Extending the RHSM download plug-in (Optional)
You can configure the RHSM download plug-in to download and cache packages from repositories that are not officially supported by BigFix.
The RHSM download plug-in can resolve package dependency for unsupported RHSM repositories, allowing the installation of unsupported dependent packages. This extended solution allows you to use BigFix to deploy packages from repositories that are not shipped out of the box, such as debuginfo repositories.
- Ensure that appropriate licenses are registered and that your Red Hat subscription is active.
- Review the BigFix Patch for Red Hat support information and verify the list of supported repositories: Red Hat Repositories that BigFix supports.
Creating an extended repository list file
The Red Hat download plug-in can use an extended repository list file, which contains additional repositories for both base and extension products that are included in your subscription.
- It must be a valid
.json
file. - It must be accessible to the Red Hat download plug-in. Ensure that the Administrator or root user can read the file.
- It must contain the following
format:
{ "<OS_key>":[ {"name": "<name>", "baseurl": "<url>"}, {"name": "<name>", "baseurl": "<url>"} ] }
For example:
{ "x86":[ {"name": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server - Oracle Java (Source RPMs)", "baseurl": "https://cdn.redhat.com//content/rhel/server/6/6Server/ x86/oracle-java/source/SRPMS"} ] }
DLRHELRepoList.json
file, which is set
for repoListFile
in the plugin.ini
file.- OS_key
- To use the unsupported repositories with the BigFix RHEL Patching content, use the following OS
keys as listed in the
DLRHELRepoList.json
file. This might not be the full list as later versions of the download plug-in are released. To get the latest and complete copy of the repository list, complete the following actions:- Check whether your endpoints are registered to the latest download plug-in. The Manage Download Plug-ins dashboard indicates when the plug-in is up-to-date or when a new version is available.
- View the
DLRHELRepoList.json
file from the following locations:- On Windows Systems
- %PROGRAM FILES%\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\GatherDBData\gather\Patching Support\CurrentSiteData
- On Linux Systems
- /var/opt/BESServer/gatherDBData/gather/Patching Support/CurrentSiteData
Important: Use the correct OS key for each repository to avoid download and dependency resolution issues. - name
- You can retrieve the name from the Red Hat Customer Portal; see Retrieving the repository information.
- baseurl
- You can retrieve the distribution target name from the Red Hat Customer Portal; see Retrieving the repository
information. In the baseurl, replace the architecture
$basearch
and$releasever
values.
Retrieving the repository information
- Log in to the Red Hat Customer Portal at https://access.redhat.com/.
- Go to the Subscription Overview page at https://access.redhat.com/management/.
- Click the appropriate subscription. The Subscription Information page is displayed.
- From the Manage section, under Subscriber Inventory, you can see the number of subscribed systems and hypervisors. Click Systems.
- From the Content Sets tab, go to the row of the repository and click View.
-
You can derive the values for the name and baseurl keys based on the following guidelines:
- name
- Select the repository name value from the Name column. An example of the name value is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server - Oracle Java (Source RPMs)
- baseurl
- The baseurl starts with
https://cdn.redhat.com/
. You can see the repository baseurl from the Content details column, in the Content Download URL field. For example,/content/rhel/server/6/$releasever/$basearch/ oracle-java/source/SRPMS
To verify if the certificate has access to the repository that you chose to setup, import the certificate to the browser, then use the URL to check if it can be accessed.
Updating the RHSM download plug-in configuration file
Configure the RHSM Download Plug-in to use an extended repository list file. The
plugin.ini
configuration file is overwritten when the RHSM download plug-in is
unregistered or configured from the Manage Download Plug-in dashboard. Any change that you make in
the configuration file is lost, therefore take note of the previous changes.
- primaryRepoListFile
- This list file contains the repositories supported by default by BigFix.
- extendedRepoListFile
- This optional repository list is for extensions to the default repository list. It has the same format as the default repository list.
- onlyUseExtendedRepoListFile
- This is an optional configuration list file to limit downloads to only custom repositories.
- Use a text editor to open the
plugin.ini
file from the following locations:- On Windows systems
- %PROGRAM FILES%\BigFix Enterprise\BES Server\DownloadPlugins\RHSMProtocol
- On Linux systems
- /var/opt/BESServer/DownloadPlugins/RHSMProtocol
- In the extendedRepoListFile field, enter the absolute path or relative
path to the extended repository list file. If it is set to a relative path, the path must be
relative to the location of the RHSM download plug-in executable.For example:
extendedRepoListFile = C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\ BES Server\DownloadPlugins\RHSMProtocol\<extendedRepoList>.json
- If you want set the RHSM Download Plug-in to only use the extended repository list, set the
onlyUseExtendedRepoListFile field to yes. For example:
onlyUseExtendedRepoListFile= yes
If you want to set RHSM Download Plug-in to use both repository list files, configure the setting to no. In cases where the same OS key is used in both files, the repositories will be combined.
- Save the file.
Example: When EPEL 6 repo is added to server-6-x86_64
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Testing Certs access to: server-6-x86_64
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : EPEL_6
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Success!
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_6_Server_(RPMs)
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Success!
Example: When EPEL 7 repo is added to server-7-x86_64
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Testing Certs access to: server-7-x86_64
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : EPEL_7
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Success!
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux_7_Server_(RPMs)
4496 : 2018-02-28 15:26:31 : INFO : Success!