Red Hat Satellite upgrade fails with Error: Important rpm package satellite is not installed

Solution Verified - Updated

Environment

  • Red Hat Satellite 6
  • Red Hat Satellite Capsule 6

Issue

  • Red Hat Satellite upgrade fails with below error: 

     # satellite-maintain upgrade run --target-version 6.x.z
 Error: Important rpm package satellite is not installed!
 Install satellite rpm to ensure system consistency.

Resolution

For RHEL 7

  • Enable correct satellite repositories and disable capsule repository on the Red Hat Satellite server. For example in Red Hat Satellite 6.11 version:

     # subscription-manager repos --enable='rhel-7-server-satellite-6.xx-rpms'
 # subscription-manager repos --disable='rhel-7-server-satellite-capsule-6.xx-rpms'

  • Make sure only the below correct repositories are enabled in the Red Hat Satellite server:

     # subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-7-server-satellite-6.11-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-7-server-satellite-maintenance-6.11-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-server-rhscl-7-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-7-server-ansible-2.9-rpms

    The below correct repositories should be enabled in the Red Hat Capsule server:

     # subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-7-server-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-7-server-satellite-capsule-6.11-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-7-server-satellite-maintenance-6.11-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-server-rhscl-7-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-7-server-ansible-2.9-rpms

  • Install satellite package on Satellite server:

     # satellite-maintain packages install satellite

  • Install satellite-capsule package on Capsule server:

     # satellite-maintain packages install satellite-capsule

For RHEL 8

  • Enable correct satellite repositories and disable capsule repository on the Red Hat Satellite server. For example in Red Hat Satellite 6.11 version:

     # subscription-manager repos --enable='satellite-6.xx-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms'
 # subscription-manager repos --disable='satellite-capsule-6.xx-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms'

  • Make sure only the below correct repositories are enabled in the Red Hat Satellite server:

     # subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms \
 --enable=satellite-6.11-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
 --enable=satellite-maintenance-6.11-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

    The below correct repositories should be enabled in the Red Hat Capsule server:

     # subscription-manager repos --enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms \
 --enable=rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms \
 --enable=satellite-capsule-6.11-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms \
 --enable=satellite-maintenance-6.11-for-rhel-8-x86_64-rpms

  • Install satellite package on Satellite server:

     # satellite-maintain packages install satellite

  • Install satellite-capsule package on Capsule server:

     # satellite-maintain packages install satellite-capsule

For more KB articles/solutions related to Red Hat Satellite 6.x Installation/Upgrade/Update Issues, please refer to the Red Hat Satellite Consolidated Troubleshooting Article for Red Hat Satellite 6.x Installation/Upgrade/Update Issues.

Root Cause

  • The rhel-7-server-satellite-capsule-6.11-rpms repository was enabled on Satellite server instead of rhel-7-server-satellite-6.11-rpms.
    The satellite-maintain upgrade run --target-version 6.11.z lead to uninstall of Satellite package and installation of some packages from Capsule repository, which should not be a problem because those packages are in both repositories.

  • satellite-maintain sees both as valid repositories and does not compare them to actually installed packages. This tracked under This content is not included.Bugzilla 1936872.

Diagnostic Steps

  • Check for the Satellite package

     # rpm -qa | grep satellite

  • Check the enabled repositories 

     # subscription-manager repos --enabled
 # yum repolist
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