Installation guide

Chapter 2. Configuring Client Applications
In order to use most enterprise-class features of Red Hat Network, such as registering with Red Hat
Satellite, configuration of the latest client applications is required. Obtaining these applications before the
client has registered with Red Hat Network can be difficult. T his paradox is especially problematic for
customers migrating large numbers of older systems to Red Hat Network. This chapter identifies
techniques to resolve this dilemma.
Important
Red Hat strongly recommends that clients connected to a Red Hat Proxy Server or Red Hat
Satellite Server be running the latest update of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to ensure proper
connectivity.
Additionally, if client firewalls are configured, ports 80 and 443 should be open for proper
functionality with Red Hat Network.
Not every customer must connect securely to a Red Hat Satellite or Red Hat Proxy within their
organization, nor build and deploy a GPG key for custom packages, but every customer who uses these
products must reconfigure the Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) and possibly the Red Hat Network
Regist ration Client (rhn_register) to redirect it from Red Hat Network to their Satellite or Proxy.
Important
By default, the yum command on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6 uses SSL for communication
with remote repositories. Consequently, you should ensure that firewalls allow connections over
port 443.
To bypass SSL, change the value of serverURL from https to http in the
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date file. Similarly, to use Red Hat Network's Monitoring feature
and probes requiring the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon, client systems must allow
connections on port 4545 (or port 22, if it is using sshd instead).
By default, rhn_register refers to the main Red Hat Network servers. You need to reconfigure client
systems to see Red Hat Satellite or Red Hat Proxy.
The latest versions of Red Hat Update Agent can be configured to accommodate several Red Hat
Satellite servers, thereby providing failover protection in case the primary server is inaccessible. See
Section 2.5, “Implementing Server Failover” for instructions on enabling this feature.
The following sections describe different methods of configuring the client systems to access your
Red Hat Satellite or Proxy. See the Red Hat Satellite Getting Started Guide for information about scripting
configuration commands.
2.1. Deploying the Latest Red Hat Network Client Packages
The Package Updater (pup), yum , the yum Red Hat Network Plugin (yum -rhn-plugin) and the
Red Hat Network Registration Client (rhn_register) on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6 are
prerequisites for using much of Red Hat Network's enterprise functionality. It is crucial to install them on
client systems before attempting to use Red Hat Proxy or Red Hat Satellite in your environment.
Red Hat Satellite 5.6 Client Configuration Guide
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