Chapter 3. Registering Hosts

Procedure

1. Navigate to Hosts > Register Host.
2. Optional: Select a different Organization.
3. Optional: Select a different Location.
4. Optional: From the Host Group list, select the host group to associate the hosts with. Fields that inherit value from Host group: Operating system, Activation Keys and Lifecycle environment.
5. Optional: From the Capsule list, select the Capsule to register hosts through. You must select the internal Capsule if you do not want to use an external Capsule.
6. Optional: From the Operating system list, select the operating system of hosts that you want to register.

7. Optional: Select the Insecure option, if you want to make the first call insecure. During this first call, hosts download the CA file from Satellite. Hosts will use this CA file to connect to Satellite with all future calls making them secure.

   It is recommended to avoid insecure calls.

   If an attacker, located in the network between Satellite and a host, fetches the CA file from the first insecure call, the attacker will be able to access the content of the API calls to and from the registered host and the JSON Web Tokens (JWT). Therefore, if you have chosen to deploy SSH keys during registration, the attacker will be able to access the host using the SSH key.

   Instead, you can manually copy and install the CA file on each host before registering the host.

   To do this, find where Satellite stores the CA file by navigating to Administer > Settings > Authentication and locating the value of the SSL CA file setting.

   Copy the CA file to the /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/ directory on hosts and enter the following commands:

   # update-ca-trust enable
   # update-ca-trust

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   Then register the hosts with a secure curl command, such as:

   # curl -sS https://satellite.example.com/register ...

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   The following is an example of the curl command with the --insecure option:

   # curl -sS --insecure https://satellite.example.com/register ...

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
8. Select the Advanced tab.

9. From the Setup REX list, select whether you want to deploy Satellite SSH keys to hosts or not.

   If set to Yes, public SSH keys will be installed on the registered host. The inherited value is based on the host_registration_remote_execution parameter. It can be inherited, for example from a host group, an operating system, or an organization. When overridden, the selected value will be stored on host parameter level.

10. From the Setup Insights list, select whether you want to install insights-client and register the hosts to Insights.

    The Insights tool is available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux only. It has no effect on other operating systems.

    You must enable the following repositories on a registered machine:

    • RHEL 6: rhel-6-server-rpms
    • RHEL 7: rhel-7-server-rpms

    • RHEL 8: rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms

      The insights-client package is installed by default on RHEL 8 except in environments whereby RHEL 8 was deployed with "Minimal Install" option.

11. Optional: In the Token lifetime (hours) field, change the validity duration of the JSON Web Token (JWT) that Satellite uses for authentication. The duration of this token defines how long the generated curl command works. You can set the duration to 0 - 999 999 hours or unlimited.

    Note that Satellite applies the permissions of the user who generates the curl command to authorization of hosts. If the user loses or gains additional permissions, the permissions of the JWT change too. Therefore, do not delete, block, or change permissions of the user during the token duration.

    The scope of the JWTs is limited to the registration endpoints only and cannot be used anywhere else.

12. Optional: In the Remote Execution Interface field, enter the identifier of a network interface that hosts must use for the SSH connection. If you keep this field blank, Satellite uses the default network interface.
13. Optional: In the Install packages field, list the packages (separated with spaces) that you want to install on the host upon registration. This can be set by the host_packages parameter.
14. Optional: Select the Update packages option to update all packages on the host upon registration. This can be set by the host_update_packages parameter.
15. Optional: In the Repository field, enter a repository to be added before the registration is performed. For example, it can be useful to make the subscription-manager package available for the purpose of the registration. For Red Hat family distributions, enter the URL of the repository, for example http://rpm.example.com/.
16. Optional: In the Repository GPG key URL field, specify the public key to verify the signatures of GPG-signed packages. It needs to be specified in the ASCII form with the GPG public key header.
17. In the Activation Keys field, enter one or more activation keys to assign to hosts.
18. Optional: Select the Lifecycle environment.
19. Optional: Select the Ignore errors option if you want to ignore subscription manager errors.
20. Optional: Select the Force option if you want to remove any katello-ca-consumer rpms before registration and run subscription-manager with the --force argument.
21. Click the Generate button.
22. Copy the generated curl command.
23. On the hosts that you want to register, run the curl command as root.

1. Note the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of Satellite Server or Capsule Server, for example server.example.com.

2. Log in to the host as the root user and download the katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm package from Satellite Server or Capsule Server to which the host is to be registered. The consumer RPM configures the host to download content from the content source that is specified in Red Hat Satellite.

   # curl --insecure --output katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm https://satellite.example.com/pub/katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

3. Install the katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm package:

   # yum localinstall katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
   Note

   The RPM package is not signed. If required, you can add the --nosignature option to install the package. The katello-ca-consumer-hostname-1.0-1.noarch.rpm package is an additional katello-ca-consumer RPM that contains the server’s host name. The katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm package always reflects the most recent version. Both serve the same purpose.

4. Clear any old host data related to Red Hat Subscription Manager (RHSM):

   # subscription-manager clean

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

5. Register the host using RHSM:

   # subscription-manager register --org=your_org_name \
   --activationkey=your_activation_key

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   Example 3.1. Command Output after Registration:

   # subscription-manager register --org=MyOrg --activationkey=TestKey-1
   The system has been registered with id: 62edc0f8-855b-4184-b1b8-72a9dc793b96

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Procedure

1. Log in to the Atomic Host as the root user.

2. Retrieve katello-rhsm-consumer from Satellite Server:

   # wget http://satellite.example.com/pub/katello-rhsm-consumer

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

3. Change the mode of katello-rhsm-consumer to make it executable:

   # chmod +x katello-rhsm-consumer

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

4. Run katello-rhsm-consumer:

   # ./katello-rhsm-consumer

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   Register with Red Hat Subscription Manager:

   # subscription-manager register

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

1. Manually create a directory and change the owner:

   # mkdir /etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/example_environment
   # chown apache /etc/puppetlabs/code/environments/example_environment

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
2. Navigate to Configure > Environments and click Import environment from. The button name includes the FQDN of the internal or external Capsule.
3. Choose the created directory and click Update.

Procedure

1. Log in to the host as the root user.

2. Download the script:

   # curl -O http://satellite.example.com/pub/bootstrap.py

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

3. Make the script executable:

   # chmod +x bootstrap.py

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

4. Confirm that the script is executable by viewing the help text:

   • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8:

     # /usr/libexec/platform-python bootstrap.py -h

     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   • On other Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions:

     # ./bootstrap.py -h

     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

5. Enter the bootstrap command with values suitable for your environment.

   For the --server option, specify the FQDN of Satellite Server or a Capsule Server. For the --location, --organization, and --hostgroup options, use quoted names, not labels, as arguments to the options. See Section 3.4.2, “Advanced Bootstrap Script Configuration” for advanced use cases.

   • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, enter the following command:

     # /usr/libexec/platform-python bootstrap.py \
     --login=admin \
     --server satellite.example.com \
     --location="Example Location" \
     --organization="Example Organization" \
     --hostgroup="Example Host Group" \
     --activationkey=activation_key

     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, or 7, enter the following command:

     # ./bootstrap.py --login=admin \
     --server satellite.example.com \
     --location="Example Location" \
     --organization="Example Organization" \
     --hostgroup="Example Host Group" \
     --activationkey=activation_key

     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

6. Enter the password of the Satellite user you specified with the --login option.

   The script sends notices of progress to stdout.

7. When prompted by the script, approve the host’s Puppet certificate. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Capsules and find the Satellite or Capsule Server you specified with the --server option.
8. From the list in the Actions column, select Certificates.
9. In the Actions column, click Sign to approve the host’s Puppet certificate.
10. Return to the host to see the remainder of the bootstrap process completing.
11. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > All hosts and ensure that the host is connected to the correct host group.

12. Optional: After the host registration is complete, remove the script:

    # rm bootstrap.py

    Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Procedure

1. Install the katello-agent package:

   # yum install katello-agent

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

2. Start the goferd service :

   # systemctl start goferd

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Procedure

1. On the content host, install the katello-host-tools-tracer RPM package:

   # yum install katello-host-tools-tracer

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

2. Enter the following command:

   # katello-tracer-upload

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
3. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > All hosts, then click the required host name.
4. In the Properties tab, examine the Properties table and find the Traces item. If you cannot find a Traces item in the Properties table, then Tracer is not installed.
5. Navigate to Hosts > Content Hosts, then click the required host name.
6. Click the Traces tab to view Traces.

Procedure

1. Log in to the host as the root user.

2. Install the Puppet agent package:

   # yum install puppet-agent

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

3. Configure the Puppet agent to start on boot:

   • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6:

     # chkconfig puppet on

     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

   • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7:

     # systemctl enable puppet

     Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

4. Append the following server and environment settings to the /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/puppet.conf file. Set the environment parameter to the name of the Puppet environment to which the host belongs:

   environment = My_Example_Org_Library
   server = satellite.example.com
   ca_server = satellite.example.com

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

5. Run the Puppet agent on the host:

   # puppet agent -t

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
6. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Capsules.
7. From the list in the Actions column for the required Capsule Server, select Certificates.
8. Click Sign to the right of the required host to sign the SSL certificate for the Puppet client.

9. Enter the puppet agent command again:

   # puppet agent -t

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Procedure

1. Stop the goferd service on content hosts:

   # systemctl stop goferd.service

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

2. Disable the goferd service on content hosts:

   # systemctl disable goferd.service

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

3. Remove the Katello agent on content hosts:

   Warning

   If your host is installed on Red Hat Virtualization version 4.4 or lower, do not remove the katello-agent package because the removed dependencies corrupt the host.

   # yum remove katello-agent

   Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
4. Distribute the remote execution SSH keys to the content hosts. For more information, see Section 10.8, “Distributing SSH Keys for Remote Execution”.
5. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Administer > Settings.
6. Select the Content tab.
7. Set the Use remote execution by default parameter to Yes.