Chapter 4. Updating the Installer Node and the Compute Node Repository

Red Hat HPC manages updates to the installer nodes differently from all other nodes in the cluster. The RPM packages and updates to the Operating System Repository for all nodes provisioned by the installer (and that includes compute nodes and diskless nodes) are managed independently from updating the installer node. To update the installed packages on the installer node, use the following command:

	
# yum update

The yum tool downloads all of the required updates for the operating system and installs them on the installer node. Since updating installer nodes and compute nodes is separate you can choose to update the installer node – and either choose to update the compute nodes or not update the compute nodes.

Prior to updating the repository it is recommended that a snapshot (copy) of the repository be made. If there are any application issues with the updates the copy can be used:

	
# repoman –r rhel5_x86_64 -s

To update the compute nodes in a Red Hat HPC cluster use the following command:

	
# repopatch –r rhel5_x86_64

The repopatch tool downloads all of the required updates for the operating system and installs them into the repository for the compute nodes. repopatch displays an error if it is not properly configured. For example:

	
# repopatch –r rhel5_x86_64
Getting updates for rhel-5-x86_64.  This may take awhile…
Unable to get updates.  Reason: Please configure 
/opt/kusu/etc/updates.conf

Edit the /opt/kusu/etc/updates.conf file adding your username and password for Red Hat Network to the [rhel] section of the file, for example:

	
[fedora]
url=http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedura/linux/

[rhel]
username=
password-=
url=https://rhn.redhat.com/XMLRPC
yumrhn=https://rhn.redhat.com/rpc/api

After configuring the /opt/kusu/etc/updates.conf file, repopatch downloads all of the updates from Red Hat Network and creates an update kit which is then associated with the rhel-5-x86_64 repository using ngedit.

repopatch automatically associates the update kit with the correct repository. View the list of update kit components from ngedit on the Components screen and list the available update kits with the kitops command. For example:

Once repopatch has retrieved the updated packages and rebuilt the repository, the compute nodes can be updated. This is done by either reinstalling them using:

	
# boothost –r -n {Name of Node group}

or without reinstalling by using:

# cfmsync -u -n {Name of Node group}

The cfmsync command causes the compute nodes to start updating packages from the repository they installed from.

Note

Remember that yum is used to update the installer node directly from Red Hat Network or other yum repositories. The repopatch command updates the repositories used to provision compute nodes, and the cfmsync command is used to signal the compute nodes to update.