6.6. Channels

6.6.1.4.1. Software Channel Details ⇒ Details

General information about the channel and the parent channel, if it is a child channel. This is the first tab displayed when you click on a channel. It displays essential information about the channel, such as summary, description, and architecture.

— In addition, a Globally Subscribable checkbox can be seen by Organization Administrators and Channel Administrators. This signifies the default behavior of every channel allowing any user to subscribe systems to it. Unchecking this box and clicking Update causes the appearance of a Subscribers tab, which may then be used to grant certain users subscription permissions to the channel. Organization Administrators and Channel Administrators can always subscribe systems to any channel.

— Only customers with custom base channels may change their systems' base channel assignment. They may do this through the website in two ways:

• Customers with a custom base channel may assign the system to that base channel.

• Customers may revert system subscriptions from a custom base channel to the appropriate distribution-based base channel.

	Note
	The system base channel's distribution variant must match the variant installed on the system. For example, a system that has Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS v.4 for x86 cannot be registered to a Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES v.4 for x86 base channel.

6.6.1.4.2. Software Channel Details ⇒ Subscribers —

List of users who have subscription permissions to the channel. This tab appears on two conditions: First, the user must be an Organization Administrator or a Channel Administrator. Second, the Globally Subscribable checkbox on the Details tab must be unchecked, thereby making the channel subscribable by user. On this tab, select the checkboxes of the users to be allowed to subscribe systems to this channel and click Update. Note that Organization Administrators and Channel Administrators automatically have subscription access to all channels.

6.6.1.4.3. Software Channel Details ⇒ Managers —

List of users who have permission to manage the channel. This tab is applicable only to RHN Proxy Server and RHN Satellite Server customers with custom channel management privileges. It works much like the Subscribers tab but is available only for channels owned by the organization. There is no Globally Manageable flag like there is for subscription. A check in the Managers tab for a channel means that a user is a Channel Administrator for that channel alone. The user cannot create new channels or clone them.

6.6.1.4.4. Software Channel Details ⇒ Errata

List of Errata affecting the channel. The list displays advisory types, names, summaries, and the dates issued. Clicking on an advisory name takes you to its Errata Details page. Refer to Section 6.5.2.2 Errata Details for more information.

6.6.1.4.5. Software Channel Details ⇒ Packages

List of packages in the channel. To download packages as a .tar file, select them and click the Download Packages button at the bottom-left corner of the page. Clicking on a package name takes you to the Package Details page. This page displays a set of tabs with information about the package, including which architectures it runs on, the package size, build date, package dependencies, the change log, list of files in the package, newer versions, and which systems have the package installed. From here, you can download the packages as RPMs or SRPMs.

To search for a specific package or a subset of packages, use the package filter at the top of the list. Enter a substring to search all packages in the list for package names that contain the string. For example, typing ks in the filter might return: ksconfig, krb5-workstation, and links. The filter is case-insensitive.

6.6.1.4.6. Software Channel Details ⇒ Subscribed Systems

List of entitled systems subscribed to the channel. The list displays system names, base channels, and their levels of entitlement. Clicking on a system name takes you to its System Details page. Refer to Section 6.4.2.8 System Details for more information.

— If it is a child channel, you also have the option of unsubscribing systems from the channel. Use the checkboxes to select the systems, then click the Unsubscribe button on the bottom right-hand corner.

6.6.1.4.7. Software Channel Details ⇒ Target Systems

List of entitled systems that are eligible for subscription to the channel. This tab appears only for child channels. Use the checkboxes to select the systems, then click the Subscribe button on the bottom right-hand corner. You will receive a success message or be notified of any errors. This can also be accomplished through the Channels tab of the System Details page. Refer to Section 6.4.2.8 System Details for more information.

6.6.1.4.8. Software Channel Details ⇒ Downloads

ISO images associated with the channel. This tab appears only for base channels. Links on the Easy ISOs pages bring you to this tab for the related channel. Red Hat recommends using curl or wget for ISO downloads. Click the help on using curl or wget link for precise instructions.

6.6.1.4.9. Software Channel Details ⇒ License

Text of the channel's End User License Agreement. This tab is associated only with channels of third-party providers. It appears when you attempt to subscribe to such a channel through the Target Systems tab. To complete the subscription, read the agreement, click the Accept button, and then click the Confirm button. To decline the subscription, click the Cancel button.

6.6.5.1.1. Manage Software Channels ⇒ Channel Details ⇒ Channel Details

This screen lists the selections you made during the channel creation process. This page includes the Globally Subscribable checkbox that permits all users to subscribe to the channel.

6.6.5.1.2. Manage Software Channels ⇒ Channel Details ⇒ Managers

This subtab allows you to select which users may alter or delete this channel. Organization Administrators and Channel Administrators may alter or delete any channel.

To allow a user to alter the channel, select the checkbox next to the user's name and click the Update button. To allow all users to manage the channel, click the Select All button at the bottom of the list followed by the Update button. To remove a user's ability to manage the channel, uncheck the box next to their name and click the Update button.

6.6.5.1.3. Manage Software Channels ⇒ Channel Details ⇒ Errata

This subtab allows channel managers to list, remove, clone, and add Errata to their custom channel. Custom channels not cloned from a distribution may not add Errata until there are packages in the channel. Only Errata that match the base architecture of the channel and apply to a package in that channel may be added to the channel. Finally, only cloned or custom Errata may be added to custom channels. Errata may be included in a cloned channel if they are selected during channel creation.

6.6.5.1.4. Manage Software Channels ⇒ Channel Details ⇒ Packages

This subtab is similar to the Errata subtab. It allows Channel and Organization Administrators to list, remove, compare, and add packages to the custom channel.

To list all packages in the channel, click the List / Remove Packages link. Check the box to the left of any package you wish to remove, then click the Remove Packages button in the lower right of the page.

To add packages, click the Add Packages link. Choose a channel from which to select packages from the drop-down menu and click the View button to continue. Check the box to the left of any package you wish to add to the channel, then click the Add Packages button in the bottom right of the screen.

To compare packages within the current channel with those of another channel, select the other channel from the drop-down menu and click the Compare button. All packages present in either channel are compared, and the results displayed on the next screen. This information includes the architecture and version of each package.

To make the two channels identical, click the Merge Differences button in the lower right. The following screen allows you to select how conflicts are resolved. Click the Preview Merge button to view the results of the merging without making any changes to the channels. Finally, select those packages that you wish to merge and click the Merge Packages button followed by the Confirm button to perform the merge.

6.6.6.2.1. Manage Config Channels ⇒ Config Channels ⇒ Global —

Shown by default when you click Manage Config Channels in the left navigation bar, the Global Config Channels displays a list of configuration channels managed by your organization. Links within this list go to different tabs of the Configuration Channel Details page. Clicking on a channel name takes you to the Details tab. Clicking on the number of files takes you to the Files tab. Clicking on the number of systems takes you to the Systems tab. Refer to Section 6.6.6.5 Configuration Channel Details — for instructions.

6.6.6.2.2. Manage Config Channels ⇒ Config Channels ⇒ System —

The System Config Channels page can be retrieved by selecting it from the pulldown menu on the main Manage Config Channels page. It displays local override (system-specific) configuration channels and works similarly to the Global Config Channels page in that clicking the name of a system takes you to the List subtab of the Configuration Channel Details page. Refer to Section 6.6.6.5 Configuration Channel Details — for instructions.

6.6.6.5.1. Configuration Channel Details ⇒ Details —

General information about the channel. This is the first tab you see when you click on a channel. It displays basic information about the channel, including name and description, and provides the means to alter this information. To make changes, enter new values in the text fields and click the Edit Config Channel button.

6.6.6.5.2. Configuration Channel Details ⇒ Files —

Configuration files associated with this channel. Use the subtabs to view, upload, and create files.

6.6.6.5.2.3. Configuration Channel Details ⇒ Files ⇒ Create File —

Allows you to create a configuration file from scratch within the interface. The fields here work similarly to those on the Upload subtab: Path is the location to which the file will be deployed. The user, group, and mode fields allow you to set the file's ownership and permissions. Include the file contents in the Contents field. When finished, click the Create Config File button.

	Note
	You must enter a valid user and group for the system to which the file (or directory) will be deployed. If either is not valid, the deployment of the file fails with an error message similar to the following: Error: unable to deploy file /root/example-config-file, information on user 'jdoe' \ could not be found.

6.6.6.5.3. Configuration Channel Details ⇒ Systems —

Identifies the systems subscribed to this configuration channel. Clicking a system name takes you to the System Details page.

6.6.6.5.4. Configuration Channel Details ⇒ Target Systems —

Displays all of the systems that have Provisioning entitlements but are not yet subscribed to this config channel. To associate systems with the config channel, select their checkboxes and click the button matching the rank to be assigned. Subscribe with Highest Rank overrides all other config channels, except local configs. Subscribe with Lowest Rank ranks this config channel below all others. When done, the selected systems will appear in the Systems tab.

6.6.6.6.1. Configuration File Details ⇒ Details —

General information about the file. This is the first tab you see when you click on a file. It displays basic information about the file, including path, associated channel, revision, and date. It also provides links to download, view and edit the file, and to identify whether it is binary. Note that files larger than 16 KB cannot be edited through the RHN website. In addition, you can define macros (variables) here that will have different values interpolated when installed on various systems. Refer to Section 6.6.6.7 Including Macros in your Configuration Files for a full description of this feature.

6.6.6.6.2. Configuration File Details ⇒ Revisions —

A list of the revisions of this configuration file in the current config channel. Every change to a configuration file creates a new revision of that file in the given config channel. The latest revision of a configuration file is always the only one provided by that channel. Revision numbers for a file are tied to a channel. So revision 3 of /etc/example1 in config channel "config1" is completely independent of revision 3 of /etc/example1 in config channel "config2". You can examine revisions in the list or use the Browse and Upload File buttons to upload a more recent revision.

6.6.6.6.3. Configuration File Details ⇒ Diff —

A list of configuration files available for comparison. Click the name of the channel containing the file, then the name of the file itself. A list of differences will appear.

6.6.6.6.4. Configuration File Details ⇒ Copy —

A list of configuration channels that may receive a copy of the file. To copy the file to a channel, select the channel's checkbox and click the Copy File button.

• Copy to Config Channel — Displays the global config channels for your organization. To copy the latest revision of this file to channels, select the appropriate checkboxes, and click the Copy File button.

• Copy to System — Displays the system-specific config channels for your organization. To copy the latest revision of this file to channels, select the appropriate checkboxes, and click the Copy File button.