Red Hat Satellite 6.

0
Provisioning Guide

A guide to provisioning physical and virtual hosts from Red Hat Satellite
servers.
Edition 1

Red Hat Satellite Documentation Team

Red Hat Satellite 6.0 Provisioning Guide

A guide to provisioning physical and virtual hosts from Red Hat Satellite
servers.
Edition 1
Red Hat Satellite Do cumentatio n Team

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Abstract
The Red Hat Satellite Pro visio ning Guide is a task-based do cument designed to help yo u install
and co nfigure Red Hat Satellite, ready to pro visio n physical and virtual ho sts. This includes
setting up the required netwo rk to po lo gy, co nfiguring the necessary services, and pro viding all
o f the o ther co nfiguratio n info rmatio n needed to pro visio n ho sts o n yo ur netwo rk. This guide is
aimed primarily at Satellite administrato rs with so und netwo rking kno wledge and skills.

T able of Cont ent s

T able of Contents
.Preface
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. . . . . . . . . .
1. G etting Help and G iving Feed b ac k
2
1.1. Do Yo u Need Help ?
2
1.2. We Need Feed b ac k!
2
. .hapt
C
. . . .er
. .1. .. Int
. . .roduct
. . . . . .ion
. . .t.o. Provisioning
. . . . . . . . . . . . Using
. . . . . .Red
. . . .Hat
. . . Sat
. . . ellit
. . . .e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . .
1.1. Creating a Red Hat Enterp ris e Linux Ho s t
3
1.2. Setting up the Netwo rk To p o lo g y
3
1.3. Reg is tering and Co nfig uring the Ho s t
3
1.3.1. Reg is tering to Red Hat Sub s c rip tio n Manag ement
3
1.3.2. Id entifying the Satellite Sub s c rip tio n
3
1.3.3. Co nfig uring Rep o s ito ries
5
1.3.4. Ins talling Satellite 6
5
. .hapt
C
. . . .er
. .2. .. Configuring
. . . . . . . . . . . Red
. . . . Hat
. . . .Sat
. . .ellit
. . . e. .Services
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. . . . . . . . . .
2 .1. Co nfig uring DNS, DHCP, and TFTP
6
2 .1.1. Satellite Co nfig uratio n O p tio ns
6
2 .1.2. Co nfig uring Satellite Servic es
7
2 .2. As s o c iating O b jec ts with the Default O rg aniz atio n and Lo c atio n
8
. .hapt
C
. . . .er
. .3.
. .Import
. . . . . .ing
. . . Subscript
. . . . . . . . .ions
. . . . and
. . . .Synchroniz
. . . . . . . . . .ing
. . . Cont
. . . . .ent
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. 0. . . . . . . . . .
3 .1. Creating a Manifes t
10
3 .2. Up lo ad ing a Manifes t to yo ur Satellite Server
10
3 .3. Enab ling Red Hat Rep o s ito ries
10
3 .4. Creating Cus to m Pro d uc ts and Rep o s ito ries
11
3 .5. Sync hro niz ing Co ntent
12
. .hapt
C
. . . .er
. .4. .. Cont
. . . . ent
. . . .Management
. . . . . . . . . . . .and
. . . .Promot
. . . . . . ion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. 3. . . . . . . . . .
4 .1. Creating Ap p lic atio n Life-c yc le Enviro nments
13
4 .2. Creating Co ntent Views
13
4 .3. Ad d ing Red Hat Enterp ris e Linux Rep o s ito ries
13
4 .4. Ad d ing Pup p et Mo d ules
14
4 .5. Pub lis hing a Co ntent View
14
4 .6 . Creating and Ed iting Ac tivatio n Keys
15
. .hapt
C
. . . .er
. .5.
. .Finaliz
. . . . . .ing
. . .Provisioning
. . . . . . . . . . . .Configurat
. . . . . . . . . ion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. 6. . . . . . . . . .
5 .1. Co nfig uring Pro vis io ning Temp lates
16
5 .2. Creating Ho s t G ro up s
16
. .hapt
C
. . . .er
. .6. .. Provisioning
. . . . . . . . . . . .Host
. . . . s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. 8. . . . . . . . . .
. .lossary
G
. . . . . . .of
. . T. erms
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. 9. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .Hist
Revision
. . . ory
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 3. . . . . . . . . .

Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

Preface
1. Get t ing Help and Giving Feedback
1.1. Do You Need Help?
If you experience difficulty with a procedure described in this documentation, visit the Red Hat
Customer Portal at http://access.redhat.com. Through the customer portal, you can:
search or browse through a knowledgebase of technical support articles about Red Hat products.
submit a support case to Red Hat Global Support Services (GSS).
access other product documentation.
Red Hat also hosts a large number of electronic mailing lists for discussion of Red Hat software and
technology. You can find a list of publicly available mailing lists at
https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo. Click on the name of any mailing list to subscribe to that list
or to access the list archives.

1.2. We Need Feedback!

If you find a typographical error in this manual, or if you have thought of a way to make this manual
better, we would love to hear from you! Please submit a report in Bugzilla: http://bugzilla.redhat.com/
against the product R ed H at Sat ellit e 6 .
When submitting a bug report, be sure to mention the manual's identifier: Provisioning_Guide
If you have a suggestion for improving the documentation, try to be as specific as possible when
describing it. If you have found an error, please include the section number and some of the
surrounding text so we can find it easily.

Chapt er 1 . Int roduct ion t o Provisioning Using Red Hat Sat ellit e

Chapter 1. Introduction to Provisioning Using Red Hat Satellite

This guide is designed to help you configure a Red Hat Satellite server to provision hosts. This
includes installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, describes a typical network topology and the expected
services available, and registering the host to Red Hat Subscription Management.

1.1. Creat ing a Red Hat Ent erprise Linux Host

Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, version 6.6 or later on x86_64 using either the @Core or @Base
package set. For more information about installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6 Installation Guide.

1.2. Set t ing up t he Net work T opology

This guide assumes that the host running Satellite 6 is deployed on a dedicated subnet where it can
enable D HCP, D NS, and TFTP services. These examples use the 172.17.13.0/24 subnet. In addition,
it uses the example.org D NS domain, which is managed by the Satellite.
These examples also assume the following network details for the Satellite host. Adjust these
parameters to suit your deployment:
Hostname: satellite.example.org
IP address = 172.17.13.2
Netmask: 255.255.255.0

1.3. Regist ering and Configuring t he Host

The following sections describe how to register your host, identify subscriptions, and attach those
subscriptions so that the host can consume content.

1.3.1. Regist ering t o Red Hat Subscript ion Management

The first step in this process is to register the host to Red Hat Subscription Management. This
enables the host to subscribe to and consume content for any subscriptions available to the user.
This includes content such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Software Collections (RHSCL), and
Red Hat Satellite. Use the subscri pti o n_manag er reg i ster command to register your Satellite:
# subscription-manager register
Username: demouser
Password:
The system has been registered with ID: 541084ff2-44cab-4eb1-9fa17683431bcf9a

1.3.2. Ident ifying t he Sat ellit e Subscript ion

After you have registered your host, you need to identify your Satellite subscription Pool ID . You
need this ID so that you can attach the required subscription to your host. The Satellite subscription
provides access to the Satellite content, as well as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat
Software Collections (RHSCL), and Red Hat Satellite. This is the only subscription required.

Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

Run the following command to identify your Satellite subscription:

# subscription-manager list --all --available
Subscription Name: Red Hat Satellite
Provides:
Oracle Java (for RHEL Server)
Red Hat Satellite 6 Beta
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Satellite
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Load Balancer (for RHEL
Server)
SKU:
MCT0370
Pool ID:
8a85f9874152663c0541943739717d11
Available:
3
Suggested:
1
Service Level:
Premium
Service Type:
L1-L3
Multi-Entitlement: No
Ends:
10/07/2014
System Type:
Physical

Important
Make a note of the Pool ID ; you need this value to attach your subscription to your Satellite
host. In this example the Pool ID is 8a85f9874152663c0541943739717d11. The Pool ID for
your subscription will be different.
Run the following command to attach your subscription to your Satellite. Ensure you substitute your
own Pool ID :
# subscription-manager attach --pool=8a85f9874152663c0541943739717d11
Successfully attached a subscription for: Red Hat Satellite
Run the following command to ensure that the subscriptions were successfully attached:
# subscription-manager list --consumed
+-------------------------------------------+
Consumed Subscriptions
+-------------------------------------------+
Subscription Name: Red Hat Satellite
Provides:
Red Hat Satellite
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Red Hat Software Collections (for RHEL Server)
Red Hat Satellite Beta
Red Hat Satellite 6 Beta
Red Hat Software Collections Beta (for RHEL Server)
Red Hat Satellite Capsule Beta
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Load Balancer (for RHEL
Server)
Red Hat Satellite with Embedded Oracle
Red Hat Satellite Capsule
Red Hat Enterprise Linux High Availability (for RHEL
Server)
SKU:
MCT0370

Chapt er 1 . Int roduct ion t o Provisioning Using Red Hat Sat ellit e

Contract:
Account:
Serial:
Pool ID:
Active:
Quantity Used:
Service Level:
Service Type:
Status Details:
Starts:
Ends:
System Type:

10293569
5361051
1653856191250699363
8a85f9874152663c0541943739717d11
True
1
Premium
L1-L3
10/08/2013
10/07/2014
Physical

1.3.3. Configuring Reposit ories

You need to disable all existing repositories and only enable the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat
Software Collections, and Satellite 6 repositories. Run the following commands:
# subscription-manager repos --disable=*
# subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-6-server-rpms \
--enable rhel-server-rhscl-6-rpms --enable rhel-6-server-satellite-6.0rpms

1.3.4 . Inst alling Sat ellit e 6

Install the katello package to install Satellite 6:
# yum install katello

Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

Chapter 2. Configuring Red Hat Satellite Services

In this example configuration, the Satellite is responsible for provisioning hosts in the 172.17.13.0/24
subnet. This section describes how to configure the various proxies (D NS, D HCP, and TFTP) to
service the clients that are being provisioned on the subnet.

2.1. Configuring DNS, DHCP, and T FT P

This section also describes how to configure Satellite to run BIND (named ) hosting the
exampl e. o rg zone and the 13. 17. 172. i n-ad d r. arpa D NS zone. Further, it describes how to
configure the TFTP proxy so that hosts can boot using PXE.
Clients on this network will have the following characteristics:
Have access to IP addresses in the range 172.17.13.100 to 172.17.13.150 for D HCP.
Use the Satellite (satel l i te. exampl e. o rg at 172.17.13.2) for D NS.
Receive a pxel i nux. 0 file from Satellite (satel l i te. exampl e. o rg at 172.17.13.2) to enable
PXE-booting.
Have host names of hostname. exampl e. o rg , where hostname is configured when the host is
provisioned.

Important
This example enables D HCP services on the Satellite server. Consult your network
administrator before proceeding.

2.1.1. Sat ellit e Configurat ion Opt ions

The following table describes the various options and the values required to correctly configure the
Satellite server. The katel l o -i nstal l er command uses Puppet; consequently, it will install
additional packages (bind, dhcp, xinetd, and so on) and configure them to add the requested
functionality.
For a complete list of available options, run katel l o -i nstal l er --hel p.
T ab le 2.1. Sat ellit e C o n f ig u rat io n O p t io n s
O p t io n

D escrip t io n

Valu e

--foreman-admin-username
--foreman-admin-password
--capsule-dns
--capsule-dns-interface
--capsule-dns-zone

The user name for the initial administrator.

The password for the initial administrator.
Enable D NS proxy capability
Which interface named should listen on
The Forward D NS zone that the Satellite will
host
The D NS server that unknown queries are
forwarded to

User specified.
User specified.
yes
eth0
example.org

--capsule-dns-forwarders

172.17.13.1

Chapt er 2 . Configuring Red Hat Sat ellit e Services

O p t io n

D escrip t io n

Valu e

--capsule-dns-reverse

The Reverse D NS zone the Satellite hosts. This

is usually the first three octets of the IP address
(172.17.13) reversed , and appended with " .inaddr.arpa" .
Enable D HCP proxy capability
The interface that D HCP listens on
The range of IP addresses to issue to clients.

13.17.172.inaddr.arpa

--capsule-dhcp
--capsule-dhcp-interface
--capsule-dhcp-range
--capsule-dhcp-gateway
--capsule-dhcp-nameservers

--capsule-tftp
--capsule-tftp-servername
--capsule-puppet
--capsule-puppet-ca

The default gateway IP to issue to clients.

The host that the clients should use for name
resolution. This should be configured with the
Satellite's IP in this deployment model.
Enable TFTP proxy capability. This is needed to
PXE boot the clients.
Sets the TFTP host name. Set this to match the
server's host name (satellite.example.org).
Enable the Puppet Master.
Enable the Puppet CA.

yes
eth0
172.17.13.100
172.172.13.150
172.17.13.1
172.17.13.2

yes
$(hostname)
yes
yes

2.1.2. Configuring Sat ellit e Services

Run the following katel l o -i nstal l er command as root, using the specified options to configure
the required services on the Satellite server. Remember to substitute your desired administrator user
name and password.

Important
If you do not specify the administrator user name and password, the default user ad mi n is
created, and the password is automatically generated. The credentials are displayed at the
end of the installation process. Make a note of this password. You can also retrieve the
password from admin_password parameter in the /etc/katel l o i nstal l er/answers. katel l o -i nstal l er. yaml file.

katello-installer -v \
--foreman-admin-username admin-username \
--foreman-admin-password admin-password \
--capsule-dns true \
--capsule-dns-interface eth0 \
--capsule-dns-zone example.org \
--capsule-dns-forwarders 172.17.13.1 \
--capsule-dns-reverse 13.17.172.in-addr.arpa \
--capsule-dhcp true \
--capsule-dhcp-interface eth0 \
--capsule-dhcp-range "172.17.13.100 172.17.13.150" \
--capsule-dhcp-gateway 172.17.13.1 \
--capsule-dhcp-nameservers 172.17.13.2 \
--capsule-tftp true \
--capsule-tftp-servername $(hostname) \
--capsule-puppet true \
--capsule-puppetca true

Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

At the end of the installation process, katel l o -i nstal l er outputs the status of the installation.
Success!
* Katello is running at
Default credentials
* Capsule is running at
* To install additional
running:"

https://satellite.example.org
are 'admin:*******'
https://satellite.example.org:9090
capsule on separate machine continue by

capsule-certs-generate --capsule-fqdn "$CAPSULE" --certs-tar

"~/$CAPSULE-certs.tar"
The full log is at /var/log/katello-installer/katello-installer.log
Use a web browser to navigate to https://satellite.example.org to display the Satellite home page. This
example uses the default organization (D efault_Organization) and the default location.

2.2. Associat ing Object s wit h t he Default Organiz at ion and Locat ion
Because Satellite 6 supports multiple organizations (logical management divisions) and locations
(physical divisions of content delivery), you need to associate your templates, subnets, and other
items needed for provisioning with the default organization (D efault_Organization) and the default
location (D efault_Location).
Use the following procedures to make all the pre-'seeded' content available to the default
organization (D efault_Organization):
Pro ced u re 2.1. T o Sp ecif y t h e D ef au lt Lo cat io n :
1. On the main menu, click Ad min ist er Lo cat io n s and then click D efaul t_Lo cati o n in
the Name column.
2. Click O rg ani zati o ns to display the list of organizations.
3. Click D efaul t_O rg ani zati o n to add it to the Sel ected i tems list, and then click
Submi t.
Pro ced u re 2.2. T o Sp ecif y t h e D ef au lt O rg an iz at io n :
1. On the main menu, click Ad min ist er O rg an iz at io n s and then click
D efaul t_O rg ani zati o n in the Name column.
2. Click Lo cati o ns to display the list of available locations.
3. Click D efaul t_Lo cati o n to add it to the Sel ected i tems list, and then click Submi t.
Pro ced u re 2.3. T o Asso ciat e t h e D o main wit h t h e D ef au lt O rg an iz at io n :
1. On the main menu, click In f rast ru ct u re D o main s to open the D o mai ns screen.
2. Click exampl e. o rg in the D escri pti o n column. This opens the Ed i t D o mai n screen
where you can update the details of the domain.
3. On the D o mai n tab, change the D NS domain to reflect the host name of the Satellite.
4. Set the D NS C apsul e value to the Satellite server.

Chapt er 2 . Configuring Red Hat Sat ellit e Services

5. On the Lo cati o ns tab, click D efault_Location to add it to the Sel ected i tems list. This
associates the domain with the default location.
6. On the O rg ani zati o ns tab, click D efault_Organization to add it to the Sel ected i tems
list. This associates the domain with the default organization.
7. Click Submi t to apply your changes.
Pro ced u re 2.4 . T o Select t h e D ef au lt Su b n et :
1. On the main menu, click In f rast ru ct u re Su b n et s.
2. Click Imp o rt Su b n et s from the drop-down list on the right side, and complete the following
information. Remember to update the details to suit your own deployment:
Name: Provisioning_Net
Network address: 172.17.13.0
Network mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway Address: 172.17.13.1
Primary D NS Server: 172.17.13.2
Secondary D NS Server: Leave blank
Start of IP Range: 172.17.13.100
End of IP Range: 172.17.13.150
VLAN ID : Leave blank
3. Click Submi t.
4. Click Provisioning_Net to edit the subnet.
5. On the D o mai ns tab, select example.org
6. On the C apsul es tab, change the D NS, D HCP, and TFTP capsules to reflect the host name
of the Satellite.
7. On the Lo cati o ns tab, select D efault_Location under Al l i tems to associate the domain
with the default location.
8. On the O rg ani zati o ns tab, select D efault_Organization under Al l i tems to associate
the domain with the default organization.

Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

Chapter 3. Importing Subscriptions and Synchronizing Content

This section describes how to set up Satellite to download and manage content. This includes
uploading a manifest file to the Satellite server, enabling Red Hat repositories, creating custom
products, and synchronizing content.

3.1. Creat ing a Manifest

This sections describes how to create a suitable manifest for your Red Hat Satellite.
Pro ced u re 3.1. T o C reat e a Man if est f o r Sat ellit e 6 :
1. Navigate to access.redhat.com and click SUBSC R IP T IO NS on the main menu.
2. Click Subscri pti o n Manag ement Appl i cati o ns in the R ed Hat
Subscri pti o n Manag ement section.
3. Locate the system for which you need to create a manifest. Ensure the correct version is still
selected.
4. For each subscription that you want to attach, select the check box for that subscription, and
specify the quantity of subscriptions to attach.
5. Click Attach Sel ected .

Note
It can take several minutes for all the subscriptions to attach. Refresh the screen every
few minutes until you receive confirmation that the subscriptions have successfully
attached.
6. After the subscriptions have successfully attached, click D o wnl o ad Mani fest and save the
manifest file to a known location.

3.2. Uploading a Manifest t o your Sat ellit e Server

Pro ced u re 3.2. T o U p lo ad a Man if est t o yo u r Sat ellit e Server:
1. If you have not already selected the correct Organization, click An y C o n t ext An y
O rg an iz at io n D ef au lt _O rg an iz at io n .
2. Click C o n t en t R ed H at Su b scrip t io n s.
3. Click Manag e Mani fest to open the Subscri pti o n Mani fest page.
4. Click Bro wse to select a suitable manifest, and then click O pen.
5. Click Upl o ad to upload the manifest to the Satellite server.
The Satellite reports " Manifest successfully imported" when the upload completes successfully.

3.3. Enabling Red Hat Reposit ories

10

Chapt er 3. Import ing Subscript ions and Synchroniz ing Cont ent

This section describes how to enable the required Red Hat repositories in order to support
provisioning a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 host. Select the required release to suit your deployment.
The following repositories will be enabled:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server (Kickstart): This allows Satellite to kickstart a host. This is
roughly analogous to a Satellite 5 " kickstart tree."
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server (RPMs): This provides ongoing content and errata. This is
roughly analogous to the Satellite 5 " rhel-x86_64-server-6" channel.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server - RH Common (RPMs): This provides supporting software, such
as Puppet and katello-agent. This is roughly analogous to the Satellite 5 " rhn-tools-rhel-x86_64server-6" channel.
Pro ced u re 3.3. T o En ab le R ed H at R ep o sit o ries:
1. Select C o n t en t R ed H at R ep o sit o ries.
2. On the R P Ms tab, navigate to R ed H at En t erp rise Lin u x Server R ed H at
En t erp rise Lin u x 6 Server ( K ickst art ) and select the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server
Kickstart x86_64 6.5 (or later) repository.

Important
D o NOT select the 6Server Kickstart repository; future versions of Satellite hide these
unnecessary Kickstart repositories.
3. On the R P Ms tab, navigate to R ed H at En t erp rise Lin u x Server R ed H at
En t erp rise Lin u x 6 Server ( R PMs) and select the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server RPMs
x86_64 6Server repository.
4. On the R P Ms tab, navigate to R ed H at En t erp rise Lin u x Server R ed H at
En t erp rise Lin u x 6 Server - R H C o mmo n ( R PMs) and select the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6 Server - RH Common RPMs x86_64 repository.

3.4 . Creat ing Cust om Product s and Reposit ories

This section describes how to create a custom product, reflecting the Puppet modules to deploy. You
can also use this procedure to create custom repositories for both Puppet and Yum.
Pro ced u re 3.4 . T o C reat e a C u st o m Pro d u ct :
1. Click C o n t en t Pro d u ct s and then click New P ro d uct.
2. Enter C usto m P ro d ucts in the Name field. The label is automatically generated. You do not
need to enter a GPG key, synchronization plan or description.
3. Click Save.
4. After the screen refreshes, click C reate R epo si to ry.
5. Enter P uppet Mo d ul es for the name. The label is automatically generated.
6. In the T ype field, select puppet. Leave the UR L field blank.
7. Click Save.

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Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

The next step is to upload a Puppet Module to the Puppet Module repository. You can also use the
https://forge.puppetlabs.com as the URL to mirror Puppet Forge locally. This means that all of the
content from Puppet Forge will be available on your Satellite. However, this requires downloading
over 2700 modules and can take considerable time, depending on available bandwidth. This
example uses the motd module because it is simple, and has no dependencies on other modules.
Pro ced u re 3.5. T o U p lo ad a Pu p p et Mo d u le t o t h e R ep o sit o ry:
1. D ownload the motd puppet module from https://forge.puppetlabs.com/jeffmccune/motd. The
file that you download will have a . tar. g z extension.
2. Click C o n t en t Pro d u ct s and then click C usto m P ro d ucts in the Name field.
3. On the R epo si to ri es tab, click P uppet Mo d ul es to modify the Puppet Modules
repository.
4. In the Upl o ad P uppet Mo d ul e section, click Bro wse, and navigate to the motd module
that you downloaded.
5. Click Upl o ad . Satellite displays C o ntent successful l y upl o ad ed after the upload
completes successfully.

3.5. Synchroniz ing Cont ent

This section describes how to synchronize repositories from the Red Hat Content D elivery Network to
your Satellite. This procedure also applies to synchronizing custom repositories (that is, Yum or
Puppet) that contain a repository URL.
Pro ced u re 3.6 . T o Syn ch ro n iz e R ep o sit o ries t o Yo u r Sat ellit e:
1. Click C o n t en t Syn c St at u s to display the list of available products.
2. Navigate to R ed H at En t erp rise Lin u x Server 6 Server x86 _6 4 .
3. Select the following products:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server RPMs x86_64 6Server.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server - RH Common RPMs x86_64.
4. Navigate to R ed H at En t erp rise Lin u x Server 6 .6 x86 _6 4 and select Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6 Server Kickstart x86_64 6.6.
5. Click Synchro ni ze No w.
Wait for the repositories to synchronize; this could take several hours, depending on available
bandwidth.

12

Chapt er 4 . Cont ent Management and Promot ion

Chapter 4. Content Management and Promotion

This chapter describes how to set up Application Life-cycle Environments and Content Views, as well
as how to add Red Hat Enterprise Linux repositories and Puppet modules. It also describes how to
publish Content Views and how to create and edit Activation Keys.
The procedures in this chapter assume that you have successfully completed the steps in Chapter 3,
Importing Subscriptions and Synchronizing Content.

4 .1. Creat ing Applicat ion Life-cycle Environment s

An Application Life Cycle Environment represents a step, or stage, in a promotion path through the
Software D evelopment Life Cycle (SD LC). The first part of this example configures two Life-cycle
Environments: D ev; and QA. The second part of the example creates a Content View for use with
those environments.
Pro ced u re 4 .1. T o C reat e Ap p licat io n Lif e- cycle En viro n men t s:
1. Click C o n t en t Lif e- cycle En viro n men t s to open the Li fe-cycl e Envi ro nment
P aths screen.
2. Click the " plus" (+) sign next to the Li brary environment to display the C reate
Envi ro nment section. The Li brary is the origin of all content that you can use in your
environments.
3. Type D ev in the Name field; the label is automatically populated.
4. Click Save.
5. Click the " plus" (+) sign next to the newly-created D ev environment, and this time create an
environment called Q A.
6. Click Save.

4 .2. Creat ing Cont ent Views

A Content View is a managed selection of content, which contains one or more repositories (either
yum or Puppet) with optional filtering. These filters can be either inclusive or exclusive, and tailor a
host view of content for life cycle management. They are used to customize content to be made
available to client hosts.
Pro ced u re 4 .2. T o C reat e a C o n t en t View:
1. Click C o n t en t C o n t en t Views and then click C reate New Vi ew.
2. Type RHEL6 x86_64 in the Name field; the label is automatically populated.
3. Ensure the C o mpo si te Vi ew check box is cleared, and then click Save.
After you have successfully created the Content View, the R epo si to ry Sel ecti o n screen displays
automatically. Use this screen to add selected repositories and Puppet Modules to the Content View.

4 .3. Adding Red Hat Ent erprise Linux Reposit ories

The following procedure describes how to add Enterprise Linux repositories to the content view

13

Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

created in the previous step. You can use the same procedure to add any Red Hat or custom
repository.
This example shows a simple use case where all content is published. You can also create filters to
control the content that is included in or excluded from the published Content View.
Pro ced u re 4 .3. T o Ad d t h e R ed H at En t erp rise Lin u x R PM R ep o sit o ries:
1. On the C o ntent Sel ecti o n screen, on the Ad d tab, select the check box next to each of
the following repositories:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server Kickstart x86_64 6Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server RPMs x86_64 6Server
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server - RH Common RPMs x86_64
2. Click Ad d R epo si to ri es. You can see the list of repositories in your Content View on the
Li st/R emo ve tab.

4 .4 . Adding Puppet Modules

The following procedure describes how to add the motd Puppet Module that was uploaded in
Procedure 3.5, To Upload a Puppet Module to the Repository: . Puppet Modules are self-contained
bundles of code and data that you can use to manage resources such as users, files, and services.
Pro ced u re 4 .4 . T o Ad d a Pu p p et Mo d u le:
1. Ensure you are still on the C o ntent Vi ews page; on the main menu, click C o n t en t
C o n t en t Views.
2. On the P uppet Mo d ul es tab, click Ad d New Mo d ul e to display a list of available Puppet
Modules. You can use the Fi l ter field to help locate the required module.
3. Click Sel ect Versi o n to select the motd module.
4. Click Sel ect Versi o n next to the version of the module that you want to add.

Note
If you select " Use Latest" when you select which Puppet module version to use, it
means that whenever a new version of the Content View is published, the latest version
of that module is included in the published view.

4 .5. Publishing a Cont ent View

If you have successfully completed all of the preceding steps, your Red Hat Satellite now has one
content view, which contains three Red Hat Enterprise Linux repositories, and one Puppet Module.
The next step is to publish it to the Library.
Pro ced u re 4 .5. T o Pu b lish a C o n t en t View t o t h e Lib rary:
1. Click C o n t en t C o n t en t Views to display the C o ntent Vi ews page.

14

Chapt er 4 . Cont ent Management and Promot ion

2. Click the name of the Content View that you want to publish.
3. Click P ubl i sh New Versi o n to display the P ubl i sh New Versi o n page. This specifies
the version and allows you to enter a comment to reflect any changes made to the content
view.
4. Click Save to publish the Content View to the Library. You can monitor the publication
progress on the screen that appears.
5. When the publishing process is complete, click P ro mo te to display the list of available
Promotion Paths (Library -> D ev -> QA).
6. Select the check box for the D ev environment, and then click P ro mo te Versi o n.
Satellite displays a " Successfully promoted" message after the content view has been successfully
promoted.

4 .6. Creat ing and Edit ing Act ivat ion Keys
After you have successfully published a content view, you need to create an Activation Key. In a later
procedure, the Activation Key is associated with a Host Group. This allows the provisioned host to be
registered to the Satellite and associated with the selected Life-cycle Environment, Content View,
Subscriptions, and so on.
Pro ced u re 4 .6 . T o C reat e an Act ivat io n K ey:
1. On the main menu, click C o n t en t Act ivat io n K eys and then click New Acti vati o n
Key.
2. In the Name field, type ak-R eg _to _D ev.
3. For the purposes of this example, clear the C o ntent Ho st Li mi t check box.
You can use this field to control how many times a given Activation Key is used. For example,
if you associate the key with a subscription that has a limited quantity, you can set the limit
on the Activation Key to eliminate exceeding that quantity.
4. Select the check box for the D ev environment.
5. In the C o ntent Vi ew drop-down list, select the RHEL 6 x86_64 Content View, and then click
Save.
After you have created the Activation Key, you can edit various parameters for that key.
Pro ced u re 4 .7. T o Ed it Act ivat io n K ey Paramet ers:
1. On the Acti vati o n Keys page, click Su b scrip t io n s Ad d to display the list of
available subscriptions.
2. Select the check box next to each subscription that you want to attach to each host that uses
this activation key.
3. Click Ad d Sel ected .
Report a bug

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Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

Chapter 5. Finalizing Provisioning Configuration

After you have successfully created a Content View and Activation Key, you need to set up the
remaining items necessary to provision a host. This includes configuring provisioning templates and
creating host groups.

5.1. Configuring Provisioning T emplat es

This section describes how to set up a provisioning template that you can use to provision multiple
hosts, each having the same configuration.
Pro ced u re 5.1. T o C o n f ig u re a Pro visio n in g T emp lat e:
1. On the main menu, click H o st s Pro visio n in g T emp lat es.
2. In the Name column, click Satel l i te Ki ckstart D efaul t in the list of provisioning
templates. This displays the configuration tabs where you can customize the template.
3. On the Asso ci ati o n tab, select RHEL Server 6.5 from the list of applicable operating
systems, and then click Submi t.
4. In the Name column, click Ki ckstart d efaul t P XELi nux in the list of provisioning
templates.
5. On the Asso ci ati o n tab, select RHEL Server 6.5 from the list of applicable operating
systems, and then click Submi t.
6. On the main menu, click H o st s O p erat in g Syst ems and then click RHEL Server 6.5.
This displays the configuration tabs where you can customize the operating system.
7. On the P arti ti o n T abl e tab, select Ki ckstart D efaul t.
8. On the Installation Media tab, ensure
D efault_Organization/Library/Red_Hat_6_Server_Kickstart_x86_64_6Server is visible and
selected.
9. On the Templates tab, select Ki ckstart d efaul t P XELi nux from the P XELi nux dropdown list.
10. Select Satel l i te Ki ckstart D efaul t from the P ro vi si o n drop-down list, and then
click Submi t.
Report a bug

5.2. Creat ing Host Groups

This section describes how to create and configure a Host Group. A Host Group is effectively a host
template that you can reuse to provision multiple hosts without the need to specify the same
properties for each host.
Pro ced u re 5.2. T o C reat e a H o st G ro u p :
1. On the main menu, click C o n f ig u re H o st G ro u p s, and then click New Ho st G ro up.
2. On the Ho st G ro up tab, complete the following values:

16

Chapt er 5. Finaliz ing Provisioning Configurat ion

Name: RHEL6Server-x86_64
Li fecycl e Envi ro nment: D efault_Organization/D EV
C o ntent Vi ew: RHEL_6_x86_64

Note
This field only appears after you enter a value in the Li fecycl e Envi ro nment
field.
C o ntent So urce: The FQD N of your Satellite.
P uppet C A: The FQD N of your Satellite.
P uppet Master: The FQD N of your Satellite.
3. On the P uppet C l asses tab, select the motd puppet module from the list of available
classes.
4. On the Netwo rk tab, select the following values:
D o mai n: example.org
Subnet: Provisioning_Net
R eal m: For the purposes of this example, leave this field blank. If you have configured
realm management, for example IPA, select the appropriate realm here.
5. On the O perati ng System tab, select the following values:
Archi tecture: x86_64
O perati ng system: RHEL Server 6.5
Med i a: D efault_Organization/Library Red Hat Server 6.5 x86_64. In this example, this is
automatically populated.
P arti ti o n tabl e: Kickstart default
R o o t passwo rd : changeme
6. On the Lo cati o ns tab, select D efault_location.
7. On the O rg ani zati o ns tab, select D efault_Organization.
8. On the Acti vati o n Keys tab, select ak-Reg_To_D ev from the Acti vati o n Keys list.
9. Click Submi t.
Report a bug

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Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

Chapter 6. Provisioning Hosts

This chapter describes how to provision a new host using the Red Hat Satellite Server. The
preceding chapters worked through installing and configuring everything that is required for
provisioning; ensure that you have successfully completed all of the tasks in those chapters before
you attempt to provision hosts.
Ad d in g a N ew H o st
The following procedure describes how to provision a host from your Satellite 6 Server.
Pro ced u re 6 .1. T o Pro visio n a H o st :
1. On the main menu, click H o st s N ew H o st to open the New Ho st page.
2. On the Ho st tab, complete the following values:
Name: Choose a suitable name for your host. For example, host1.example.org.
Ho st G ro up: Select RHEL6Server-x86_64

Note
New hosts inherit the default values configured for the host group. This means you
can quickly build a host without reentering those values.
C o ntent So urce: The $FQD N of your Satellite. This is automatically selected based on
the Host Group.
3. On the Netwo rk tab, complete the following values:
MAC Ad d ress: The MAC address of the new host. The Satellite server reserves a D HCP
address using this value. Ensure you enter it correctly.
Subnet: P ro vi si o ni ng _Net This value is automatically populated.
IP Ad d ress: This value is automatically populated.
D o not make any changes to the P uppet C l asses, O perati ng System, P arameters, or
Ad d i ti o nal Info rmati o n tabs.
4. Click Submi t.
5. Power on your host (either physical host or virtual machine); it will PXE-boot and begin its
installation process.
See https://access.redhat.com/articles/1169613 for more information.

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G lossary of T erms

Glossary of Terms
The following terms are used throughout this document. Familiarize yourself with these terms to help
your understanding of Red Hat Satellite 6.
Act ivat io n K ey
A registration token used in a Kickstart file to control actions at registration. These are
similar to Activation Keys in Red Hat Satellite 5, but provide a subset of features because
Puppet controls package and configuration management after registration.
Ap p licat io n Lif e C ycle En viro n men t
An Application Life Cycle Environment represents a step, or stage, in a promotion path through
the Software D evelopment Life Cycle (SD LC). Promotion paths are also known as
development paths. Content such as packages and Puppet modules move through life
cycle environments by publishing and promoting Content Views. All Content Views have
versions, which means you can promote a specific version through a typical promotion
path; for example, from development to test to production. Channel cloning implements this
concept in Red Hat Satellite 5.
At t ach
The process of associating a Subscription to a Host that provides access to RPM content.
C ap su le
A Capsule is an additional server that can be used in a Red Hat Satellite 6 deployment to
facilitate content federation and distribution in addition to other localized services (Puppet
Master, D HC P , D NS, T FT P , and more).
C o mp u t e Pro f ile
Compute Profiles specify default attributes for new virtual machines on a compute resource.
C o mp u t e R eso u rce
A Compute Resource is virtual or cloud infrastructure, which Red Hat Satellite 6 uses for the
deployment of hosts. Examples include Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager,
OpenStack, EC2, and VMWare.
C o n t en t
Content includes software packages (RPM files) and Puppet modules. These are
synchronized into the Library and then promoted into Life Cycle Environments using
Content Views so that they can be consumed by Hosts.
C o n t en t D elivery N et wo rk ( C D N )
The Content Delivery Network (CDN) is the mechanism used to deliver Red Hat content in a
geographically co-located fashion. For example, content that is synchronized by a Satellite
in Europe pulls content from a source in Europe.
C o n t en t View
A Content View is a definition of content that combines products, packages, and Puppet
modules with capabilities for intelligent filtering and creating snapshots. Content Views are
a refinement of the combination of channels and cloning from Red Hat Satellite 5.
E xt ern al N o d e C lassif ier

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Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

An External Node Classifier is a Puppet construct that provides additional data for a Puppet
Master to use when configuring Hosts. Red Hat Satellite 6 acts as an External Node
Classifier to Puppet Masters in a Satellite deployment.
F act er
Facter is a program that provides information (facts) about the host on which it is run; for
example, Facter can report total memory, operating system version, architecture, and more.
Puppet modules enable specific configurations based on host data gathered by Facter.
H ammer
Hammer is a command line tool for Red Hat Satellite 6. Use Hammer to manage Red Hat
Satellite 6 as a standard CLI, for scripts, and also through an interactive shell.
H iera
Hiera is a key/value look-up tool for configuration data which allows keeping site-specific
data out of puppet manifests.
H o st
A Host refers to any host, either physical or virtual, that Red Hat Satellite 6 manages.
H o st C o llect io n
A Host Collection is equivalent to a Satellite 5 System Group, that is, a user defined group of
one or more Hosts.
H o st G ro u p
A Host Group is a template for building a Host. This includes the content view (which defines
the available RPM files and Puppet modules) and the Puppet classes to apply (which
ultimately determines the software and configuration).
L o cat io n
A Location is collection of default settings that represent a physical place. These can be
nested so that you can set up an hierarchical collection of locations. For example, you can
set up defaults for " Middle East" , which are refined by " Tel Aviv" , which are further refined
by " D ata Center East" , and then finally by " Rack 22" .
L ib rary
The Library contains every version, including the latest synchronized version, of the
software that the user will ever deploy. For an Information Technology Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) [1] organization or department, this is the D efinitive Media Library [2] (previously
named the D efinitive Software Library).
M an if est
A Manifest transfers subscriptions from the Customer Portal to Red Hat Satellite 6. This is
similar in function to certificates used with Red Hat Satellite 5.
For more information about certificates and subscription types, see:
RHN Classic, Red Hat Satellite, and Channel Entitlements [3]
The Structure of Satellite Certificates (Classic Style of Certificates) [4]

20

G lossary of T erms

O rg an iz at io n
An Organization is an isolated collection of hosts, content, and other functionality within a
Satellite 6 deployment.
P ermissio n
The ability to perform an action.
P ro d u ct
A collection of content repositories. Products can be Red Hat products or newly-created
products made up of software and configuration content.
P ro mo t e
The act of moving a content view comprised of software and configuration content from one
Application Life Cycle Environment to another, such as moving from development to QA to
production.
P ro visio n in g T emp lat e
A Provisioning Template is a user-defined template for Kickstart files, snippets, and other
provisioning actions. In Satellite 6 they provide similar functionality to Kickstart Profiles
and cobbler Snippets in Red Hat Satellite 5.
P u lp N o d e
A Pulp Node is a Capsule Server component that mirrors content. This is similar to the
Red Hat Satellite 5 Proxy. The main difference is that content can be staged on the Pulp
Node before it is used by a Host.
P u p p et Ag en t
The Puppet Agent is an agent that runs on a Host and applies configuration changes to that
Host.
P u p p et Mast er
A Puppet Master is a Capsule Server component that provides Puppet manifests to Hosts for
execution by the Puppet Agent.
R ep o sit o ry
A Repository provides storage for a collection of content. For example, a YUM repository or
a Puppet repository.
R o le
A Role specifies a collection of permissions that are applied to a set of resources, such as
Hosts.
S mart Pro xy
A Smart Proxy is a Capsule Server component that can integrate with external services, such
as D NS or D HC P .
S mart Variab le
A Smart Variable is a configuration value that controls how a Puppet Class behaves. This
can be set on a Host, a Host Group, an Organization, or a Location.

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Red Hat Sat ellit e 6 .0 Provisioning G uide

S t an d ard O p erat in g En viro n men t ( SO E)

A Standard Operating Environment (SOE) is a controlled version of the operating system on
which applications are deployed.
S u b scrip t io n
Subscriptions are the means by which you receive content and service from Red Hat.
S yn ch ro n iz in g
Synchronizing refers to mirroring content from external resources into the Red Hat Satellite 6
Library.
S yn ch ro n iz at io n Plan s
Synchronization Plans provide scheduled execution of content synchronization.
U ser G ro u p
A User Group is a collection of roles which can be assigned to a collection of users. This is
similar to a Role in Red Hat Satellite 5.
U ser
A user is anyone registered to use Red Hat Satellite. Authentication and authorization is
possible through built-in logic, through external LD AP resources, or with Kerberos.
Report a bug

[1] http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Info rmatio n_Tec hno lo g y_Infras truc ture_Lib rary
[2] http ://en.wikip ed ia.o rg /wiki/Definitive_Med ia_Lib rary
[3] http s ://ac c es s .red hat.c o m/s ite/d o c umentatio n/enUS/Red _Hat_Sub s c rip tio n_Manag ement/1/html/Mig rating RHN/s at-c erts .html
[4] http s ://ac c es s .red hat.c o m/s ite/d o c umentatio n/enUS/Red _Hat_Sub s c rip tio n_Manag ement/1/html/Sub s c rip tio n_Co nc ep ts _and _Wo rkflo ws /ind ex.html#s ub
s c r-leg ac y

22

Revision Hist ory

Revision History
R evisio n 1.1- 1
Mo n D ec 22 2014
D avid O ' B rien
Update section on creating a host for Satellite to reference correct versions.
Fix relative link in section " Creating Custom Products and Repositories" .
R evisio n 1.1- 0
Wed D ec 10 2014
D avid O ' B rien
Update section on creating manifests to reference more detailed information.
R evisio n 1.0- 0
Wed N o v 26 2014
Implement updates from QA review.
First public release.

D avid O ' B rien

R evisio n 0.1- 1
T h u N o v 20 2014
D avid O ' B rien
Add Glossary of terms.
Added definition of Content View as part of Creating Content Views in Content Management and
Promotion.
Added xref to referenced procedures.
Updated section on initial configuration to include administrator user name and password.
Updated chapter on Provisioning Hosts.
Added Abstract.
D raft chapter on Configuring Provisioning Templates.
D raft section on Content Management and Promotion.
Revised sections on importing subscriptions and synchronizing content.
R evisio n 0.1- 0
Fri O ct 17 2014
Added first draft of chapter " Configuring Services" .
Added rough draft of chapter " Introduction to Provisioning" .
Added skeleton TOC with basic sections.
Initial creation by publican.

D avid O ' B rien

23