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A channel is a list of Red Hat Linux packages. 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 that is associated with the Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the x86 architecture and that contains extra packages needed only for the organization, such as a custom engineering application.
A system must be subscribed to one base channel and can only be subscribed to one base channel. 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.
The Channel List page provides a list of all base channels and their child channels. Clicking on the name of the channel (base or child) displays the Channel Details page. Refer to the Section called Channel Details for details.
This feature is only available to RHN Basic and RHN Enterprise subscribers.
To download an ISO image, click on the name of the corresponding CD-ROM image. For instructions on burning the ISO image to a CD-R or CD-RW, refer to the Official Red Hat Linux Getting Started Guide available at http://www.redhat.com/docs/.
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.
Package List — List of packages in the channel.
Clicking on a package name displays a set of tabbed pages with information about the package. This information includes which architectures it runs on, the package size, build date, package dependencies, the change log, list of files in the package, and which systems have the package installed. Refer to the Section called 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. The filter is case-insensitive. For example, typing ks in the filter might return all the ksconfig, krb5-workstation, and links.
To download packages, select the packages and click the Download Selected Packages button. Refer to the Section called Package Download for details.
If you want to download packages that are displayed on multiple pages, click the checkbox beside the package name and under the Select column. Click Update Selection List to add them to your download list. After selecting all the packages, on the bottom status page, click on the link that is the number of packages you have selected. Then click Download Selected Packages. Refer to the Section called Package Download for details.
Subscribed Systems — List of entitled systems subscribed to the channel. The list contains the following columns of information:
— Number of Security Alerts for the system.
— Number of Bug Fix Alerts for the system.
— Number of Enhancement Alerts for the system.
— Total number of package updates for
the system. Includes packages from Errata Alerts as well as newer
packages that are not from Errata Alerts. For example, if a system
is subscribed to the Red Hat Linux 7.1 i386 channel that contains version
2.5.4 of a package because that is the version that shipped with
Red Hat Linux 7.1, but the system has version 2.5.2 of the package
installed, the newer version of the package will be in the list of
updated packages for the system.
Name — The name of the system as configured when registering the system. The default name is the hostname of the system. Clicking on the name of a system takes you to the System Details page for the system. Refer to the Section called System Details for more information.
Entitled — RHN subscription service that the server is entitled to.
Base Channel — The base channel for the system. To view all the channels for a system, go to its System Detail page by clicking on the name of the system in the System List.
Admins — The number of administrators (users) allowed to manage the system. Clicking on the number displays a list of the users.
Groups — The number of system groups of which the system is a member. Clicking on the number displays a list of the system groups.
Target Systems — List of entitled systems that are eligible to be subscribed to the channel.
Each RHN client system must be subscribed to a base channel and can only be subscribed to one base channel. This base channel is selected automatically during registration from the Red Hat Linux release and system architecture selected. Each RHN client system can be subscribed to zero or more child channels.
To view the list of channels to which each system is subscribed, click Systems => System List from the left navigation bar. From the System List, click on the name of the system to display the System Details page. On the System Details page, there is a check beside the channels to which the system is subscribed. To subscribe the system to additional child channels, check the box beside it and click the Modify System Profile button at the bottom of the page. To unsubscribe the system from a child channel, uncheck the box beside the channel name and click Modify System Profile.
If you click on the name of any RPM package in the interface, the Package Details page will appear. This page contains the following tabbed pages:
Details — Details about the package including the package description, package size, and package version (This information is similar to issuing the command rpm -qi packagename but with more detail). Click the links in the bottom right of the page to download the RPM and/or SRPM files for the package.
Newer Versions — List of newer versions of the packages released via Errata Alerts.
Dependencies — Lists the package dependencies, what the package provides, the packages it obsoletes, and the packages with which it conflicts.
Change Log — The Change Log for the package (This information is similar to issuing the command rpm -q --changelog packagename).
File List — List of files installed from the package (This information is similar to issuing the command rpm -ql packagename).
Installed Systems — List of systems with this package installed.
Target Systems — List of systems on which the package can be installed. Go here to install packages on entitled systems. Refer to the Section called Package Install for instructions.
Only packages included in a system's subscribed channels can be installed or updated on that system.
 | Important |
|---|---|
If you use automatic package installation, the packages will be installed via the RHN Daemon. You must have the RHN Daemon enabled on your systems. Refer to Chapter 7 for more details. |
To apply Errata Updates, refer to the Section called Apply Errata Updates.
To upgrade outdated packages on a single entitled system, follow these steps:
Select System => System List from the left navigation bar.
Click on an entitled system from the list.
Click the Upgrade Packages tab.
Select the package(s) to update from the Select Newer Package column.
Click the Install Selected Packages On This System button.
Confirm the action.
The action is added to the Pending Actions list under Actions => Pending Actions from the left navigation bar.
To install individual package(s) on multiple entitled systems, follow these steps:
Select Channels and Packages => Channel List from the left navigation bar.
Click on the name of a channel to view its package list.
Click on the Package List tab.
Click on the name of the package that you want to install.
Click on the Target Systems tab.
Select the entitled systems that you want to install the package on.
Click the Install Packages on Selected Systems button.
Confirm the action.
The action is added to the Pending Actions list under Actions => Pending Actions from the left navigation bar.
If you do not want to schedule a package installation, you can download the package(s) immediately. If you download the package(s), you must install them manually.
There are two methods for downloading RPM package(s). First method:
Select System => System List from the left navigation bar.
Click on an entitled system from the list.
Click the Upgrade Packages tab.
Select the package(s) to download from the Select Newer Package column.
Click the Download Selected Packages button.
Confirm the action.
Second method:
Select Channels and Packages => Channel List from the left navigation bar.
Click on the name of the channel that contains the package(s) that you want to download.
Select the Package List tab.
Select the package(s) to download from the Select column.
Click the Download Selected Packages button.
Confirm the action.
After choosing to download the package(s) using one of these methods, you will be presented with a confirmation page as shown in Figure 6-5. If you selected a package that is available for more than one architecture, you need to select an architecture for the package. For example, if you want to download the kernel package you will need to choose between i386, i586, and i686. Click the Download Selected Packages Now! button to start downloading the package(s).
The package are downloaded into a directory called rhn-packages beneath the current directory selected after clicking the button. For example, if you want to save the package(s) in the directory, /downloads/rhn-packages, select the directory /downloads when prompted. The directory rhn-packages will be created for you if it does not already exist.
Even if you selected to download more than one package, you will only download one file. This one TAR file contains the RPM package(s) you selected. To extract the packages from the TAR file, open a shell prompt (such as an XTerm or GNOME terminal), change to the rhn-packages directory, and issue the command:
tar -xvf rhn-packages.tar |
The next step is to install the packages manually. Refer to the Section called Manual Package Installation in Chapter 4 for details.
