On May 5, 2004, I checked out ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/3/en/os/i386/SRPMS and say 677 packages totaling 1,624,238,452 bytes. I got what I could and stuck them in /afs/d/software/fixes/Redhat.Enterprise.Linux-3.up2date I don't think this was too effective though, 'cause when I later checked out Red Hat's up2date program, I saw a lot more newer files. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To configure up2date, launch up2date-config Useful options to set/unset are - On "Retrieval / Installation" screen, 1) Check "Retrieve source RPM along with binary package" (if you want to) 2) Check "After installation, keep binary packages on disk" 3) Set the "Package storage directory:" from its default of /var/spool/up2date, to /afs/d/software/fixes/RedHat.Enterprise.Linux.AS-3.up2date The configuration files are at /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date and /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid When I ran this another time, I got a "Step 2: Login" screen. 1) Click the "Use Existing Account" 2) Fill in "Username:" with rick_jasper (used to be rickjasper) 3) "Password:" = r-3 Continuing on, clicking through the next few screens, I finally got to the "System Registered but Inactive" screen that says, This system has been successfully registered, but the channel subscriptions were exhausted That's the signal to login at https://rhn.redhat.com, and under the "Systems" tab, select the "System Entitlements" from the left-hand-side menu, and ... (what, Rick?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I switched the Red Hat account from the "Thomson ISI - Delphion" to Bob Gabrielson's "Medstat" account, I had to re-register each machine. - Since I also had to change my userid from rickjasper to rick_jasper, I had to vi /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid /rickjasper and change update that line. - When running up2date, it said to please run rhn_register (it also suggested this could be accomplished via up2date -register, but this must be only in a later releases 'cause when I tried this, I got "error: no such option: -r") - Also send a note to Bob Gabrielson, cc-ing "White, Al" (yes, 2 spaces) and they will move the machine into your RHN account so you can manage it. The terminology to use is "added to the monitoring group TS CMG". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To run up2date, * First insure you have an AFS token that enables you to write into /afs/d/software/fixes/RedHat.Enterprise.Linux-3.up2date * Launch up2date from either a command line or from the GNOME GUI, "Main Menu" (the red hat icon) -> "System Tools" -> "Red Hat Network" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The up2date program makes an https connection to xmlrpc.rhn.redhat.com (209.132.177.100). By default, it puts the *rpm and *hdr (header) files in /var/spool/up2date, so unless you've pointed it to AFS as described above, it behooves to have 500MB or better in that file system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The name of the system as far as RHN (Red Hat Network) is concerned, is in the system profile at /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid. To see the RHN FAQ, see https://rhn.redhat.com/help/faq ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To update the local copy of what versions of stuff is installed on your system, run up2date -p which will update what Red Hat knows about your system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- According to https://rhn.redhat.com/help/faq/all_faqs.pxt, How do I download RPMs for a system without using up2date? It is possible for Red Hat Network users to download updated packages directly from the RHN website without using up2date. To download them: * Log in to the RHN web site (that is, https://rhn.redhat.com) * Click "Software" in the top navigation bar. * Click the appropriate channel name. * On the Channel Details page, click the "Packages" tab. * Select the RPMs you want and click the "Download" button. You will be presented with a confirmation screen. * Click "Download Selected Packages Now!" * You will then be asked for the location to save the tar archive containing all the packages you selected. * To extract the packages once the download is complete, run: tar -xvf rhn-packages.tar - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How do I move my Red Hat Network entitlement to another machine? All of the systems that you want to entitle, or un-entitle, must be registered with Red Hat Network. Please see the FAQ question relating to registering new systems. First Step - unentitle old system 1) Sign in with Red Hat Network 2) Click on "Systems" 3) Click on "Systems Entitlements" 4) Change entitlement of old system to "none" 5) Click "Update Entitlements" Next Step - entitle new system From same screen, change the entitlement on the new system to the entitlement you would like to have. Click "Update Entitlements". - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Can I use Red Hat Network to upgrade my Red Hat Linux kernel? Yes. You must use Red Hat Update Agent version 2.5.4 or higher. If you choose the kernel packages and allow Red Hat Network to install them to your system, it will modify your LILO or GRUB configuration file so that your system boots the new kernel the next time it is rebooted. My Note: The "Red Hat Update Agent" is the up2date program, although I can't coorrelate the "version 2.5.4" with what's on the RHEL v3 install, namely up2date-4.2.16-1, unless 2.5.4 is just a really ancient version. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Error messages on vinu when trying to get the latest fixes on 9-13-2004, Test install failed because of package conflicts: The following packages wre added to your selection to satisfy dependencies: Name Version Release ----------------------------------------------- bind-libs 9.2.4 EL3_10 openoffice.org-style-gnome 1.1.0 16.9.EL rpm-libs 4.2.3 10 file /usr/X11R6/lib/libGL.so.1.2 from install of XFree86-Mesa-libGL-4.3.0-68.EL conflicts with file from package fglrx-4.3.0-3.11.1 I couldn't uninstall XFree86-Mesa too easily 'cause error: Failed dependencies: libGLU.so.1 is needed by (installed) qt-3.1.2-13.4 libGLU.so.1 is needed by (installed) XFree86-tools-4.3.0-35.EL libGLU.so.1 is needed by (installed) xscreensaver-4.10-4 so I uninstalled fglrx, which (I think) was a replacement video driver for vinu's console, which I started to update from the xxxx web site, but never finished 'cause I ran into req problems.