2.4. Tools, Repositories, and Practices

Before creating and managing channels, note the differences between the various tools and repositories at your disposal. This is especially important if you are deploying both an RHN Satellite Server and RHN Proxy Server, as this increases the utilities and storage locations available. Further, a Proxy-Satellite combination offers certain best practices for optimal performance.

First, become familiar with these package management tools:

• RHN Package Manager - Use this to push custom packages into custom channels on your RHN Proxy Server.

• RHN Push - Use this to push custom packages into custom channels on your RHN Satellite Server.

• RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool - Use this to import and synchronize standard packages from Red Hat Network to your RHN Satellite Server with Red Hat Network. This is done via the Internet or CD-ROM.

Each of these tools has a corresponding package repository. Both RHN Package Manager and RHN Push require the creation of a temporary staging directory for placement of custom packages that are uploaded to the Proxy or Satellite. You need to delete these staging directories after use.

	Tip
	Red Hat recommends archiving your custom packages externally from Red Hat Network.

If you are using both RHN Proxy Server and RHN Satellite Server, use only RHN Push and RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool. The Proxy-Satellite combination requires custom packages and channels be uploaded to the Satellite only. From there, the Proxy obtains the packages and distributes them to client systems.