Determine if system is using RHN Classic or RHSM for updates
Environment
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ( 5.7 and higher)
- Connected directory to Red Hat for updates
Issue
- Determine if system is using RHN Classic or RHSM for updates
- I'm not sure if my system is using Red Hat Network classic registration (
rhn-register,rhnreg_ks) or Red Hat Subscription Management (subscription-manager register) to pull updates. How can I find out?
Resolution
- The easiest way to discern what method of contacting Red Hat your system is using, is to check the output from a yum command such as
yum repolistto review what plugins are in use:
# clear
[root@montana ~]# yum repolist
Loaded plugins: product-id, pulp-profile-update, refresh-packagekit, security, subscription-manager
This system is receiving updates from Red Hat Subscription Management.
rhel-6-server-cf-tools-1-rpms | 2.8 kB 00:00
rhel-6-server-rhev-agent-rpms | 3.1 kB 00:00
rhel-6-server-rpms | 3.7 kB 00:00
repo id repo name status
rhel-6-server-cf-tools-1-rpms Red Hat CloudForms Tools for RHEL 6 (RPMs) 31
rhel-6-server-rhev-agent-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Agents for RHEL 6 Server (RPMs) 28
rhel-6-server-rpms Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server (RPMs) 10,872
repolist: 10,931
In the above output, we can see that the subscription-manager plugin is enabled, which helps in the process of handling interactions between the system, and the Red Hat Subscription Management server (cdn.redhat.com):
Loaded plugins: downloadonly, product-id, refresh-packagekit, security, subscription-manager
This system is receiving updates from Red Hat Subscription Management.
Similarly, on a system using RHN Classic:
# yum repolist
Loaded plugins: rhnplugin, security
This system is receiving updates from RHN Classic or RHN Satellite.
redhat-rhn-satellite-5.5-server-x86_64-6 | 1.6 kB 00:00
rhel-x86_64-server-6 | 1.8 kB 00:00
rhn-tools-rhel-x86_64-server-6 | 1.6 kB 00:00
repo id repo name status
redhat-rhn-satellite-5.5-server-x86_64-6 Red Hat Network Satellite (v5.5 for Server v6 AMD64 / Intel64) 354
rhel-x86_64-server-6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6 for 64-bit x86_64) 10,872
rhn-tools-rhel-x86_64-server-6 RHN Tools for RHEL (v. 6 for 64-bit x86_64) 101
repolist: 11,327
We can see that the rhnplugin is loaded, with a clear notice that Classic is in use.
Loaded plugins: rhnplugin, security
This system is receiving updates from RHN Classic or RHN Satellite.
The This system is receiving updates from is an indication of which plugin is enabled. While it is possible to have both plugins enabled, it is not recommended that each be used in a registration scenario as this can ultimately lead to conflicts. When yum interacts with these plugins, it should provide information to help you distinguish which is in use.
For example, a system registered via RHSM, but with both sets of plugins enabled will read:
# yum repolist
Loaded plugins: product-id, pulp-profile-update, refresh-packagekit, rhnplugin, security, subscription-manager
This system is receiving updates from Red Hat Subscription Management.
This system is not registered with RHN Classic or RHN Satellite.
You can use rhn_register to register.
RHN Satellite or RHN Classic support will be disabled.
And likewise, a system registered with RHN Classic with both sets of plugins enabled will read:
# yum repolist
Loaded plugins: rhnplugin, security, subscription-manager
This system is not registered to Red Hat Subscription Management. You can use subscription-manager to register.
This system is receiving updates from RHN Classic or RHN Satellite.
Lastly, it is important to note that select management products can only be used with one of these two.
Red Hat Satellite or Proxy
With the except of Red Hat Satellite 5.6 and higher (not including Satellite 6), Red Hat Satellite and Proxy can only utilize RHN Classic technologies. This means that when they are registered to Red Hat for activation, only RHN Classic is used. It also means that all clients registered to a Satellite or Proxy can only use RHN classic (rhnplugin) methods.
Red Hat Subscription Asset Manager
Subscription Asset Mananage (SAM) is only capable of registering with RHSM technologies. All clients registered to a SAM system will subsequently use RHSM to register to that system.
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