Installation guide

4 Chapter 1. Introduction

Hat Network Server. All the logic is implemented in the RHN Proxy Servers and Red Hat Network

Servers.

Optionally the RHN Package Manager can be installed and conﬁgured to serve custom packages writ-

ten speciﬁcally for the organization. These are not ofﬁcial Red Hat packages. After creating a private

RHN channel, the custom RPM packages are associated with the private channel by uploading the

package headers to the RHN Servers. Only the headers are uploaded, not the actual package ﬁles. The

headers are required because they contain crucial RPM information, such as software dependencies,

that allows RHN to automate package installation. The actual custom RPM packages are stored on the

RHN Proxy Server and sent to the client systems from inside the organization’s local area network.

Conﬁguring a computer network to use RHN Proxy Servers is straightforward. The Red Hat Network

applications on the client systems must be conﬁgured to connect to the RHN Proxy Server instead

of the Red Hat Network Servers. Refer to the RHN Client Conﬁguration Guide for details. On the

proxy side, one has to specify the next proxy in the chain (which will eventually end with a Red Hat

Network Server). If the RHN Package Manager is used, the client systems must be subscribed to the

private RHN channel.