Using the Hammer CLI tool

Compared to navigating the Satellite web UI, using Hammer can result in much faster interaction with the Satellite Server, as common shell features such as environment variables and aliases are at your disposal. You can also incorporate Hammer commands into reusable scripts for automating tasks of various complexity. Output from Hammer commands can be redirected to other tools, which allows for integration with your existing environment. You can issue Hammer commands directly on the base operating system running Red Hat Satellite.

Access to base operating system on Satellite Server is required to issue Hammer commands, which can limit the number of potential users compared to the Satellite web UI. Although the parity between Hammer and the Satellite web UI is almost complete, the Satellite web UI has development priority and can be ahead especially for newly introduced features.

For many tasks, you can use both Hammer and Satellite API. In these situations, you can choose whether Hammer or Satellite API is the more suitable tool for your use case.

You can use Hammer as a human-friendly interface to Satellite API. For example, to test responses to API calls before applying them in a script, use the --debug option to inspect API calls that Hammer issues: hammer --debug organization list.

In the background, each Hammer command first establishes a binding to the API, then sends a request. This can have performance implications when executing a large number of Hammer commands in sequence. In contrast, a script communicating directly with the API establishes the binding only once.

View the full list of hammer options and subcommands by executing:

$ hammer --help

Use --help to inspect any subcommand, for example:

$ hammer organization --help

You can search the help output using grep, or redirect it to a text viewer, for example:

$ hammer | less

If you ran the Satellite installation with --foreman-initial-admin-username and --foreman-initial-admin-password options, credentials you entered are stored in the ~/.hammer/cli.modules.d/foreman.yml configuration file on Satellite Server. Hammer does not prompt for your credentials when you run it on Satellite Server.

If you run a standalone Hammer, add your credentials to the Hammer configuration file.

If you do not have your Satellite credentials saved in the ~/.hammer/cli.modules.d/foreman.yml configuration file, Hammer prompts you for them each time you enter a command.

The Hammer authentication session is a cache that stores your credentials, and you have to provide them only once, at the beginning of the session. This method is suited to running several Hammer commands in succession, for example a script containing Hammer commands. In this scenario, you enter your Satellite credentials once, and the script runs as expected. By using the Hammer authentication session, you avoid storing your credentials in the script itself and in the ~/.hammer/cli.modules.d/foreman.yml Hammer configuration file.

Many hammer commands are organization specific. You can set a default organization and location for hammer commands so that you do not have to specify them every time with the --organization and --location options.

Specifying a default organization is useful when you mostly manage a single organization, as it makes your commands shorter. However, when you switch to a different organization, you must use hammer with the --organization option to specify it.

You can find the log in ~/.hammer/log/hammer.log.

Review essential information for using Hammer CLI in Red Hat Satellite. There are certain options that apply to all commands, such as authentication and getting help.

You can manage organizations, locations, and repositories in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer organization create \
--name org_name

hammer organization list

hammer subscription upload \
--file path

hammer repository-set enable \
--product prod_name \
--basearch base_arch \
--releasever rel_v \
--name repo_name

hammer repository synchronize \
--product prod_name \
--name repo_name

hammer repository create \
--product prod_name \
--content-type cont_type \
--publish-via-http true \
--url repo_url \
--name repo_name

hammer repository upload-content \
--product prod_name \
--id repo_id \
--path path_to_dir

You can manage content views in lifecycle environments in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer lifecycle-environment create \
--name env_name
--description env_desc
--prior prior_env_name

hammer lifecycle-environment list

hammer content-view create \
--name cv_n \
--repository-ids repo_ID1,... \
--description cv_description

hammer content-view add-repository \
--name cv_n \
--repository-id repo_ID

hammer content-view puppet-module add \
--content-view cv_n \
--name module_name

hammer content-view publish \
--id cv_ID

hammer content-view version promote \
--content-view cv_n \
--to-lifecycle-environment env_name

hammer content-view version incremental-update \
--content-view-version-id cv_ID \
--packages pkg_n1,... \
--lifecycle-environment-ids env_ID1,...

You can prepare provisioning infrastructure in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer domain create \
--name domain_name

hammer subnet create \
--name subnet_name \
--organization-ids org_ID1,... \
--location-ids loc_ID1,... \
--domain-ids dom_ID1,... \
--boot-mode boot_mode \
--network network_address \
--mask netmask --ipam ipam

hammer compute-resource create \
--name cr_name \
--organization-ids org_ID1,... \
--location-ids loc_ID1,... \
--provider provider_name

hammer medium create \
--name med_name \
--path path_to_medium

hammer partition-table create \
--name tab_name \
--path path_to_file \
--os-family os_family

hammer template create \
--name tmp_name \
--file path_to_template

hammer os create \
--name os_name \
--version version_num

You can create activation keys and add subscriptions in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer activation-key create \
--name ak_name \
--content-view cv_n \
--lifecycle-environment lc_name

hammer activation-key add-subscription \
--id ak_ID \
--subscription-id sub_ID

You can manage users, user groups, roles, and filters in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer user create \
--login user_name \
--mail user_mail \
--auth-source-id 1 \
--organization-ids org_ID1,org_ID2,...

hammer user add-role \
--id user_id \
--role role_name

hammer user-group create \
--name ug_name

hammer user-group add-role \
--id ug_id \
--role role_name

hammer role create \
--name role_name

hammer filter create \
--role role_name \
--permission-ids perm_ID1,perm_ID2,...

You can manage security updates and patches in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer erratum list

hammer erratum list --cve CVE

hammer erratum info --id err_ID

hammer host errata list \
--host host_name

hammer host errata apply \
--host host_name \
--errata-ids err_ID1,err_ID2,...

You can manage hosts, host groups, and remote job execution in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer hostgroup create \
--name hg_name \
--puppet-environment env_name \
--architecture arch_name \
--domain domain_name \
--subnet subnet_name \
--puppet-proxy proxy_name \
--puppet-ca-proxy ca-proxy_name \
--operatingsystem os_name \
--partition-table table_name \
--medium medium_name \
--organization-ids org_ID1,... \
--location-ids loc_ID1,...

hammer hostgroup set-parameter \
--hostgroup "hg_name" \
--name "kt_activation_keys" \
--value key_name

hammer host create \
--name host_name \
--hostgroup hg_name \
--interface="primary=true, \
mac=mac_addr, ip=ip_addr, \
provision=true" \
--organization-id org_ID \
--location-id loc_ID \
--ask-root-password yes

hammer host update --name host_name --hostgroup NIL

hammer job-template create \
--file path \
--name template_name \
--provider-type SSH \
--job-category category_name

hammer job-invocation create \
--job-template template_name \
--inputs key1=value,... \
--search-query query

hammer job-invocation output \
--id job_id --host host_name

You can list tasks and monitor their progress in Red Hat Satellite by using Hammer CLI commands.

hammer task list

hammer task progress \
--id task_ID