Red Hat NETWORK WORKGROUP, User Reference Manual

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Chapter 1. What is Red Hat Network?
Have you ever read about a new version of a software package and wanted to install it but
could not find it?
Have you ever tried to find an RPM through an Internet search engine or an RPM Repository
and been linked to a site that you have never heard of?
Have you ever tried to find an RPM but instead you are only able to find the source files that
you have to compile yourself?
Have you ever spent hours or even days visiting different websites to see if you have the
latest packages installed on your system, only to have to do it again in a few months?
Those days are over with Red Hat Network (RHN). RHN provides the solution to all your
system software management needs.
Red Hat Network is an Internet solution for managing a Red Hat Linux system or a network
of Red Hat Linux systems. All Security Alerts, Bug Fix Alerts, and Enhancement Alerts (col-
lective known as Errata Alerts) can be downloaded directly from Red Hat. You can even
have updates automatically delivered directly to your system as soon as they are released.
The three main components of Red Hat Network are as follows:
•
The Red Hat Network Registration Client
•
The Red Hat Network user interface
•
Red Hat Network Daemon
The
Red Hat Network Registration Client
allows you to register your system with RHN.
Registration involves creating a unique RHN user name and password, probing the hard-
ware on your system to create a Hardware Profile, and probing the software packages in-
stalled on your system to create a Package Profile. This information is sent to RHNm and
RHN returns a unique System ID to your system (see Chapter 2 for further information).
You can use either of the two Red Hat Network user interfaces:
•
https://rhn.redhat.com
•
The Red Hat Update Agent
Both the Web interface and the Red Hat Update Agent allow you to view Errata Alerts
from in the Red Hat Errata list. Only packages relevant to your system are shown. Red Hat
Network can also be configured to verify packages once downloaded, ignore update notifi-
cations for certain packages, and view package details before downloading them.
The
Red Hat Network Daemon (
rhnsd
) runs in the background as a service and probes
the Red Hat Network for notifications and updates at set time intervals (see Chapter 6 for
further information). This daemon is necessary if you want to receive automatic updates or
if you schedule an action through the Web interface.
Many Red Hat Network terms are used throughout this manual. As you read the
Red Hat
Network User Reference Guide , refer to the Glossary as necessary for explanation of common
terms.
Tip
Refer to https://rhn.redhat.com/help/faq.pxt for a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
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