Chapter 4.
Custom Channel and Package
Management
Custom channels allow administrators to use the Red Hat Network infrastructure to deploy
packages built and maintained by their organizations. All channel and package manage-
ment activities take place in the
Channels
tab of the RHN website. The instructions here
are used in conjunction with the RHN website chapter of the
RHN Reference Guide
.
Tip
Because of the potential problems that may arise from deploying untested packages
throughout your production environment, Red Hat strongly recommends creating beta
channels covering select systems that can be used for staging.
For example, if you have a system group of Web servers that receives a set of custom
packages, create temporary channels to install the packages on a non-critical subset of
representative systems first. These might be development or staging servers,
not
live pro-
duction systems. These temporary channels are then deleted using the steps described in
Section 4.8
Deleting Software Channels
.
4.1. Channel Management Privileges
In order to perform any channel management tasks, users must have obtained the proper
permissions as a
Channel Administrator
. These permissions can be modified through the
Red Hat Network website. Permissions are assigned to users by
Organization Administra-
tors
, the highest level of administrator. Channel Administrator privileges are assigned as
follows:
1. Log in to the Red Hat Network website as an Organization Administrator.
2. On the top navigation bar, click the
Users
tab and then click the name of the user
who is performing channel management functions.
3. On the
User Details
page, scroll down to the
Roles
section and select the checkbox
labeled
Channel Administrator
. Then click
Submit
at the bottom of the page. Note
that Organization Administrators are automatically granted channel administration
privileges.