to a channel. A repository can be added to as many channels as needed.
To add a repository to a channel:
  1. Click Channels Manage Software Channels.
  2. Choose the specific channel you wish the repository to be a part of.
  3. Click on the subtab Repositories and select the repositories you wish to add to the channel.
  4. Select the repositories to be added to the channel.
  5. Click Update Repositories.

1.1.4.3. Scheduling Repository Synchronization

Source repositories may change or update based on upgrades, security and bug fixes. The Red Hat Satellite's custom repositories need to be synchronized with these source repositories to make sure that the packages being imported are at their most updated versions. Additionally, if new packages have been added to the source repositories, these packages will also be downloaded to the Red Hat Satellite custom repositories.
To schedule a repository synchronization:
  1. Click Channels Manage Software Channels.
  2. Choose the channel the repository is a member of.
  3. Click on the subtab Repositories Sync.
  4. Choose when you wish to schedule the synchronization. Click Sync Now to schedule a sync immediately or select a schedule with the options:
    • Disable Schedule - disables any schedule currently in place.
    • Daily - schedules a daily synchronization with source repositories at a specified time.
    • Weekly - schedules a weekly synchronization with source repositories at a specified day and time.
    • Monthly - schedules a monthly synchronization on a specified day of the month and time.
    • Custom Quartz Format - Defines a custom schedule for synchronization.
  5. Click Schedule to save your changes and schedule the synchronization.

Note

The packages are assigned to the channel after the synchronizing is complete.

1.1.4.4. Deleting Repositories

  1. Log in as a Channel Administrator or Organizational Administrator.
  2. Click on Channels Manage Software Packages Manage Repositories.
  3. Choose the repository you wish to delete.
  4. On the top right-hand corner of the page, click delete repository.
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