The software described in this documentation is either no longer supported or is in extended support.
Oracle recommends that you upgrade to a current supported release.

Chapter 1 Introducing Spacewalk

A central task for IT administrators is to provision systems and keep them up to date with the latest patches and operating system updates. If the security policy at your site mandates errata as critical, it is crucially important to conduct regular testing and apply patches to reduce the risk of systems compromise or data exposure. As data centers expand, requiring administrators to manage ever greater numbers of physical servers and virtual machines, automation becomes a necessity for efficient and cost-effective systems management. Spacewalk is open source software that helps to automate Linux systems management, allowing you to control the system software life cycle from initial installation, through maintenance, software configuration, upgrades, and eventual decommissioning.

Provisioning and maintaining large numbers of physical servers and virtual machines across large deployments that span departments and data centers is a challenging task. However, keeping Linux systems up to date with stable software configurations, the latest security errata, and consistent patch levels is critical to user productivity and for day-to-day business operations.

This guide introduces basic concepts and simple commands to help you start using Spacewalk to manage Oracle Linux systems. Beyond the scope of this guide are additional efficiencies that can result from implementing Spacewalk, for example:

You can use Spacewalk to run automatic OpenSCAP audits against industry-standard security checklists and evaluation profiles.
You can use the Spacewalk API, which offers powerful and extensive interfaces for high-level scripting, to provide a sophisticated and comprehensive way to automate advanced management tasks.

Spacewalk provides an effective set of tools for managing the Oracle Linux software life cycle in small or large deployments. Spacewalk helps you automate kickstart installation, patching, configuration, and maintenance tasks, and allows you to rapidly deploy proven and consistent software configurations for Oracle Linux systems.

You can use Spacewalk to automate and simplify a number of management tasks, including installing bare metal systems and virtual guests, applying patches and software updates, configuring software, and auditing system security as illustrated in Figure 1.1, “The Life Cycle of a Typical System”.

Figure 1.1 The Life Cycle of a Typical System

The image shows the typical life cycle of a system from initial provisioning, through repeated cycles of patching, configuring, and auditing, before eventual decommissioning.

You can use either a web interface or command-line utilities to administer Spacewalk. For example, you can use the spacecmd command to perform most Spacewalk operations. Spacewalk also features an extensive and powerful XML/RPC-based API that you can use with a high-level scripting language such as Python.

Oracle Linux Premier Support and Oracle Linux Basic Support contracts include support for Spacewalk implementations that are deployed to use Oracle Database, and include a limited-use license for Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition for use with Spacewalk. You can use the Spacewalk implementation to automate the management of Oracle Linux 5, Oracle Linux 6, and Oracle Linux 7 systems. When deployed on Oracle Linux, Spacewalk can additionally manage Linux releases such as CentOS, Debian, Fedora, and SLES although Oracle does not support Spacewalk management of these systems.

Spacewalk provides automated management capabilities at no additional cost. Oracle support for this open source project is especially valuable when transitioning to Oracle Linux if you are already familiar with Red Hat Satellite 5.x or SUSE Manager. However, your IT organization might prefer to implement Oracle Enterprise Manager instead because it provides a comprehensive management solution that extends beyond the management of purely Linux-derived systems. The Oracle Enterprise Manager product family supports management of the entire Oracle software stack, including hardware, hypervisors, operating systems and Oracle Database, Oracle middleware, and Oracle software applications. For more information, see the Oracle Enterprise Manager product page at https://www.oracle.com/enterprise-manager/.