[Spacewalk-list] Initial load of Red Hat channel...?

Fri Dec 4 04:09:56 UTC 2009

I don't have PXE, etc. setup yet, but I tried your suggestion of just
booting from a DVD and giving it the ks parameter.  I think it almost
worked.  I got the following error:

"Unable to read package metadata.  This may be due to a missing repodata
directory.  Please ensure that your install tree has been correctly
generated.  Cannot retrieve reposutory metadata...."

I believe this was because the kickstart file is littered with URLs with
'localhost.localdomain' in them.  I was able to get one of the URLs to
change by hard coding the URL in the Kickstart -> Profiles -> System
Details -> Advanced options.  But many other URLs still have the
localhost.localdomain in the URL.

What is considered the preferred way to fix these?

Robert Kuropkat

On Wed, 2009-11-25 at 08:11 +0800, Colin Coe wrote:
> Don't get too hung up on PXE.
> 
> Spacewalk/Satellite can be configured as a DHCP/TFTP server which is
> used by the PXE client (server, Fedora desktop, whatever) to get an IP
> address and grab a kernel + initial ramdisk for booting the installer
> via TFTP.  That's where PXE comes in.  You could just as easily boot
> from a USB key or RHEL/Fedora CD/DVD and type "linux
> ks=http://spacewalk.server.com/ks/cfg/org/1/label/test-ks2 ip=1.2.3.4
> etc"
> 
> As for setting up the Kickstart trees, follow
> https://fedorahosted.org/spacewalk/wiki/HowToKickstartCobbler.  I hate
> to admit it, but this process has gotten a lot more involved since
> v0.4 and is not as clear.  Follow the instructions with the knowledge
> that 'this is what you have to do', understanding will come.
> 
> The clear advantage of Satellite over Spacewalk is that sync'ing RHEL
> content is easy.  If you have less than 50 physical nodes, my
> understanding is that special pricing is available from RedHat.  One
> of my clients bought Satellite and they only had 20 or so physical
> boxes so they paid about a third of the Satellite retail price.  YMMV.
> 
> Spacewalk/Satellite will give you the automated installs you want but
> it will give you much more.  The API set is huge and at a previous
> client site I tied the monitoring system and Satellite together so
> that any new Linux nodes were automatically added to the monitoring
> system.  I choose not to your the inbuilt Satellite monitoring as it
> didn't easily do what I wanted (red light/green light monitoring,
> trending and alerting).  What Satellite/Spacewalk can do is limitted
> by your imagination and coding skills.
> 
> You can't make a RHEL ISO from the Satellite server although this is
> functionality I've requested in the past.  I think the request was
> rejected as it also needed work done in Anaconda (the installer).
> 
> Hope I've helped and not rambled to much (I have a habit of doing that)
> 
> CC
> 
> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 7:34 AM, Robert Kuropkat
> <rkuropkat at t-sciences.com> wrote:
> >
> > That's another thing I am not clear on yet, but I have more reading to
> > do still.  Does Spacewalk serve as a network (PXE) install server?  Or
> > does it just store the kickstart files?  Or does it need the kickstart
> > files to determine what packages to keep up to date on each server.
> >
> > My end goal is an automated install.  Obviously, there are many ways to
> > go about that, but I thought Spacewalk would provide automated installs
> > as well as provide a useful foundation for on going maintenance.
> >
> > I'm not sure yet what my target environment will be, but suspect a
> > combination of being able to install/update over the network from this
> > server, install from a CD (hopefully made from this server) and install
> > from another Spacewalk server (or proxy) based on having to sneaker net
> > files to it (thus my reason for wanting to understand how to setup rpms
> > from CD even though I have a valid RHN account).
> >
> > Robert Kuropkat
> >
> >
> > On Wed, 2009-11-25 at 07:19 +0800, Colin Coe wrote:
> >> Just remember that putting RPMs into a channel is step one, you also
> >> need to get the kickstart trees into Spacewalk if you want to do
> >> provisioning (building systems).
> >>
> >> CC
> >>
> >> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 6:46 AM, Robert Kuropkat
> >> <rkuropkat at t-sciences.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > hehehe, I am starting to work that out :-)
> >> >
> >> > Right now I've hit pause on this for a couple more hours.  I'm tired of
> >> > Windows 7 blue screening on me and corrupting my VMs, so I am trying to
> >> > get my Ubuntu partition functional.
> >> >
> >> > I hope to be back on this later tonight or tomorrow.
> >> >
> >> > Right now, I think I've been able to load the rpms from the iso using
> >> > rhnpush and I used the web GUI to initiate a load of rpms from the RHN
> >> > Extras site.  This gave me about 6,000 rpms in this channel.
> >> >
> >> > Now, whether that did something useful or not, I'm not sure.  I'll try
> >> > to recreate it soon and see if I can subscribe a system to that channel
> >> > and do updates.
> >> >
> >> > 'preciate all the help from everyone so far...
> >> >
> >> > Robert Kuropkat
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Wed, 2009-11-25 at 06:41 +0800, Colin Coe wrote:
> >> >> Robert,
> >> >>
> >> >> RHN Satellite != Spacewalk
> >> >>
> >> >> There are a lot of similarities but they are not the same, esp. when
> >> >> dealing with RHEL products.
> >> >>
> >> >> CC
> >> >>
> >> >> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 12:33 AM, Robert Kuropkat
> >> >> <rkuropkat at t-sciences.com> wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > now see, that almost makes sense.  It does not appear to be what the
> >> >> > documentation actually says, though maybe I am misreading it.  it talks
> >> >> > about copying the files from the ISO and then goes right to the
> >> >> > satellite-sync import.  I'm on page 47 of the install guide and rhnpush has
> >> >> > not even been mentioned yet.  Perhaps the Channel Management guide is more
> >> >> > detailed and I should skip to it...
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Robert Kuropkat
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Josh.Mullis at cox.com wrote:
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> The ISO's they are speaking of are the same one you downloaded on your
> >> >> >> first thread.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> They are saying that to save time, download the iso, mount it, and import
> >> >> >> into spacewalk via the rhnpush utility.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> This means it will not take as long to sync the channel from RHN via the
> >> >> >> rhnget command, because most of the packages are already there.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> >> >> From: spacewalk-list-bounces at redhat.com
> >> >> >> <spacewalk-list-bounces at redhat.com>
> >> >> >> To: spacewalk-list at redhat.com <spacewalk-list at redhat.com>
> >> >> >> Sent: Tue Nov 24 11:07:25 2009
> >> >> >> Subject: Re: [Spacewalk-list] Initial load of Red Hat channel...?
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> I still need to look into these packages.  Last night I accidentally
> >> >> >> imported 3817 packages on accident, not exactly sure what.  I guess part of
> >> >> >> what is irritating me is the following paragraph from the Satellite Server
> >> >> >> Installation guide:
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> The Red Hat Network Channel Content ISOs or RHN Satellite Exporter data
> >> >> >> must be available, or the Satellite must have access to the Internet and the
> >> >> >> RHN website.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Although it is possible to conduct the import directly from the RHN
> >> >> >> website, this should be done only if Channel Content ISOs are not available.
> >> >> >> It takes a long time to populate a channel from scratch over the Internet.
> >> >> >> For this reason, Red Hat urges you to use ISOs, if they are available, for
> >> >> >> initial import.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> So how the hell does one get the "Red hat Network Channel Content ISOs"?
> >> >> >>  I have a valid RHN login but the iso's I download don't seem to have the
> >> >> >> Channel Content info?  Or am I just on crack?  I mean I try not to read
> >> >> >> documentation very often but would appreciate it to be correct when I do
> >> >> >> bother... :-)
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Robert
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Josh.Mullis at cox.com wrote:
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> Look into rhnget and gensystemid from the mrepo package.
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> You can use that to sync the rhel rpms locally, then use rhnpush to
> >> >> >>> import into spacewalk.
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >> >> >>> From: spacewalk-list-bounces at redhat.com
> >> >> >>> <spacewalk-list-bounces at redhat.com>
> >> >> >>> To: spacewalk-list at redhat.com <spacewalk-list at redhat.com>
> >> >> >>> Sent: Mon Nov 23 21:37:40 2009
> >> >> >>> Subject: Re: [Spacewalk-list] Initial load of Red Hat channel...?
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> yea, in the little reading I recall on it, I gave it a confused dog look
> >> >> >>> and just hoped I did not really need that.  So I'll look a little harder at
> >> >> >>> it unless this other thing actually works accidentally.  But it sounds like
> >> >> >>> even though I am getting nearly 4,000 packages it is still only part of what
> >> >> >>> I need.
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> Thanks for the info...
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> Colin Coe wrote:
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>> I didn't like mrepo as:
> >> >> >>>> a) I didn't find it at all intuitive
> >> >> >>>> b) unless you do some fancy scripting you end up all the RHEL (and/or
> >> >> >>>> EPEL) content twice on your filesystem
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>> CC
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>> On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 10:24 AM, Robert Kuropkat
> >> >> >>>> <rkuropkat at t-sciences.com> wrote:
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> hmmm... Well that makes a little more sense I guess.  I think it did/is
> >> >> >>>>> syncing the epel repo, which is of course not what I wanted but would
> >> >> >>>>> imply
> >> >> >>>>> that process would work if I can dredge up the correct url.
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> I did see something about spacewalk-repo-sync but I think that requires
> >> >> >>>>> a
> >> >> >>>>> URL as well, not local media.
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> I do seem to have a sync process running, so I am not sure if it is
> >> >> >>>>> because
> >> >> >>>>> I clicked on the sync button multiple times or what.  Nothing is
> >> >> >>>>> showing up
> >> >> >>>>> in the Schedule tab in Space walk under pending, failed, completed or
> >> >> >>>>> archived so I don't really understand what state this process is in.
> >> >> >>>>>  There
> >> >> >>>>> is a /var/log/rhn/rhn_taskomatic_daemon.log file that is showing a lot
> >> >> >>>>> of
> >> >> >>>>> hibernate and java null pointer errors so that does not seem promising.
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> Actually, it looks like something might be happening now, I might have
> >> >> >>>>> just
> >> >> >>>>> been impatient.  There is now file in /var/log/rhn/reposync that is
> >> >> >>>>> growing
> >> >> >>>>> and shoes 754/3817.... and my little VM has gotten sluggish as hell.
> >> >> >>>>>  So
> >> >> >>>>> maybe it is downloading everything for a complete RH 5.2?
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> Of course, that kinda sucks because I was about to give up and go home.
> >> >> >>>>>  Now
> >> >> >>>>> I have to stay and wait it out :-/
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> Robert
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> P.S.  What is mrepo and what did you not like about it?  I thought I
> >> >> >>>>> saw
> >> >> >>>>> that mentioned somewhere in my reading but don't recall now...
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> Colin Coe wrote:
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>> My understanding is that satellite-sync does not work with Sapcewalk
> >> >> >>>>>> but I'm not 100% on that.
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>> http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/5/i386/ is the location for
> >> >> >>>>>> EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux), not for RHEL.
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>> a minute or two after clicking sync repo, do a 'ps -ef | grep sync' to
> >> >> >>>>>> see if you have any spacewalk-repo-sync processes running.  I think
> >> >> >>>>>> the logs are under /var/satellite/sync_repo or something similar.
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>> I ended up using mrepo to do this but I was less than happy with it.
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>> CC
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>> On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 9:51 AM, Robert Kuropkat
> >> >> >>>>>> <rkuropkat at t-sciences.com> wrote:
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> I seem to be missing something obvious.  I've installed Red Hat 5.2
> >> >> >>>>>>> (in a
> >> >> >>>>>>> VirtualBox VM) and installed Spacewalk.  Now I need to create my
> >> >> >>>>>>> first
> >> >> >>>>>>> channel.  I downloaded Red Hat 5.2 and copied the ISO to the file
> >> >> >>>>>>> system
> >> >> >>>>>>> and
> >> >> >>>>>>> tried:
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> satellite-sync --list-channels --mount-point /var/rhn-sat-import/rhel
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> It fails saying it is unable to process file
> >> >> >>>>>>> /var/rhn-sat-import/rhel/channel_families/channel_families.xml
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> Sure enough, that file is not there.  I read the documentation on how
> >> >> >>>>>>> to
> >> >> >>>>>>> get
> >> >> >>>>>>> the channel iso but it only gives me an iso without the channel
> >> >> >>>>>>> information.
> >> >> >>>>>>>  The documentation does not seem to exactly describe the web ui
> >> >> >>>>>>> navigation
> >> >> >>>>>>> through the RHN web site so I'm not sure if the documentation is
> >> >> >>>>>>> slightly
> >> >> >>>>>>> out of date and I am guessing wrong, or if there is some other detail
> >> >> >>>>>>> I
> >> >> >>>>>>> am
> >> >> >>>>>>> missing.
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> I do also see the URL for repo sync in Spacewalk, but don't
> >> >> >>>>>>> understand
> >> >> >>>>>>> what
> >> >> >>>>>>> the URL should be for Red hat version 5.2.  I put in this:
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/5/i386/
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> And it said repository sync scheduled, but I see no evidence it
> >> >> >>>>>>> actually
> >> >> >>>>>>> did
> >> >> >>>>>>> anything...  okay wait, before I hit send I went and looked again and
> >> >> >>>>>>> it
> >> >> >>>>>>> does look like it did something, just not what I wanted it to.  So
> >> >> >>>>>>> maybe
> >> >> >>>>>>> the
> >> >> >>>>>>> URL above is just incorrect?  How do I setup a local Red Hat 5.2
> >> >> >>>>>>> repo?
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> Any help appreciated.
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> Robert Kuropkat
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
> >> >> >>>>>>> Spacewalk-list mailing list
> >> >> >>>>>>> Spacewalk-list at redhat.com
> >> >> >>>>>>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >> >> >>>>> Spacewalk-list mailing list
> >> >> >>>>> Spacewalk-list at redhat.com
> >> >> >>>>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>>
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>>
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> _______________________________________________
> >> >> >>> Spacewalk-list mailing list
> >> >> >>> Spacewalk-list at redhat.com
> >> >> >>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >> >> >>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >>>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> >> >> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> >> Spacewalk-list mailing list
> >> >> >> Spacewalk-list at redhat.com
> >> >> >> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >
> >> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> >> > Spacewalk-list mailing list
> >> >> > Spacewalk-list at redhat.com
> >> >> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
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> >> > Spacewalk-list at redhat.com
> >> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
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> 
> 
> 