Linux
Using the Red Hat Network Proxy
Steps to Register on UB's Red Hat Proxy
Using the Red Hat Network on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3/4 and UBLinux
Using the Red Hat Network on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
What is the Red Hat Network Proxy?
The Red Hat Network (RHN) Proxy allows computers running UBLinux and Red Hat Linux to retrieve software updates over the University's network. To enable your computer to use the RHN Proxy to retrieve updates, follow the steps below.
UB's RHN Proxy is dependent on the RHN servers running at RedHat. These servers occasionally are taken offline for maintenance, and during that time updates through RHN will be unavailable. Please refer to RedHat's Outage Policy for more information when these outages will occur. Addtionally, you can subscribe to the RHN outage mailing list to receive notices when an outage is scheduled to occur.
NOTE: This page is geared for users running Red Hat Enterprise Linux at UB. If you are an end-user running UBLinux on your computer, please see the UBLinux 4 RHN page for more relevant information.
Capabilities of Red Hat Network
Besides individual system updates, Red Hat Network can be used to remotely update and administer systems registered with Red Hat Network. Systems are placed in groups with a unique activiation key so the system administrator(s) can log in to the RHN Website to schedule updates and other tasks. This fall a new Provisioning feature will be added to our Red Hat Network license. This will allow the ability to revert systems back to an earlier version of a particular application or RedHat package (RPM).
For a more detailed description of Red Hat Network features and
services, Red Hat has published a series of videos covering these
topics. These will give you a general overview, but keep in mind
that UB has the RHN Proxy service, and NOT RHN Satellite.
View the
videos .
If you are interested in setting up a user account in Red Hat Network for remote system administration, please email ublinux-support@buffalo.edu with the following information:
- Name
- E-Mail Address
- Street Address
- Phone Number
- Number of Keys Needed
- Channel subscription for each key
System Requirements
Your computer must be running Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3.0, AS 3.0, ES 3.0, Desktop 3.0, or UBLinux 3.0 or higher to use the RHN Proxy. You also must have an active internet connection.
Registering with RHEL WS, ES, AS, or Desktop
During the RHEL installation process you will be prompted to register with the Red Hat Network. Please follow these instructions to skip the registration, as you will register the system after the installation is complete.
Note for Users already Registered with an RHN Demo Account
If you did not cancel out of the RHN registration process, you have been registered with a demo account, and may not receive appropriate UB related updates. If this is the case, you'll need to remove your system's RHN Digital Certificate file before registering. To do this, open a terminal window, and type the following command with superuser privileges:
rm /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
Register with the Red Hat Network
Please Note: You must be either on campus or using the UB VPN client for the registration to work.
- Go to https://wings.buffalo.edu/computing/dce/linux/rhn/ and fill out the online form to request an entitlement. Note that you will be prompted for your UBITName and Password. You will receive an e-mail within 2 business days.
- Download the registration script:
Date Posted File Name File Size MD5 Checksum October 1th, 2005 use-rhen.sh 4,263 bytes ee72942e039ad754901e5d225b817fbb -
Run the script by opening a terminal window, changing to the directory to which you downloaded the script, and use superuser privileges to execute the following command:
sh use-rhen.sh ACTIVATIONKEY
Please Note: Replace ACTIVATIONKEY with the activation key e-mailed to you in step 1. Do not enclose the key in quotes.
-
After the script has run, close the terminal window.
Send all Linux support questions to ublinux-support@buffalo.edu.