Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE 5.1.1 - RELEASE NOTES, Installation Manual, Page: 61 / 74

Cloning the Satellite with Embedded DB
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db-control restore DIRNAME
This not only restores the Embedded Database but first verifies the contents of the backup directory
using md5sums. Once the restoration is complete, return to root user mode and restart the database
and related services with these commands in this order:
service rhn-satellite start
8.5. Cloning the Satellite with Embedded DB
You may limit outages caused by hardware or other failures by cloning the Satellite with Embedded
Database in its entirety. The secondary Satellite machine can be prepared for use if the primary fails.
To clone the Satellite, perform these tasks:
1. Install RHN Satellite Server with Embedded Database (and a base install of Red Hat Enterprise
Linux AS) on a separate machine, skipping the SSL Certificate generation step.
2. Back up the primary Satellite's database daily using the commands described in
Section 8.4.2,
“Backing up the Database”
. If this is done, only changes made the day of the failure will be lost.
3. Establish a mechanism to copy the backup to the secondary Satellite and keep these repositories
synchronized using a file transfer program such as
rsync
. If you're using a SAN, copying isn't
necessary.
4. Use
RHN DB Control
's
restore
option to import the duplicate data.
5. If the primary Satellite fails, transfer the SSL certificates from it to the secondary. Refer to the
Deploying the CA SSL Public Certificate to Clients
section of the
RHN Client Configuration Guide
for precise instructions.
6. Change DNS to point to the new machine or configure your load balancer appropriately.
8.6. Establishing Redundant Satellites with Stand-Alone DB
In keeping with the cloning option available to Satellite with Embedded Database, you may limit
outages on Satellites with Stand-Alone Database by preparing redundant Satellites. Unlike cloning a
Satellite with Embedded Database, redundant Satellites with Stand-Alone Database may be run as
active, as well as standby. This is entirely up to your network topology and is independent of the steps
listed here.
To establish this redundancy, first install the primary Satellite normally, except the value specified in
the Common Name field for the SSL certificate must represent your high-availability configuration,
rather than the hostname of the individual server. Then:
1. Prepare the Stand-Alone Database for failover using Oracle's recommendations for building a fault-
tolerant database. Consult your database administrator.
2. Install RHN Satellite Server with Stand-Alone Database (and a base install of Red Hat Enterprise
Linux AS) on a separate machine, skipping the database configuration, database schema, SSL
certificate, and bootstrap script generation steps. Include the same RHN account and database
connection information provided during the initial Satellite install and register the new Satellite.