Installation guide

through the Satellite's website. This feature allows you to run virtually any (compatible) application or

script on any system in your domain without ever having to open a terminal.

2.1.5.1. Enabling Commands

With the flexibility this tool offers comes great risk and the responsibility to mitigate that risk. For all

practical purposes, this feature grants a root BASH prompt to anyone with administrative access to the

system on the website.

This can be controlled, however, through the same config-enable mechanism used to determine which

systems can have their configuration files managed by Red Hat Network.

In short, you must create a directory and file on the UNIX system that tells Red Hat Network it is

acceptable to run remote commands on the machine. The directory must be named script, the file

must be named run, and both must be located in the /etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/

directory specific to your UNIX variant.

For instance, in Solaris, issue this command to create the directory:

mkdir -p /opt/redhat/rhn/sol aris/etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/script

To create the requisite file in Solaris, issue this command:

touch /opt/redhat/rhn/sol aris/etc/sysconfig/rhn/allowed-actions/script/run

2.1.5.2. Issuing Commands

You may schedule a remote command in a variety of ways: on an individual system, on multiple systems

at once, and to accompany a package action.

To run a remote command on an individual system by itself, open the System Details page and click

the Remote Comm and subtab. (Note that this subtab only appears if the system has a Provisioning

entitlement.) On this page, establish the settings for the command. You may identify a specific user,

group, and timeout period, as well as the script itself. Select a date and time to begin attempting the

command, and click the Schedule Rem ote Comm and link.

Similarly, you may issue a remote command on multiple systems at once through the System Set

Manager. Select the systems, go to the System Set Manager, click the Provisioning tab, and

scroll down to the Remote Comm and section. From there you may run a remote command on the

selected systems at once.

To run a remote command with a package action, schedule the action through the Packages tab of the

System Details page and click Run Remote Comm and while confirming the action. Use the radio

buttons at the top to determine whether the command should run before or after the package action,

establish the settings for the command, and click Schedule Package Install/Upgrade.

Note that installing multiple packages that have different remote commands requires scheduling the

installs separately or combining the commands into a single script.

Red Hat Satellite 5.6 Reference Guide