Using RHEL subscriptions (2013 packaging): Scenario 3 - RHEL server, stackable SKUs
The new Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 2013 packaging model provides a more flexible and intuitive way of managing your RHEL system entitlements. This is one of a set of articles (all available at Overview of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2013 Packaging Model) that describes different RHEL configurations and how to use tools to entitle your RHEL systems and view the results with the 2013 packaging model.
This scenario includes a single, four-socket computer where RHEL is not run as a hypervisor (no virtual machines running on it). The following figure illustrates this type of RHEL configuration:
RHEL Multi-Socket 2013 Subscription Types
For computers with more than two sockets, the 2013 packaging model lets you stack subscriptions. So, for this case, you could use two instance-based, two-socket subscription for the RHEL system. Here are the attributes of that type of entitlement:
- Two Red Hat Enterprise Linux Instance-based Subscription
- Stackable (each of the two subscriptions entitles two sockets, so all four sockets are entitled)
- Web support: Access to customer portal, software fixes, and upgrades.
- Call-in support: Can open cases and call for support. (Different levels of support available.)
- No virtual machine entitlements are included in this scenario. However, this is the same type of subscription that is used for virtual machines.
Registering a RHEL system (four sockets) with 2013 Subscriptions
Follow this procedure to register your four-socket RHEL computer with Red Hat Network, assign entitlements, and view consumed entitlements in different ways. Note that:
- Because each subscription can entitle up to two sockets, you need two subscriptions to cover the four-socket system.
-
Log into RHEL system: On the RHEL system you want to entitle, open a shell and log in as the root user.
-
Register RHEL system: Run subscription-manager to register the system:
# subscription-manager register Username: your_username Password: your_password The system has been registered with id: 231c3a37-8e14-449c-a232-3de2d5c8fa8a
-
View subscriptions: List available subscriptions by typing the following:
# subscription-manager list --available | less ... Subscription Name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server, Premium SKU: RH00003 Pool Id: 8a01f9843ecdf027013fd44d02da5243 Quantity: 19 Service Level: Premium Service Type: L1-L3 Multi-Entitlement: Yes Ends: 07/11/2014 System Type: Physical Subscription Name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server, Standard SKU: RH00004 ...
-
Choose subscription: Choose which subscription to use. From the output above, you can see:
-
Subscription Name: The fact that the subscription names don't show socket numbers on this line indicates that these are from the new two-socket 2013 packaging model. Either of the two SKUs shown can be used for the hypervisor or VMs.
-
SKU: For the 2013 packaging model, both RH00003 and RH00004 are the instance-based (stackable) SKUs, with Premium or Standard support, respectively.
-
Pool ID: The Pool IDs are the numbers you use when you add a specific subscription to a RHEL system (in other words, you don't just have a subscription automatically selected when you register).
-
Quantity: Because the system has four sockets, the quantity you consume (as shown in the output of the subscription-manager command above) is two, two-socket subscriptions.
-
-
Subscribe the RHEL system. Here is an example of the command you would run to subscribe to a standard or premium subscription (instance-based/stackable), using the output above. Notice that we are stacking subscriptions by setting --quantity=2:
# subscription-manager subscribe --pool=8a01f9843ecdf027013fd44d02da5243 --quantity=2
-
List RHEL subscriptions: Type the following to list the subscriptions you have consumed on this system:
# subscription-manager list --consumed +-------------------------------------------+ Consumed Subscriptions +-------------------------------------------+ Subscription Name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server, Premium Provides: Red Hat Enterprise Linux High Performance Networking (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Red Hat EUCJP Support (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support Red Hat Enterprise Linux Resilient Storage (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support Red Hat Software Collections (for RHEL Server) Red Hat Beta Red Hat Enterprise Linux High Availability (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support Red Hat Enterprise Linux Scalable File System (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support Red Hat Software Collections Beta (for RHEL Server) Red Hat Enterprise Linux Load Balancer (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support Red Hat S-JIS Support (for RHEL Server) - Extended Update Support SKU: RH00003 Contract: 26343927 Account: 1239350 Serial: 47543324761175555645 Pool ID: 8a01f9843ecdf027013fd44d02da5243 Active: True Quantity Used: 2 Service Level: Premium Service Type: L1-L3 Status Details: Starts: 07/12/2013 Ends: 07/11/2014 -
View subscriptions in subscription-manager GUI: To view your local system entitlements from the desktop, select System -> Administration -> Red Hat Subscription Manager. A graphical window like the one showed below appears.
Notice that this window show the quantity of the instance-based subscriptions that are consumed as 2. and that three of the total of 12 entitlements have been consumed. These numbers are calculated differently on the Red Hat Customer Portal, as described in the next step.
- View subscriptions in Red Hat Customer Portal:
When you view your available and consumed subscriptions on the Red Hat Customer portal (https://access.redhat.com), notice that the system shows four entitlements are consumed by this system. That is because the Red Hat Customer Portal shows that a single physical subscription provides two entitlements (as opposed to the command-line output which shows a two-socket subscription as one entitlement).
