Very interesting. Not heard of Xymon so I'll add that to my Todo list. I assume the connection to each site is broadband of some sort and fairly reliable?
Never been to Perth though I wanted to visit. Got to the east side of Australia on a trip before, but did not have enough time to get to the west side. Actually considered moving to Australia. Robert Kuropkat On Wed, 2009-11-25 at 08:48 +0800, Colin Coe wrote: > I'm in Perth, Western Australia. My client has RHEL nodes in two data > centres around Perth (about 10km apart) and another approx 1600km > (1000 miles) north of Perth. Spacewalk is managing these. > > I'm not using a Spacewalk proxy ATM although this may change. I'm > just seeing how things go right now. > > I'm using Xymon as the monitoring system, not because I'm a fan but > because it's very quick and easy to get going and it meets my > monitoring criteria. I originally used nagios but nagios required a > restart when it's config files were changed, Xymon does not. > > CC > > On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 8:36 AM, Robert Kuropkat > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I appreciate all the information. Except for not being able to make an > > iso right out of satellite/spacewalk it is all very encouraging. > > > > For right now, the main reason I am using spacewalk instead of satellite > > is just that I don't know how we will go forward with it in the future > > so I started with spacewalk because it was free and I figured "close > > enough" to satellite to prove out the concepts. > > > > Thanks again. I now have Virtual Box installed on my Ubuntu partition, > > tested a pre built VM and built an XP VM so now I should be able to get > > back to Red Hat and Spacewalk minus Windows 7 and the crash gnomes... > > > > When I catch up to everything you wrote below, I'll be back with more > > questions doubtless (I especially like the monitoring aspect. Have you > > worked with that over geographically separate offices?) > > > > Thanks again for everything, > > 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 > >> <[email protected]> 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 > >> >> <[email protected]> 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 > >> >> >> <[email protected]> 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 > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > [email protected] 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: [email protected] > >> >> >> >> <[email protected]> > >> >> >> >> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > >> >> >> >> 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 > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> [email protected] 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: [email protected] > >> >> >> >>> <[email protected]> > >> >> >> >>> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > >> >> >> >>> 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 > >> >> >> >>>> <[email protected]> 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 > >> >> >> >>>>>> <[email protected]> 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 > >> >> >> >>>>>>> [email protected] > >> >> >> >>>>>>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> >>>>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>> _______________________________________________ > >> >> >> >>>>> Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> >> >>>>> [email protected] > >> >> >> >>>>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> >>>>> > >> >> >> >>>>> > >> >> >> >>>> > >> >> >> >>>> > >> >> >> >>> > >> >> >> >>> _______________________________________________ > >> >> >> >>> Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> >> >>> [email protected] > >> >> >> >>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> >>> > >> >> >> >>> _______________________________________________ > >> >> >> >>> Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> >> >>> [email protected] > >> >> >> >>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> >>> > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ > >> >> >> >> Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> >> >> [email protected] > >> >> >> >> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ > >> >> >> >> Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> >> >> [email protected] > >> >> >> >> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> >> > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > >> >> >> > Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> >> > [email protected] > >> >> >> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> >> > > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> > > >> >> > > >> >> > _______________________________________________ > >> >> > Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> >> > [email protected] > >> >> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> >> > > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> > > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Spacewalk-list mailing list > >> > [email protected] > >> > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > >> > > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Spacewalk-list mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list > > > > > _______________________________________________ Spacewalk-list mailing list [email protected] https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/spacewalk-list
