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If you click the Software tab on the top navigation bar, the Software category and links appear. The pages in the Software category enable you to view and manage the channels and packages associated with your systems. In addition, you can obtain ISO images here.
The Channels page is the first to appear in the Software category. A channel is a list of Red Hat Linux packages grouped by use. Channels are used to choose packages to be installed on a system.
There are two types of channels: base channels and child channels. A base channel consists of a list of packages based on a specific architecture and Red Hat Linux release. For example, all the packages in Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the x86 architecture is a base channel. The list of packages in Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium architecture is a different base channel. A child channel is a channel associated with a base channel but contains extra packages. For example, an organization can create a child channel associated with Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the x86 architecture that contains extra packages needed only for the organization, such as a custom engineering application.
A system must be subscribed to one base channel only. This base channel is assigned automatically during registration based upon the Red Hat Linux release and system architecture selected. In the case of public free channels (RHL 6.2, 7.x, 8.0), the action will succeed. In the case of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS and other paid base channels, this action will fail if an associated entitlement doesn't exist.
A system can be subscribed to multiple child channels of its base channel. Only packages included in a system's subscribed channels can be installed or updated on that system.
Channels can be further broken down by their relevance to your systems. Two such lists emerge: Relevant and All.
As shown in Figure 4-5, the Relevant Channels page is shown by default when you click Channels in the left navigation bar. It displays a list of channels now associated with your systems. Links within this list go to different tabs of the Channel Details page. Clicking on a channel name takes you to the Details tab. Clicking on the packages number takes you to the Packages tab. And clicking on the systems number takes you to the Subscribed Systems tab. Refer to Section 4.6.1.3 Channel Details for details. The Relevant page also contains links to ISO images. Refer to Section 4.6.3 Easy ISOs for instructions.
The All Channels page can be retrieved by clicking All below Channels in the left navigation bar. It works identically to the Relevant button with one exception; It displays all channels offered by Red Hat Network, regardless of whether you have systems associated with them.
If you click on the name of a channel, the Channel Details page will appear. This page contains the following tabs:
Details — General information about the channel and the parent channel, if it is a child channel. This is the first tab you see when you click on a channel. It displays essential information about the channel, such as summary, description, and architecture.
Errata — List of Errata affecting the channel. The list displays advisory types, names, summaries, and the dates issued. Clicking on an advisory name takes you to its Errata Details page. Refer to Section 4.5.2.2 Errata Details for more information.
Packages — List of packages in the channel. To download packages as a .tar file, select them and click the Download Packages button at the bottom-left corner of the page. Clicking on a package name takes you to the Package Details page. This page displays a set of tabs with information about the package, including which architectures it runs on, the package size, build date, package dependencies, the change log, list of files in the package, newer versions, and which systems have the package installed. From here, you can download the packages as RPMs or SRPMs. Refer to Section 4.6.5.3 Package Details for more information.
If you are looking for a specific package or a subset of packages, you can use the package filter on the top of the list. Entering a substring to search for will search all the packages in the list for the substring at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the package name. For example, typing ks in the filter might return all the ksconfig, krb5-workstation, and links. The filter is case-insensitive.
Subscribed Systems — List of entitled systems subscribed to the channel. The list displays system names, base channels, and their levels of entitlement. Clicking on a system name takes you to its System Details page. Refer to Section 4.4.1.5 System Details for more information.
Target Systems — List of entitled systems that are eligible to be subscribed to the channel. This tab appears only for child channels. Use the checkboxes to select the systems, then click the Subscribe button on the bottom right-hand corner. You will receive a success message or be notified of any errors. This can also be accomplished through the Channels tab of the System Details page. Refer to Section 4.4.1.5 System Details for more information.
Downloads — ISO images associated with the channel. This tab appears only for base channels. You may click the links of the images to begin downloading, but Red Hat recommends using curl or wget for ISO downloads. Click the help on using curl or wget link for precise instructions.
License — Text of the channel's End User License Agreement. This tab is associated only with channels of third-party providers. It appears when you attempt a subscription to such a channel through the Target Systems tab. To complete the subscription, read the agreement, click the Accept button, and then click the Confirm button. To decline the subscription, click the Cancel button.
The Channel Entitlements page displays the list of channels for which you have paid. Click the number of systems subscribed to see a list of systems tied to the corresponding channel.
The Easy ISOs page enables you to download binary files for use in making installation disks. This feature is available only to RHN Update and RHN Management subscribers. Although the latest ISOs are available on this page, you can find specific ISOs for a channel on the Downloads tab of the Channel Details page. See Section 4.6.1.3 Channel Details for instructions.
To download an ISO image, click on the name of the corresponding Binary Disc image. For instructions on burning the ISO image to a CD-R or CD-RW, refer to the Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide available at http://www.redhat.com/docs/.
The RPM Search page allows you to search through packages using various criteria. You may search by name or name and summary, within relevant or all channels, or within specific architectures. Type your keyword, select the criterion to search by, and click the Search button. The results appear at the bottom of the page.
A package is the smallest essential ingredient of any Red Hat Linux system. Packages, commonly known as RPMs because of their oversight by Red Hat Package Manager, are the pieces of software that, when installed, enable your system to operate. Packages are grouped by channels to help you more easily determine which are applicable to your systems.
These packages can be retrieved in one of two ways: by direct install or through download.
Only packages included in a system's subscribed channels can be installed or updated on that system.
 | Important |
|---|---|
If you use scheduled package installation, the packages will be installed via the RHN Daemon. You must have the RHN Daemon enabled on your systems. Refer to Chapter 5 Red Hat Network Daemon for more details. |
To apply Errata Updates, refer to Section 4.5.2.1 Apply Errata Updates. To upgrade and install packages through the Systems category, use the Packages tab of the System Details page. Refer to Section 4.4.1.5 System Details for instructions.
If you do not want to schedule a package installation, you can download the packages immediately. If you download the packages, you must install them manually.
To download packages through the Systems category, refer to Section 4.4.1.5 System Details.
To download individual RPMs and SRPMs through the Software category, follow these steps:
Select Software => Channels from the top and left navigation bars.
Click on the name of the channel that contains the package to be downloaded.
On the Channel Details page, click on the Packages tab.
Click on the name of the package that you want to download.
On the Package Details page, click the Download RPM or Download SRPM link on the bottom right-hand corner.
Confirm the action.
The next step is to install the packages manually. Refer to Section 2.3.5.2 Manual Package Installation for details.
If you click on the name of any package in the website, the Package Details page will appear. This page contains the following tabs:
Details — Details about the package, including subtabs for overview, dependencies, change log, and file list:
Overview — A summary of the package, including the package description, size, and version. (This information is similar to issuing the command rpm -qi packagename but with more detail.) Click the links in the bottom right-hand corner of the page to download the RPM and/or SRPM files for the package.
Dependencies — A list of all other packages that must also be installed on the system for this one to function properly. It also lists packages that it obsoletes or has conflicts with.
Change Log — The events of this package's history listed in reverse chronological order. (This information is similar to issuing the command rpm -q --changelog packagename.)
File List — A list of the files that comprise this package, including their MD5 Sums and sizes. (This information is similar to issuing the command rpm -ql packagename.)
Newer Versions — List of newer versions of the packages released via Errata Alerts.
Installed Systems — List of systems with this package installed.
