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Chapter 3. Managing alternate content sources

Alternate content sources (ACS) define alternate paths to download content during synchronization. The content itself is downloaded from the alternate content source, while the metadata is downloaded from the Satellite Server or the upstream URL, depending on the configuration. You can use alternate content sources to speed up synchronization if the content is located on the local filesystem or on a nearby network. You can set up alternate content sources for Satellite Server and Capsule Servers.

You must refresh the alternate content source after creation or after making any changes. A weekly cron job refreshes all alternate content sources. You can also refresh the alternate content sources manually by using the Satellite web UI or Hammer CLI. Alternate content sources associated with your Satellite Server, or Capsule Servers attached to multiple organizations, affect all organizations.

There are three types of alternate content sources:

Custom
Custom alternate content sources download the content from any upstream repository on the network or filesystem.
Simplified
Simplified alternate content sources copy the upstream repository information from your Satellite Server for the selected products. Simplified alternate content sources are ideal for situations where the connection from your Capsule Server to the upstream repository is faster than to your Satellite Server. Selecting the Red Hat products when creating a simplified alternate content source will download the content to the Capsule Servers from the Red Hat CDN.
RHUI
RHUI alternate content sources download content from a Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) server. Satellite web UI provides examples to help you find the network paths and to import authentication credentials. The RHUI alternate content source must be RHUI version 4 or greater and use the default installation configuration. For example, AWS RHUI is unsupported because it uses an installation scenario with unique authentication requirements.

You can create custom alternate content sources (ACS) to define alternate paths to download content during synchronization.

Prerequisites

  • If the repository requires SSL authentication, import the SSL certificate and key into Satellite. For more information, see Importing custom SSL certificates by using Satellite web UI in Managing content.
  • You have the base URL and subpaths of your alternate content source. For example, if your base URL is https://server.example.com and your subpaths are rhel10/ and rhel9/, then Satellite will search https://server.example.com/rhel10/ and https://server.example.com/rhel9/.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  2. Click Add source.
  3. Set the Source type to Custom.
  4. Select the Content type from the drop-down list.
  5. In the Name field, enter a name for your custom ACS.
  6. Optional: In the Description field, provide a description for the ACS.
  7. Select Capsules to which you want to synchronize content from your alternate content source.
  8. If you require synchronizing content through the HTTP proxy of your Capsules, select Use HTTP proxies.
  9. In the Base URL field, enter the base URL of the alternate content source.
  10. In the Subpaths field, provide a comma-separated list of subpaths.
  11. If your alternate content source requires authentication, select the Manual authentication or Content credentials.
  12. If SSL verification is required, enable Verify SSL and select the SSL CA certificate.
  13. Click Add.
  14. Navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  15. Click the vertical ellipsis next to the newly created alternate content source and click Refresh.

Verification

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Monitor > Satellite Tasks > Tasks.
  2. Search for Refresh Alternate Content Source.
  3. Verify that the task finished successfully.

You can create custom alternate content sources (ACS) to define alternate paths to download content during synchronization.

Prerequisites

  • If the repository requires SSL authentication, import the SSL certificate and key into Satellite. For more information, see Importing custom SSL certificates by using Hammer CLI in Managing content.
  • You have the base URL and subpaths of your alternate content source. For example, if your base URL is https://server.example.com and your subpaths are rhel10/ and rhel9/, then Satellite will search https://server.example.com/rhel10/ and https://server.example.com/rhel9/.

Procedure

  1. Create a custom alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source create \
--alternate-content-source-type custom \
--base-url "https://local-repo.example.com:port" \
--name "My_ACS_Name" \
--smart-proxy-ids My_Capsule_ID_1,My_Capsule_ID_2 \
--verify-ssl true
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Refresh your alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source refresh --name "My_ACS_Name"
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Verification

  • Verify that the task ran successfully: 

    $ hammer task list --search "Refresh Alternate Content Source"
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

You can create simplified alternate content sources (ACS) to reuse the upstream source to download content during synchronization on Capsule Servers.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  2. Click Add source.
  3. Set the Source type to Simplified.
  4. Select the Content type from the drop-down list.
  5. In the Name field, enter a name for your simplified ACS.
  6. Optional: In the Description field, provide a description for the ACS.
  7. Select Capsules to which you want to synchronize content from your alternate content source.
  8. If you require synchronizing content through the HTTP proxy of your Capsules, select Use HTTP proxies.
  9. Select the products that should use the alternate content source.
  10. Click Add.
  11. Navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  12. Click the vertical ellipsis next to the newly created alternate content source and click Refresh.

Verification

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Monitor > Satellite Tasks > Tasks.
  2. Search for Refresh Alternate Content Source.
  3. Verify that the task finished successfully.

You can create simplified alternate content sources (ACS) to reuse the upstream source to download content during synchronization on Capsule Servers.

Procedure

  1. Create a simplified alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source create \
--alternate-content-source-type simplified \
--name "My_ACS_Name" \
--product-ids My_Product_ID_1,My_Product_ID_2 \
--smart-proxy-ids My_Capsule_ID_1,My_Capsule_ID_2
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Refresh your alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source refresh --name "My_ACS_Name"
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Verification

  • Verify that the task ran successfully: 

    $ hammer task list --search "Refresh Alternate Content Source"
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

You can use simplified alternate content sources to configure your Capsule Servers to sync content directly from Red Hat CDN instead of Satellite Server.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  2. Click Add source.
  3. Set the Source type as Simplified.
  4. Set the Content type to Yum.
  5. In the Name field, enter a name for the alternate content source.
  6. Optional: In the Description field, provide a description for the alternate content source.
  7. Select Capsules that you want to sync directly from Red Hat CDN.
  8. If you require synchronizing content through the HTTP proxy of your Capsules, select Use HTTP proxies.
  9. Select the Red Hat products that should be synced to the Capsule from Red Hat CDN.
  10. Review details and click Add.
  11. Navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources, click the vertical ellipsis next to the newly created alternate content source, and select Refresh.

You can use RHUI alternate content sources to configure your Capsule to sync content from a Red Hat Update Infrastructure server.

Prerequisites

  • Generate the client entitlement certificates for the required repos on the RHUA node as described in Creating a client entitlement certificate with the Red Hat Update Infrastructure Management Tool in Configuring and Managing Red Hat Update Infrastructure.
  • Import the client entitlement certificates into Satellite. For more information, see Importing custom SSL certificates by using Satellite web UI in Managing content.

  • Obtain a list of the subpaths for the required repositories. Execute the following command on your RHUA server: 

    # rhui-manager repo info --repo_id My_Repo_ID
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  • You have the base URL and subpaths of your alternate content source. For example, if your base URL is https://server.example.com and your subpaths are rhel10/ and rhel9/, then Satellite will search https://server.example.com/rhel10/ and https://server.example.com/rhel9/.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  2. Click Add source.
  3. Set the Source type to RHUI.
  4. Generate RHUI certificates using the command provided in the Satellite web UI. Ensure that you pass the repo labels of the desired repositories.
  5. In the Name field, enter a name for your RHUI ACS.
  6. Optional: In the Description field, provide a description for the ACS.
  7. Select Capsules to which you want to synchronize content from your alternate content source.
  8. If you require synchronizing content through the HTTP proxy of your Capsules, select Use HTTP proxies.
  9. In the Base URL field, enter the base URL of the Red Hat Update Infrastructure CDS node.
  10. In the Subpaths field, provide a comma-separated list of subpaths.
  11. If your alternate content source requires authentication, provide the SSL client certificate and SSL client key.
  12. If SSL verification is required, enable Verify SSL and select the SSL CA certificate.
  13. Click Add.
  14. Navigate to Content > Alternate Content Sources.
  15. Click the vertical ellipsis next to the newly created alternate content source and click Refresh.

You can use RHUI alternate content sources to configure your Capsule to sync content from a Red Hat Update Infrastructure server.

Prerequisites

  • Generate the client entitlement certificates for the required repos on the RHUA node as described in Creating a client entitlement certificate with the Red Hat Update Infrastructure Management Tool in Configuring and Managing Red Hat Update Infrastructure.
  • Import the client entitlement certificates into Satellite. For more information, see Importing custom SSL certificates by using Hammer CLI in Managing content.

  • Obtain a list of the subpaths for the required repositories. Execute the following command on your RHUA server: 

    # rhui-manager repo info --repo_id My_Repo_ID
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
  • Note that the alternate content source paths consist of a base URL appended with the subpaths that you provide. For example, if your base URL is https://server.example.com and your subpaths are rhel7/ and rhel8/, then both https://server.example.com/rhel7/ and https://server.example.com/rhel8/ will be searched.

Procedure

  1. Create a RHUI alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source create \
--alternate-content-source-type rhui \
--base-url "https://rhui-cds-node.example.com/pulp/content" \
--name "My_ACS_Name" \
--smart-proxy-ids My_Capsule_ID_1,My_Capsule_ID_2 \
--ssl-client-cert-id My_SSL_Client_Certificate_ID \
--ssl-client-key-id My_SSL_Client_Key_ID \
--subpaths path/to/repo/1/,path/to/repo/2/ \
--verify-ssl true
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

  2. Refresh the alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source refresh --name "My_ACS_Name"
    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

You need permissions to manage alternate content sources (ACS) on Red Hat Satellite.

Permissions to view ACS
  • view_content_credentials
  • view_organizations
  • view_products
  • view_smart_proxies
Permissions to manage ACS
  • create_alternate_content_sources
  • destroy_alternate_content_sources
  • edit_alternate_content_sources
  • view_alternate_content_sources
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