Subscription Asset Manager in a virtualized environment.
1. If you have not previously installed virt-who, you will need to run yum install virt-who. 2. To install Subscription Asset Manager in a virtual environment, register all physical hosts
using RHSM. See Procedure 7.1, “Register a System” for instructions on registering a system using RHSM.
3. After registering all physical hosts, you need to attach a subscription to all physical hosts using
RHSM. Launch RHSM and select the All Available Subscriptions tab.
4. Expand More Search options and use the following check boxes to filter the results:
m atch m y system shows only subscriptions which match the system architecture.
m atch m y installed products shows subscriptions which work with currently installed
products on the system.
have no overlap with existing subscriptions excludes subscriptions with
duplicate products. If a subscription is already attached to a system for a specific product or if multiple subscriptions supply the same product, then the subscription service filters those subscriptions and shows only the best fit.
Click Update.
5. Select one of the available subscriptions. 6. Click the Subscribe button.
7. Start virt-who on all physical hosts with the service virt-who start command:
# service virt-who start
If the operation is successful, messages similar to these will be added to the
/var/log/rhsm /rhsm .log log file:
2012-03-08 15:37:36,571 [DEBUG] @virt-who.py:308 - Virt-who is running in libvirt mode
2012-03-08 15:37:36,571 [DEBUG] @virt-who.py:312 - Starting infinite loop with 3600 seconds interval and event handling
2012-03-08 15:37:36,991 [DEBUG] @virt.py:51 - Virtual machine found: rhel6- pv-migration: 1c8f267e-e7d7-371c-0bec-0d7b5480af25
2012-03-08 15:37:37,007 [DEBUG] @virt.py:57 - Virtual machine found: rhel6- fv: 3dc76b6d-49bf-61c8-b504-92fe0de1f073
2012-03-08 15:37:37,011 [DEBUG] @virt.py:57 - Virtual machine found: rhel6- pv: 0301def5-927e-7bc1-fc59-91e9d42c8f16
2012-03-08 15:37:37,011 [DEBUG] @subscriptionmanager.py:74 - Sending update to updateConsumer: ['0301def5-927e-7bc1-fc59-91e9d42c8f16', '1c8f267e-e7d7- 371c-0bec-0d7b5480af25', '3dc76b6d-49bf-61c8-b504-92fe0de1f073']
8. Create a virtual machine and register it using RHSM. See Procedure 7.1, “Register a System” for instructions on registering a system using RHSM.
9. Attach a subscription to your virtual machine by using RHSM following steps 2 to 5 described above.
If you are using VMware ESX for virtualization, you will need to run the virt-who command on another machine in the network, instead of the physical machine being registered. This other machine must be subscribed to Subscription Asset Manager, but has no other special requirements. The machine will be required to call VMware ESX using the SOAP API, and will require that the following conditions are met:
The hypervisor must be registered to Subscription Asset Manager.
Subscription Asset Manager must be aware of the host/guest mapping on the hypervisor.
The hypervisor must have a subscription that includes any bonus virtualization subscriptions. The hypervisor and the guest systems must be registered to the same Subscription Asset
Manager instance.
You will need to adjust your virt-who configuration file so that it can correctly identify and update the virtual machines it is managing. This procedure connects your virt-who instance to the vCenter server rather than to VMware ESX directly. This allows you to add and remove individual hypervisors to your installation, without changing the virt-who configuration file. The hypervisors will show up individually in
Subscription Asset Manager as they are added to vCenter.
Open /etc/sysconfig/virt-who and check the following settings. If the proposed setting does not exist in your configuration file, add it:
1. Enable ESX mode:
VIRTWHO_ESX=1
2. Specify the owner of the subscriptions, that is, the person or organization that has purchased the subscriptions:
VIRTWHO_ESX_OWNER=Example Corp, Ltd
3. Specify the environment that the vCenter server belongs in:
VIRTWHO_ESX_ENV=environment
4. Specify the IP address of the vCenter server:
VIRTWHO_ESX_SERVER=192.168.1.1
5. Specify the username and password to use when connecting to the vCenter server:
# Username for connecting to vCenter VIRTWHO_ESX_USERNAME=admin
# Password for connecting to vCenter VIRTWHO_ESX_PASSWORD=password
6. Save your changes to the configuration file. You should now be able to see the hypervisors in
Subscription Asset Manager, and can go ahead and apply subscriptions as described in
Procedure 8.1, “Using Subscription Asset Manager in a Virtual Environment”.
Note
When a hypervisor is removed from Subscription Asset Mananger, a record of the deletion is created so that the hypervisor cannot re-register with the same UUID. If a hypervisor is
accidentally deleted, the hypervisor can be re-registered and will automatically obtain a new UUID. However, certain types of non-Red Hat hypervisors cannot re-register using a new UUID, and must maintain the existing UUID. In order to allow the hypervisor to re-register after an accidental deletion, the deletion record must be removed using this command:
# headpin -u admin -p admin system remove_deletion --uuid=<system uuid>
You can find the UUID for the hypervisor by checking the virt-who log file.
The hypervisor will then be recreated in Subscription Asset Manager once it checks in again using virt-who. This only applies to non-Red Hat hypervisors such as VMWare ESX. Any hypervisor that can run virt-who and RHSM locally is able to re-register with a new UUID.
Chapter 9. Administration
Users define a set of details for individuals using the system. Users can be assigned default
organizations and environments, so that when they create new entities, these defaults are automatically used.
Users can also be assigned to a default role, which defines the permissions and level of access they have. The roles to which users are assigned, give them rights to see and manage organizations and environments.
Roles are used to define a set of permissions and access levels. Once a role has been created, users
can be assigned that role. In this way, large groups of users can easily be given the same set of permissions.
Subscription Asset Manager can also be used with a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
server to manage and maintain a user permissions list. LDAP groups can be assigned to roles, in order to make them easier to manage across large organizations.
Important Terms LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a protocol used to organize and maintain a directory of user accounts.
Role
The permissions and level of access a user has. Roles give users rights to see and manage organizations and environments.
User
A person who is using the system, with a valid user account and permissions.
9.1. General User Tasks
Procedure 9.1. Creating a New User1. Move cursor over the Administer menu at the top right corner and click on Users. 2. Click the + New User link.
3. Type a username for the new user in the Username field.
4. Type an email address for the new user into the Email Address field. 5. Type a password for the new user in the Password field.
6. Retype the password for the new user into the Confirm field. 7. Select a default organization.
8. Select an environment.
9. Click the Save User button to save your new user.