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In addition, to the standard Red Hat Update Agent interface, up2date offers a utility aimed at batch processing the registration of systems: Activation Keys. Each unique key can be used to register Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, entitle them to an RHN service level, and subscribe them to specific channels and system groups, all in one action.
Thus, channel and group subscriptions can be automated along with registration, thereby bypassing entitlement and registration through either the Red Hat Network Registration Client or the Red Hat Update Agent, both of which offer the Activation Keys utility rhnreg_ks as part of their packages.
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Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 need version 2.9.3-1 or higher of the rhn_register package. It is highly recommended you obtain the latest version before using activation keys. |
Before using an activation key, you must first generate one through the RHN website. Refer to Section 4.4.7 Activation Keys for precise steps.
To use an activation key, as root from a shell prompt on the system to be registered, run the rhnreg_ks command followed by the key. For example:
rhnreg_ks --activationkey=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281b |
Systems running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 will use the --serialnumber instead of --activationkey, like so:
rhnreg_ks --serialnumber=7202f3b7d218cf59b764f9f6e9fa281b |
This command performs all the actions of the Red Hat Network Registration Client and the registration function of the Red Hat Update Agent. Do not run either of these applications for registration after running rhnreg_ks.
A System Profile, including software and hardware information, is created for the system and sent to the RHN Servers along with the unique activation key. The system is registered with RHN under the account used to generate the key, entitled to an RHN service offering, and subscribed to the RHN channels and system groups selected during key generation. The system will not be subscribed to channels that contain packages not suitable for the system. For example, a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 system cannot be subscribed to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 channel.
The unique Digital Certificate for the system is generated on the system in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid.
When using activation keys to assign channels, a couple of rules should be kept in mind:
A key may specify either zero or one base channel. If specified, it must be a custom base channel. If not, the base channel corresponding to the system's Red Hat distribution will be chosen. For instance, you may not take a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 system and subscribe it to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 channel.
A key may specify any number of child channels. For each child channel, subscription is attempted. If the child channel matches the system's base channel, subscription succeeds. If it does not, the subscription fails silently. Refer to Section 4.6 Channels for more information.
Keys created by an Organization Administrator are available for modification and use by other Organization Administrators within the organization. These permissions are set through the Users tab of the RHN website. Refer to Section 4.8 Users for details.
Systems registered by activation keys are tied to the organization or overall account in which the key was created, not the key itself. After registration, a key can be safely deleted without any affect on the systems it was used to register.