Installation guide

6.1.2.1 . Running the Export
First, be sure to configure the Satellite in the manner that you would either like to duplicate in another
Satellite or back up to a storage solution. Second, select the contents you would like to export. You can
choose not to export RPMs, errata, or kicks tarts by using the options mentioned in Section 6.1.1, “rhn-
satellite-exporter”. Finally, execute the command as root. T he following is an example command:
rhn-satellite-exporter --dir=/var/rhn-sat-export --no-errata
When finished, the export directory may be moved to another Satellite or a storage solution using rsync
or scp -r.
6.2. Importing with RHN Satellite Synchronization Tool
Before distributing packages via RHN Satellite, the packages must first be uploaded to the Satellite. T his
section describes the process for importing packages and other channel data.
Important
To populate custom channels correctly, you must firs t populate at least one Red Hat base
channel. T he RHN Sat ellit e Synchroniza tion T ool creates the necessary directory structures
and permissions; without these, the custom channel tools will not work properly. For this reas on,
you should use thes e instructions to set up your base channel(s) and then refer to the RHN
Channel Management Guide for steps to establish custom channels.
6.2.1. satellite-sync
The RHN Sate llite Synchroniza tion T ool (satellite-sync) enables an RHN Satellite to update its
database metadata and RPM packages with those of RHN's central servers, another Satellite within your
organization, or local media.
Important
Running satellite-sync can import a large amount of data, especially on newly installed
Satellite servers. If your database has performance issues after a significant amount of data
changes, consider gathering statistics on the database. Refer to Section 8.4, “Using RHN DB
Cont rol” for more information.
To launch the RHN Sat ellite Synchroniza tion T ool, execute the following command as root:
satellite-sync
This tool can be used in a clos ed environment, such as the one created with a disconnected install, or it
may obtain data directly over the Internet. Closed environment imports can get their data from
downloaded ISOs or from the XML data generated by RHN Sa te llit e Exporter.
The RHN Sate llite Synchroniza tion T ool works incrementally, or in s teps. For it to obtain Errata
information, it must first know the packages contained. For the packages to be updated, the tool must
first identify the as sociated channel(s). For this reason, the RHN Sat ellit e Synchroniza tion T ool
performs its actions in the following order:
1. channel-fam ilies — Import/synchronize channel family (architecture) data.
2. channels — Import/synchronize channel data.
3. rpm s — Import/synchronize RPMs.
4. packages — Import/synchronize full package data for those RPMs retrieved successfully.
5. errata — Import/synchronize Errata information.
Each of these steps can be initiated individually for testing purposes with the effect of forcing the tool to
stop when that step is complete. All s teps that precede it, however, will have taken place. Therefore,
calling the rpm s step will automatically ensure the channels and channel-fam ilies steps take
place firs t. T o initiate an individual step, use the --step option, like so:
satellite-sync --step=rpms
In addition to --step, the RHN Sa te llit e Synchroniza tion Tool offers many other command line
options. To use them, ins ert the option and the appropriate value after the satellite-sync command
when launching import/synchronization.
Chapter 6. Importing and Synchronizing
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