ULN System Management

4 ULN System Management

Note:

This documentation is specific to Oracle Linux 6 and Oracle Linux 7. If you're using Oracle Linux 8 or Oracle Linux 9, see Oracle Linux: Managing Software on Oracle Linux.

Systems that have been registered with ULN can be managed by using the ULN web interface at https://linux.oracle.com. You can use these tools to manage system information, such as the associated CSI for a system, the channels that a system is subscribed to, or to browse available updates and errata.

Some command-line tools are also provided to help perform certain tasks, such as channel subscription management, directly from the shell on the system itself.

System updates and package installation from ULN are handled by using the yum command directly on the system that is registered with ULN.

Some direct system configuration may be applied directly to the system, for example, to configure proxy settings or disable ULN updates for a particular package.

This chapter describes configuration steps and procedures to perform these tasks on a system that is registered with ULN.

ULN Channel Subscription Management

You can configure the channels that a system is subscribed to through the ULN Web interface. This chapter describes channel subscription in more detail.

Managing ULN Channel Subscription by Using the ULN Web Interface

If you have registered your system with ULN, you can subscribe the system to the channels that are available for the level of support that is associated with the CSI.

To subscribe your system to ULN channels:

Log in to https://linux.oracle.com with your ULN user name and password.
On the Systems tab, click the link named for the system in the list of registered machines.
On the System Details page, click Manage Subscriptions.
On the System Summary page, select channels from the list of available or subscribed channels and click the arrows to move the channels between the lists.
When you have finished selecting channels, click Save Subscriptions.

Note that you can view a complete listing of all available channels, for all operating systems and all architectures, by clicking on the Channels tab when you are logged into https://linux.oracle.com. You can use the Release and Architecture drop-down selection boxes to limit the listing to a particular operating system release and architecture.

Modifying System Details

If you have registered your system with ULN, you can modify the details that ULN records for the system.

To update the details for your system:

Log in to https://linux.oracle.com with your ULN user name and password.
On the Systems tab, click the link named for the system in the list of registered machines.
On the System Details page, click Edit.
On the Edit System Properties page, you can change the name that is associated with your system, register it as a local yum server for your site, or change the CSI with which it is registered.

Note:

You cannot change the CSI of a system unless it is registered to your user name.
When you have finished making changes, click Apply Changes.

Configuring the Use of a Proxy Server

If your organization uses a proxy server as an intermediary for Internet access, specify the proxy setting in the /etc/yum.conf file, as shown in the following example:

proxy=http://proxysvr.example.com:3128

If the proxy server requires authentication, additionally specify the proxy_username, and proxy_password settings.

proxy=http://proxysvr.example.com:3128
proxy_username=yumacc
proxy_password=clydenw

If you use the yum plugin (yum-rhn-plugin) to access the ULN, specify the enableProxy and httpProxy settings in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date as shown in this example.

enableProxy=1
httpProxy=http://proxysvr.example.com:3128

If the proxy server requires authentication, additionally specify the enableProxyAuth, proxyUser, and proxyPassword settings.

enableProxy=1
httpProxy=http://proxysvr.example.com:3128
enableProxyAuth=1
proxyUser=yumacc
proxyPassword=clydenw

Caution:

All yum users require read access to /etc/yum.conf or /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date. If these files must be world-readable, do not use a proxy password that is the same as any user's login password, and especially not root's password.

Updating a System by Using Yum

Yum integration with ULN makes it possible to run most yum commands on the system after registering it with ULN and configuring the channels to which the system is subscribed. You can use the yum install and yum update commands to handle general package installation or updates.

To update a system to use the latest packages that are available on ULN, run:

# yum update

The ULN integration with yum enables you to run commands like yum repolist to obtain a listing of the ULN channels to which the system is subscribed. You can search for packages and obtain package information in the same way as you would if you were using yum to access the Oracle Linux yum server.

Disabling ULN Package Updates

You might need to disable package updates from ULN. For example, if you deleted your system from ULN, you would edit the /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/rhnplugin.conf file and change the value of enabled flag from 1 to 0 in the [main] section, as shown in the following example:

[main]
enabled = 0
gpgcheck = 1

To disable updates for particular packages, add an exclude statement to the [main] section of the /etc/yum.conf file. For example, to exclude updates for VirtualBox and kernel:

exclude=VirtualBox* kernel*

Note:

Excluding certain packages from being updated can cause dependency errors for other packages. Your system could also become vulnerable to security-related issues if you do not install the latest updates.

Browsing Available Errata for a System

You can download a comma-separated values (CSV) report file of the errata that are available for a specific system registered on ULN and download any available errata RPMs, individually. You can also browse all of the available advisories that are available on ULN and download the errata RPMs for the supported combinations of the software release and the system architecture.

To download a CSV report or the errata RPMs for a specific system:

Log in to https://linux.oracle.com with your ULN user name and password.
On the Systems tab, click the link named for the system in the list of registered machines.

The System Details page lists the available errata for the system in the Available Errata table, which might be split over several pages.
To download the CSV report file, click the link Download All Available Errata for this System.
To see more detail about an advisory and to download the RPMs:
1. Click the link for the advisory.
2. On the System Errata Detail page for an advisory, you can download the RPMs for the affected releases and system architectures.
Note that updating the system by using the yum update command directly on the affected system, downloads these RPMs and updates the system with all available errata updates.

To browse all available advisories and download errata RPMs:

Log in to https://linux.oracle.com with your ULN user name and password.
Select the Errata tab.

The Errata page displays a table of the available errata for all releases that are available on ULN.
On the Errata page, you can perform the following actions on the displayed errata:
- To sort the table of available errata, click the title of the Type, Severity, Advisory, Systems Affected, or Release Date column. Click the title again to reverse the order of sorting.
  
  Note:
  
  The Systems Affected column shows how many of your systems are potentially affected by an advisory.
- To display or hide advisories of different types, select or deselect the Bug, Enhancement, and Security check boxes and click Go.
- To display only advisories for a certain release of Oracle Linux or Oracle VM, select that release from the Release drop-down list and click Go.
- To search within the table, enter a string in the Search field and click Go.
To see more detail about an advisory and to download the RPMs:
1. Click the link for the advisory.
2. On the Errata Detail page for an advisory, you can download the RPMs for the supported releases and system architectures. The Superseded By Advisory column displays a link to the most recent advisory (if any) that replaces the advisory you are browsing.

Removing a System From ULN

To remove a system that is registered with ULN:

Log in to https://linux.oracle.com with your ULN user name and password.
On the Systems tab, click the link named for the system in the list of registered machines.
On the System Details page, click Delete.

Note:

You cannot delete a system unless it is registered to your user name.
When prompted to confirm the deletion, click OK.

Installing Java SE on Oracle Linux from ULN

Customers who have Oracle Linux support and Java SE support, from Oracle, have access to commercial releases of Java SE via ULN. To install Commercial releases of Java SE from ULN, you must have a Java SE CSI. The following procedure sets out the steps that you need to take to install Java SE on systems registered with ULN.

Using a web browser, log in to https://linux.oracle.com/.
In the Systems section of the site, find the target system where you intend to install Java SE. If it is not listed, you may need to register it. Click on the system and click on the Edit button.
In the form that is presented, identify the field labeled Java Support CSI and enter your Java SE CSI and click Apply Changes.
On the System Detail screen, select Manage Subscriptions.
Using the shuttle dialog, move the desired Java SE channel to the Subscribed Channels list, then click Save Subscriptions. Accept the license agreement when prompted.
Once the target system is subscribed to the Java SE channel, you are able to use the yum command on the system to install and update Java SE. For example:
```
# yum info jre
# yum install jre
# yum update jre
```