13.2. Performing Critical Updates to the Server

Procedure 13.1. Perform Critical Updates to an Online Server

1. Stop the Satellite services, except for the Satellite database.

   # rhn-satellite stop --exclude postgresql
   

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2. Take a backup of the Satellite's database in a working state. Run the following command and replace the [FILENAME] option with the full path to the backup file that you want to create. This location needs to be writable by the PostgreSQL user:

   # db-control online-backup FILENAME
   

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3. Apply the updates:

   # yum update
   

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   Apply all Satellite updates. Updating the schema without updating the rest of the Satellite components can cause issues with the Satellite database.
4. Update the database schema using spacewalk-schema-upgrade command.

   # spacewalk-schema-upgrade
   

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   This process will update your database schema to latest version. The spacewalk-schema-upgrade command will inform you with the results of the upgrade and the locations of schema upgrade log files. To double-check if the schema update completed successfully, run the following commands:

   # rpm -q satellite-schema
   # rhn-schema-version
   

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   If the output versions match, continue with the process. Otherwise restore the database with db-control restore /path/to/backup.
5. Restart Red Hat Satellite:

   # rhn-satellite start --exclude postgresql
   

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6. Clear the search index:

   # service rhn-search cleanindex
   

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   It is recommended to clean the search index. The above command triggers the creation of a new one, which in most cases completes within thirty minutes to an hour. You might experience issues with the search features of Satellite 5 if you do not clean the index.