Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview

Have you ever read about a new version of a software package and wanted to install it but could not find it?

Have you ever tried to find an RPM through an Internet search engine or an RPM repository and been linked to a site that you have never heard of?

Have you ever tried to find an RPM but instead found only the source files that you had to compile yourself?

Have you ever spent hours or even days visiting different websites to see if you have the latest packages installed on your system, only to have to do it again in a few months?

Those days are over with Red Hat Network (RHN). RHN provides the solution to all your system software management needs.

Red Hat Network is an Internet solution for managing a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system or a network of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. All Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts (collectively known as Errata Alerts) can be downloaded directly from Red Hat or your own custom collection. You can even have updates scheduled to be delivered directly to your system as soon as they are released.

The main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:

• the Red Hat Update Agent

• the Red Hat Network website, whether this is hosted by the central RHN Servers, an RHN Satellite Server or fed through an RHN Proxy Server

• Red Hat Network Daemon

• the Red Hat Network Registration Client - for systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 only.

The Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) provides your initial connection to Red Hat Network. Once registered, it enables channel subscription, package installs, and management of System Profiles. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and newer systems will even use the Red Hat Update Agent to register with RHN. See Chapter 2 Red Hat Update Agent for further information.

Although both the RHN website and the Red Hat Update Agent allow you to view Errata Alerts from the Red Hat Errata list and apply updates, the website offers a much more granular view of your account and provides added functionality required for management and provisioning of systems. For enterprise deployments of Red Hat Network, the website is a must.

The Red Hat Network Daemon (rhnsd) runs in the background as a service and probes the Red Hat Network for notifications and updates at set time intervals (see Chapter 3 Red Hat Network Daemon for further information). This daemon is necessary if you want to schedule updates or other actions through the website.

The Red Hat Network Registration Client allows you to register your Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 systems with RHN. (Newer versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux have registration functionality built into the Red Hat Update Agent.) Registration involves creating a unique RHN username and password, probing the hardware on your system to create a Hardware Profile, and probing the software packages installed on your system to create a Package Profile. This information is sent to RHN, and RHN returns a unique System ID to your system. See Chapter 5 Red Hat Network Registration Client for more information.

Many Red Hat Network terms are used throughout this manual. As you read the Red Hat Network Reference Guide, refer to the Glossary as necessary for an explanation of common terms.