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Chapter 5. Managing alternate content sources

You can accelerate content synchronization for your Satellite Server and Capsule Servers by creating alternate content sources. Use an alternate content source on your local filesystem or nearby network to download content faster while still receiving metadata from the upstream source.

An alternate content source (ACS) defines an alternate path to download content during synchronization. The content itself is downloaded from the ACS, while the metadata is downloaded from the Satellite Server or the upstream URL, depending on the configuration. You can use ACS to accelerate synchronization if the content is located on the local filesystem or on a nearby network. You can set up ACS 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 a custom alternate content source (ACS) to accelerate content synchronization by downloading from your local network or filesystem instead of remote upstream servers.

Prerequisites

  • If the repository requires SSL authentication, the SSL certificate and key must be imported 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 searches 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 a custom alternate content source (ACS) to accelerate content synchronization by downloading from your local network or filesystem instead of remote upstream servers.

Prerequisites

  • If the repository requires SSL authentication, the SSL certificate and key must be imported 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 searches 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

  2. Refresh your alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source refresh --name "My_ACS_Name"

Verification

  • Verify that the task ran successfully: 

    $ hammer task list --search "Refresh Alternate Content Source"

You can create a simplified alternate content source (ACS) when your Capsule Servers have faster connections to the upstream repository than to your Satellite Server. This accelerates synchronization by downloading content directly from the upstream source.

Prerequisites

  • You have created the products that will use the alternate content source.

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 a simplified alternate content source (ACS) when your Capsule Servers have faster connections to the upstream repository than to your Satellite Server. This accelerates synchronization by downloading content directly from the upstream source.

Prerequisites

  • You have created the products that will use the alternate content source.

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

  2. Refresh your alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source refresh --name "My_ACS_Name"

Verification

  • Verify that the task ran successfully: 

    $ hammer task list --search "Refresh Alternate Content Source"

You can configure your Capsule Servers to sync Red Hat content directly from the Red Hat CDN to reduce load on your Satellite Server and accelerate content synchronization.

Prerequisites

  • The required Red Hat repositories are enabled in Satellite.

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 create an RHUI alternate content source (ACS) to synchronize content from your Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) server. Leverage your existing RHUI investment and accelerate content synchronization.

Satellite searches content paths that combine a base URL with subpaths. For example, if your base URL is https://server.example.com and your subpaths are rhel10/ and rhel9/, then Satellite searches https://server.example.com/rhel10/ and https://server.example.com/rhel9/.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your RHUA server, display details for the required repositories: 

    # rhui-manager repo info --repo_id My_Repo_ID

    Record the relative paths from the command output to use as subpaths.

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

You can create an RHUI alternate content source (ACS) to synchronize content from your Red Hat Update Infrastructure (RHUI) server. Leverage your existing RHUI investment and accelerate content synchronization.

Satellite searches content paths that combine a base URL with subpaths. For example, if your base URL is https://server.example.com and your subpaths are rhel10/ and rhel9/, then Satellite searches https://server.example.com/rhel10/ and https://server.example.com/rhel9/.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. On your RHUA server, display details for the required repositories: 

    # rhui-manager repo info --repo_id My_Repo_ID

    Record the relative paths from the command output to use as subpaths.

  2. 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

  3. Refresh the alternate content source: 

    $ hammer alternate-content-source refresh --name "My_ACS_Name"

Verification

  • Verify that the task ran successfully: 

    $ hammer task list --search "Refresh Alternate Content Source"

User accounts must have a role that grants the following permissions to view and manage alternate content sources in 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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