The Software Channels page is the first to appear in the Channels category. A software channel is a list of Red Hat Enterprise Linux packages grouped by use. Channels are used to choose packages to be installed on a system.

There are two types of software channels: base channels and child channels. A base channel consists of a list of packages based on a specific architecture and Red Hat Enterprise Linux release. For example, all of the packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for the x86 architecture make up a base channel. The list of packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for the Itanium architecture make up a different base channel. A child channel is a channel associated with a base channel that contains extra packages. For instance, an organization can create a child channel associated with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 for the x86 architecture that contains extra packages needed only for the organization, such as a custom engineering application.

A system must be subscribed to one base channel only. This base channel is assigned automatically during registration based upon the Red Hat Enterprise Linux release and system architecture selected. In the case of public free channels, the action will succeed. In the case of paid base channels, this action will fail if an associated entitlement doesn't exist.

A system can be subscribed to multiple child channels of its base channel. Only packages included in a system's subscribed channels can be installed or updated on that system. Further, RHN Satellite Server and RHN Proxy Server customers have channel management authority. This authority gives them the ability to create and manage their own custom channels. Refer to the RHN Channel Management Guide for details.

Channels can be further broken down by their relevance to your systems. Two such lists emerge: Relevant and All.