This chapter describes the initial installation of the RHN Satellite Server. It presumes the prerequisites listed in Chapter 2, Requirements have been met. If you are instead upgrading to a newer version of RHN Satellite Server, contact your Red Hat representative for assistance.
The RHN Satellite Server is designed to run on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS operating system. Therefore, the first phase is to install the base operating system, either from disc, ISO image, or kickstart. During and after operating system installation, make sure you:
Allocate plenty of space to the partitions storing data. The default location for channel packages is /var/satellite/. For RHN Satellite Server with Embedded Database, remember the database RPMs go in the /opt/ partition, while the database itself is built in /rhnsat/. Refer to Section 2.2, “Hardware Requirements” for precise specifications.
Enable Network Time Protocol (NTP) on the Satellite and separate database, if it exists, and select the appropriate time zone. All client systems should already be running the ntpd daemon and be set to the correct time zone.
Due to potential complications, it is strongly advised that the /home/ partition is locally mounted.