Red Hat Network Satellite

Red Hat Satellite is the solution for management of lifecycle of the Red Hat systems including program distribution kits, management tools patches, configurations and a subscription in physical, virtual and cloud environments.

Development History

2018: Red Hat Satellite 6.3

The Red Hat company, an ostavshchik of solutions with the open code, in March, 2018 submitted the next version of the Red Hat Satellite system. Thanks to automation as fundamental functionality of Red Hat Satellite of version 6.3 helps to accelerate deployment and updating of IT systems and services. It occurs by process optimization of preparation of IT resources at increase in the general stability and performance of systems.

In the updated system profound integration with Red Hat Ansible Tower is implemented that provides two things:

• The Do-first, Red Hat Satellite can provide a dynamic source of inventory data when choosing direct systems for accomplishment of scenarios of automation in Red Hat Ansible Tower now.
• Secondly, the servers generated through Red Hat Satellite can request additional scenarios of automation or transfer data on the status to Red Hat Ansible Tower. These functions are intended to provide big flexibility to the IT specialists aiming to combine possibilities of traditional management tools and instruments of automation

Red Hat Satellite 6.3 also offers the optimized integration with service of monitoring and forecasting of malfunctions of Red Hat Insights. Expanded integration provides widgets with summary information on Insights-actions and Insights-risks, allowing to detect proactively problems with performance and stability. Besides, integration gives the chance to work with the scheduler of Insights through Red Hat Ansible Engine or Red Hat Ansible Tower, helping the organizations to eliminate automatically the risks revealed by means of Insights.

Besides, Red Hat Satellite 6.3 offers expanded support of hybrid environments, allowing to start the Satellite and Satellite Capsule Server servers on a cloud platform of Amazon EC2. It gives the chance to implement full-function systems management at deployment of IT infrastructures in a cloud of Amazon. As the organizations increase workloads in clouds, it is important to them to provide more consecutive system management. Now users of Red Hat Satellite can manage the infrastructure on Amazon EC2, enjoying global technical support of Red Hat.

The Red Hat Satellite 6.3 system is already available to customers with the operating subscription.

2015: Red Hat Network Satellite 6.1

On August 17, 2015 the Red Hat company announced release of a management system of Red Hat Satellite 6.1. In this version the Red Hat Satellite 6.0 system released in September, 2014^[1] is supplemented^[1].

As a part of additions the improved control functions by security and detection of systems, management tools containers in physical, virtual and cloud environments. The product offers improvements in three areas:

• management of containers;
• security;
• preparation of systems.

The movement of cloud infrastructures towards container methods of deployment of applications and databases generates the growing demand for dynamic management tools with support of technology of containers. Red Hat Satellite 6.1 provides this support at the level of basic means of systems management for installation and increase in scalability, controllability and coordination of containers. The solution supports container Docker technology, supplementing it with control facilities of versions, authentication and integration into the existing platforms. The scalable local register with access control on the basis of roles, auditing facilities and API interfaces facilitate to developers management of program systems in container environments.

The Satellite 6.1 functions for work with program corrections and updates help quickly and without excess efforts to eliminate gaps in the systems of protection, to develop corrections of security and to update software. The improved reports of security help to identify quicker vulnerable nodes and to take protective measures to minimize idle times and risks of date leak which arise at detection of vulnerabilities like Shellshock, Heartbleed or GHOST. The preliminary version of technology of security management of corporate systems for OpenSCAP methodology automatically and with the configured regularity checks systems for existence of packets of corrections, correctness of security settings and signs of a compromise.

Red Hat Satellite simplifies preparation of systems due to automatic detection in controlled network of the unknown nodes having the level of "naked iron". The connected nodes independently are registered on the Red Hat Satellite server with indication of the hardware configuration then are automatically configured by the rules set by the administrator.

As a part of changes of Red Hat Satellite 6.1:

• support of several networks — a possibility of preparation of systems with a difficult configuration of network using the VLAN, Bonds and Aliased interfaces. Using advanced templates and processes such configuration is executed at a stage of initial preparation of systems;
• the isolated Capsule server — a key component in big environments of management Red Hat Satellite provides the increased security and isolation of communications between nodes and the Capsule and Satellite servers now, facilitating deployment;
• the preliminary version of service of Red Hat Access Insights — the new subscription service announced at the summit Red Hat 2015 helps customers of Red Hat Satellite to identify and receive quickly recommendations about elimination of the main potential problems with stability, performance and security.

Red Hat Satellite 6.1 is available to all customers of Red Hat Satellite with the operating subscription.

2009: Red Hat Network Satellite 5.3

In 2009 the Red Hat company submitted the new version of the complete solution RHNS 5.3 (Red Hat Network Satellite) for systems management by the different Linux distribution kits on site, without use of external services. It is the first version of the RHNS platform based on developments of completely open Spacewalk project announced in June, 2008.

Initially the Spacewalk project intended for the centralized updating of program components in such distribution kits as Fedora, CentOS and Scientific Linux. In other words, the project was created for the centralized updating of the desktop systems based on Red Hat technologies, but now gained development in corporate solution for systems management.

Among other things, the boot set of Linux server under the name Cobbler which provides fast configuring of Linux systems in network of the enterprise is a part of a packet of RHNS 5.3. The Cobbler server helps to configure quickly settings of services DHCP (automatic assignment of the network addresses), DNS (service of network names) and mirroring of setup packages. Using Cobbler administrators can automate setup of the new systems and also installation of applications in virtual machines.

The updated RHN Satellite platform borrowed from the Spacewalk project additional tools for simultaneous service of several separate organizations. The administrator can create and control with ease the isolated network segments for the serviced organizations and also can establish confidential bilateral ties between local networks of controlled organizations. Besides, the new version of RHN Satellite supports synchronization now between the managing Inter-Satellite Sync servers so administrators of the Satellite Administrators systems can synchronize contents of installation repositories from one master server of Satellite on one or several auxiliary Satellites servers, irrespective of their location. The new mechanism of synchronization increases an exchange rate contents between the Satellite servers and also helps to avoid errors when copying such contents manually.

It is necessary to notice that the RHN Satellite system is distributed not for free. The annual subscription to Satellite Server will cost for the first time the addressed clients 12,500 dollars (the prices for the USA), and on the auxiliary server of systems management RHNS Proxy Server – 2500 dollars.

Notes