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Chapter 2. Managing Red Hat subscriptions

Red Hat Satellite can import content from the Red Hat Content Delivery Network (CDN). Satellite requires a Red Hat subscription manifest to find, access, and download content from the corresponding repositories. You must have a Red Hat subscription manifest containing a subscription allocation for each organization on Satellite Server. All subscription information is available on the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console.

Use this chapter to import a Red Hat subscription manifest and manage the manifest within the Satellite web UI.

Subscription allocations and organizations

You can manage more than one organization if you have more than one subscription allocation. Satellite requires a single allocation for each organization configured in Satellite Server. The advantage of this is that each organization maintains separate subscriptions so that you can support multiple organizations, each with their own Red Hat accounts.

Future-dated subscriptions

You can use future-dated subscriptions in a subscription manifest. When you add future-dated subscriptions to your manifest before the expiry date of the existing subscriptions, you can have uninterrupted access to repositories.

Subscriptions service

The Subscriptions service on the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console helps you track and manage Red Hat subscription usage across connected and disconnected systems. It collects usage data, displays trends in a centralized dashboard, and supports historical analysis for planning and compliance. For more information, see Section 2.1, “Tracking subscription usage by using the Subscriptions service”.

Additional resources

2.1. Tracking subscription usage by using the Subscriptions service

You can configure your Satellite Server to report usage data to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console by using the foreman_rh_cloud plugin.

Connected Satellite

In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Insights > Inventory Upload to configure the foreman_rh_cloud plugin and share inventory information with the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. Ensure that the Automatic Inventory Upload setting is enabled. The plugin enables the subscriptions service to track usage information across connected systems.

You can configure the plugin to omit data that is not needed for subscription tracking, such as host names and IP addresses.

Disconnected Satellite

Export usage data in one of the following ways:

  • Use the foreman_rh_cloud plugin to generate a report locally. You can download the report from the Satellite web UI. The report is in JSON format and is easily integrated for automated scripts or machine processing. You can generate this report by using CLI: 

    # foreman-rake rh_cloud_inventory:report:generate
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  • View product usage by running the Host - Installed Products report.

    Navigate to Monitor > Reports > Report Templates. You can select the format that you want for the report. YAML, JSON, HTML, and CSV formats are supported.

2.2. Importing a Red Hat subscription manifest into Satellite Server

Use the following procedure to import a Red Hat subscription manifest into Satellite Server.

Note

Simple Content Access (SCA) is set on the organization, not the manifest. Importing a manifest does not change your organization’s Simple Content Access status.

Simple Content Access simplifies the subscription experience for administrators. For more information, see the Subscription Management Administration Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the Red Hat Customer Portal.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, ensure the context is set to the organization you want to use.
  2. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Subscriptions and click Manage Manifest.
  3. In the Manage Manifest window, click Choose File.
  4. Navigate to the location that contains the Red Hat subscription manifest file, then click Open.

CLI procedure

  1. Copy the Red Hat subscription manifest file from your local machine to Satellite Server: 

    $ scp ~/manifest_file.zip root@satellite.example.com:~/.
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  2. Log in to Satellite Server as the root user and import the Red Hat subscription manifest file: 

    $ hammer subscription upload \
--file ~/manifest_file.zip \
--organization "My_Organization"
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You can now enable repositories and import Red Hat content. For more information, see Importing Content in Managing content.

2.3. Locating a Red Hat subscription

When you import a Red Hat subscription manifest into Satellite Server, the subscriptions from your manifest are listed in the Subscriptions window. If you have a high volume of subscriptions, you can filter the results to find a specific subscription.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, ensure the context is set to the organization you want to use.
  2. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Subscriptions.
  3. In the Subscriptions window, click the Search field to view the list of search criteria for building your search query.
  4. Select search criteria to display further options.
  5. When you have built your search query, click the search icon.

For example, if you place your cursor in the Search field and select expires, then press the space bar, another list appears with the options of placing a >, <, or = character. If you select > and press the space bar, another list of automatic options appears. You can also enter your own criteria.

2.4. Adding Red Hat subscriptions to subscription manifests

Use the following procedure to add Red Hat subscriptions to a subscription manifest in the Satellite web UI.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, ensure the context is set to the organization you want to use.
  2. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Subscriptions.
  3. In the Subscriptions window, click Add Subscriptions.
  4. On the row of each subscription you want to add, enter the quantity in the Quantity to Allocate column.
  5. Click Submit

2.5. Removing Red Hat subscriptions from subscription manifests

Use the following procedure to remove Red Hat subscriptions from a subscription manifest in the Satellite web UI.

Note

Manifests must not be deleted. If you delete the manifest from the Red Hat Customer Portal or in the Satellite web UI, all of the entitlements for all of your content hosts will be removed.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, ensure the context is set to the organization you want to use.
  2. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Subscriptions.
  3. On the row of each subscription you want to remove, select the corresponding checkbox.
  4. Click Delete, and then confirm deletion.

2.6. Updating and refreshing Red Hat subscription manifests

Every time that you change a subscription allocation, you must refresh the manifest to reflect these changes. For example, you must refresh the manifest if you take any of the following actions:

  • Renewing a subscription
  • Adjusting subscription quantities
  • Purchasing additional subscriptions

You can refresh the manifest directly in the Satellite web UI. Alternatively, you can import an updated manifest that contains the changes.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, ensure the context is set to the organization you want to use.
  2. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Subscriptions.
  3. In the Subscriptions window, click Manage Manifest.
  4. In the Manage Manifest window, click Refresh.

The Satellite web UI provides a notification before the subscription manifest expires. For more information, see How and when does a Red Hat Satellite manifest certificate expire? in the Red Hat Knowledgebase.

2.7. Content Delivery Network structure

Red Hat Content Delivery Network (CDN), located at cdn.redhat.com, is a geographically distributed series of static webservers which include content and errata designed to be used by systems. This content can be accessed directly through a system registered by using Subscription Manager or through the Satellite web UI. The accessible subset of the CDN is configured through content available to a system by using Red Hat Subscription Management or by using Satellite Server.

Red Hat Content Delivery network is protected by X.509 certificate authentication to ensure that only valid users can access it.

Directory structure of the CDN

$ tree -d -L 11
└── content
1 

    ├── beta
2 

    │   └── rhel
3 

    │       └── server
4 

    │           └── 7
5 

    │               └── x86_64
6 

    │                   └── sat-tools
7 

    └── dist
        └── rhel
            └── server
                └── 7
                ├── 7.2
                │   └── x86_64
                │       └── kickstart
                └── 7Server
                    └── x86_64
                        └── os
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1
The content directory.
2
Directory responsible for the lifecycle of the content. Common directories include beta (for Beta code), dist (for Production) and eus (For Extended Update Support) directories.
3
Directory responsible for the product name. Usually rhel for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
4
Directory responsible for the type of the product. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux this might include server, workstation, and computenode directories.
5
Directory responsible for the release version, such as 7, 7.2 or 7Server.
6
Directory responsible for the base architecture, such as i386 or x86_64.
7
Directory responsible for the repository name, such as sat-tools, kickstart, rhscl. Some components have additional subdirectories which might vary.

This directory structure is also used in the Red Hat Subscription Manifest.

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