subscription-manager(8) Subscription Management subscription-manager(8)
NAME
subscription-manager - Registers systems to a subscription management service and then attaches and manages subscriptions for software
products.
SYNOPSIS
subscription-manager command [options]
DESCRIPTION
subscription-manager is a client program that registers a system with a subscription management service such as the Customer Portal Sub-
scription Management service or on-premise Subscription Asset Manager.
Red Hat provides content updates and support by issuing subscriptions for its products. These subscriptions are applied to systems; once a
subscription for a product is attached to a system, that system allowed to install, update, and receive support for that software product.
IT administrators need to track these subscriptions and how they are attached. This subscription management is a feature available for Red
Hat platforms version 5.7 (and later) and version 6.1 (and later).
For RHEL systems, content is delivered through the Red Hat Customer Portal. Subscriptions and systems are managed globally through the Red
Hat subscription management service, which is integrated with the Customer Portal. Subscriptions are managed for the local system by using
the Red Hat Subscription Manager tool. Subscription Manager is a local client which connects a system with the subscription management ser-
vice.
subscription-manager is the command-line based client for the Red Hat Subscription Manager tool.
Subscription Manager performs several key operations:
* It registers systems to the Red Hat subscription management service and adds the system to the inventory. Once a system is regis-
tered, it can receive updates based on its subscriptions to any kind of software products.
* It lists both available and used subscriptions.
* It allows administrators to both attach specific subscriptions to a system and remove those subscriptions.
Subscription Manager can be used to autoattach subscriptions to a system, as well. The subscription-manager command can even be invoked as
part of a kickstart process.
Available subscriptions are based on the specific information about the system's architecture. A subscription is only considered available
if the platform and hardware can support that specific product.
Subscription Manager also collects and summarizes system facts related to its hardware, operating system, and other characteristics. These
facts can be edited in the Subscription Manager configuration and displayed through Subscription Manager.
There is also a Subscription Manager GUI, which can be invoked simply by running subscription-manager-gui from the command line.
Subscription management is only available for RHEL 5.7/6.1 and later systems. Older systems should register to Red Hat Network Classic
using the rhn_register command.
COMMANDS AND OPTIONS
subscription-manager has specific options available for each command, depending on what operation is being performed. Subscription Manager
commands are related to the different subscription operations:
1. register
2. unregister
3. attach
4. auto-attach
5. remove
6. release
7. service-level
8. import
9. redeem
10. list
11. refresh
12. environments
13. repos
14. orgs
15. plugins
16. identity
17. facts
18. clean
19. config
20. version
21. status
22. deprecated commands: subscribe, unsubscribe, and activate
23. repo-override
COMMON OPTIONS
-h, --help
Prints the specific help information for the given command.
--proxy=PROXY
Uses an HTTP proxy. The PROXY name has the format hostname:port.
--proxyuser=PROXYUSERNAME
Gives the username to use to authenticate to the HTTP proxy.
--proxypass=PROXYPASSWORD
Gives the password to use to authenticate to the HTTP proxy.
REGISTER OPTIONS
The register command registers a new system to the subscription management service.
--username=USERNAME
Gives the username for the account which is registering the system; this user account is usually tied to the user account for the
content delivery system which supplies the content. Optional, for user-based authentication.
--password=PASSWORD
Gives the user account password. This is required.
--serverurl=SERVER_HOSTNAME
Passes the name of the subscription service to register the system with. The default value, if this is not given, is the Customer
Portal Subscription Management service, subscription.rhn.redhat.com. If there is an on-premise subscription service such as Sub-
scription Asset Manager, this parameter can be used to submit the hostname of the subscription service. For Subscription Asset Man-
ager, if the Subscription Manager tool is configured with the Subscription Asset Manager RPM, then the default value for the
--serverurl parameter is for the on-premise Subscription Asset Manager server.
--baseurl=https://CONTENT_SERVICE:PORT/PREFIX
Passes the name of the content delivery service to configure the yum service to use to pull down packages. If there is an on-premise
subscription service such as Subscription Asset Manager or CloudForms System Engine, this parameter can be used to submit the URL of
the content repository, in the form https://server_name:port/prefix. For example, https://sam.example.com:8088/sam.
--name=SYSTEM_NAME
Sets the name of the system to register. This defaults to the hostname.
--consumerid=CONSUMERID
References an existing system inventory ID to reregister a system. The ID is used as an inventory number for the system in the sub-
scription management service database. If the subscriptions data are lost or corrupted, reregistering the system restores it.
--activationkey=KEYS
Gives a comma-separated list of product keys to use to redeem or apply specific subscriptions to the system. This is used for pre-
configured systems, which may already have products installed and subscriptions attached to that system. Activation keys are issued
by an on-premise subscription management service, such as Subscription Asset Manager.
When the --activationkey option is used, it is not necessary to use the --username and --password options, because the authentica-
tion information is implicit in the activation key.
For example:
subscription-manager register --org="IT Dept" --activationkey=1234abcd
--auto-attach
Automatically attaches the best-matched, compatible subscriptions to this system.
--servicelevel=LEVEL
Sets the preferred service level to use with subscriptions added to the system. Service levels are commonly premium, standard, and
none, though other levels may be available depending on the product and the contract. This preference can only be used in conjunc-
tion with the --auto-attach option, and then it is used as one of the factors for matching subscriptions.
--force
Registers the system even if it is already registered. Normally, any register operations will fail if the system is already regis-
tered. With --force, the existing system entry is unregistered first, all of its subscriptions are returned to the pool, and then
the system is registered as a new entry.
--org=ORG
Assigns the system to an organization. Infrastructures which are managed on-site may be multi-tenant, meaning that there are multi-
ple organizations within one customer unit. A system may be assigned manually to one of these suborganizations. When a system is
registered with the Customer Portal, this is not required. When a system is registered with an on-premise application such as Sub-
scription Asset Manager, this argument is required, even if there is only a single organization configured.
--environment=ENV
Registers the system to an environment within an organization.
--type=CONSUMERTYPE
Sets the type of unit to register. Most units in the inventory will use the default value of system. For development or test sys-
tems, this can be person , which indicates a personal (rather than organizational) subscription. Other systems can be candlepin for
a local content service or domain for an IP domain.
UNREGISTER OPTIONS
The unregister command removes a system's subscriptions and removes it from the subscription management service.
This command has no options.
ATTACH OPTIONS
The attach command applies a specific subscription to the system.
--pool=POOLID
Gives the ID for the subscriptions pool (collection of products) to attach to the system. This option is required, unless --auto is
used.
--quantity=NUMBER
Attaches a specified number of subscriptions to the system. Subscriptions may have certain limits on them, like the number of sock-
ets on the system or the number of allowed virtual guests. It is possible to attach multiple subscriptions (or stacking subscrip-
tions) to cover the number of sockets, guests, or other characteristics.
--auto Automatically attaches the best-matched compatible subscription or subscriptions to the system.
--servicelevel=LEVEL
Sets the preferred service level to use with subscriptions attached to the system. Service levels are commonly premium, standard,
and none, though other levels may be available depending on the product and the contract. This preference can only be used in con-
junction with the --auto option, and then it is used as one of the factors for matching subscriptions.
AUTO-ATTACH OPTIONS
The auto-attach command sets whether the ability to check, attach, and update subscriptions occurs automatically on the system. Auto-
attaching subscriptions checks the currently-installed products, attached subscriptions, and any changes in available subscriptions every
four hours using the rhsmcertd daemon.
--enable
Enables the auto-attach option for the system. If there is any change in the subscriptions for the system, any subscriptions expire,
or any new products are installed, then subscription-manager detects the changes and automatically attaches the appropriate sub-
scriptions so that the system remains covered.
--disable
Disables the auto-attach option for the system. If auto-attach is disabled, then any changes in installed products or subscriptions
for the system (including expirations) must be addressed manually by the administrator.
--show Shows whetehr auto-attach is enabled on the systems.
REMOVE OPTIONS
The remove command removes a subscription from the system. (This does not uninstall the associated products.)
--serial=SERIALNUMBER
Gives the serial number of the subscription certificate for the specific product to remove from the system. Subscription certifi-
cates attached to a system are in a certificate, in /etc/pki/entitlement/<serial_number>.pem. To remove multiple subscriptions, use
the --serial option multiple times.
--all Removes all of the subscriptions attached to a system.
RELEASE OPTIONS
The release command sets a sticky OS version to use when installing or updating packages. This sets a preference for the minor version of
the OS, such as 6.2 or 6.3. This can prevent unplanned or unsupported operating system version upgrades when an IT environment must main-
tain a certified configuration.
--list Lists the available OS versions. If a release preference is not set, then there is a message saying it is not set.
--set=RELEASE
Sets the minor (Y-stream) release version to use, such as 6.3.
--unset
Removes any previously set release version preference.
SERVICE-LEVEL OPTIONS
The service-level command displays the current configured service level preference for products installed on the system. For example, if
the service level preference is standard, then a subscription with a standard service level is selected when autoattaching subscriptions to
the system.
The service-level command does not set the service level for the system; it only shows its current setting or available settings.
The service level preference must be set in the Subscription Manager GUI.
--list Lists the available service levels.
--show Shows the system's current service-level preference. If a service level is not set, then there is a message saying it is not set.
--unset
Removes any previously set service level preference.
IMPORT OPTIONS
The import command imports and applies a subscription certificate for the system which was generated externally, such as in the Customer
Portal, and then copied over to the system. Importing can be necessary if a system is pre-configured in the subscription management service
or if it is offline or unable to access the subscription management service but it have the proper, relevant subscriptions attached to the
system.
--certificate=CERTIFICATE_FILE
Points to a certificate PEM file which contains the subscription certificate. This can be used multiple times to import multiple
subscription certificates.
REDEEM OPTIONS
The redeem command is used for systems that are purchased from third-party vendors that include a subscription. The redemption process
essentially autoattaches the pre-selected subscription that the vendor supplied to the system.
--email=EMAIL
Gives the email account to send the redemption notification message to.
--locale=LOCALE
Sets the locale to use for the message. If none is given, then it defaults to the local system's locale.
--org=ORG
Identifies the organization which issued the subscription being redeemed.
LIST OPTIONS
The list command lists all of the subscriptions that are compatible with a system. The options allow the list to be filtered by subscrip-
tions that are used by the system or unused subscriptions that are available to the system.
--all Lists all possible subscriptions that have been purchased, even if they don't match the architecture of the system. This is used
with the --available option.
--available
Lists available subscriptions which are not yet attached to the system.
--consumed
Lists all of the subscriptions currently attached to the system.
--installed
Lists products which are currently installed on the system which may (or may not) have subscriptions associated with them, as well
as products with attached subscriptions which may (or may not) be installed.
--ondate=YYYY-MM-DD
Sets the date to use to search for active and available subscriptions. The default (if not explicitly passed) is today's date; using
a later date looks for subscriptions which will be active then. This is only used with the --available option.
--no-overlap
Shows pools which provide products that are notalready covered; only used with --available option.
--match-installed
Shows only subscriptions matching products that are currently installed; only used with --available option.
REFRESH OPTIONS
The refresh command pulls the latest subscription data from the server. Normally, the system polls the subscription management service at a
set interval (4 hours by default) to check for any changes in the available subscriptions. The refresh command checks with the subscription
management service right then, outside the normal interval.
This command has no options.
ENVIRONMENTS OPTIONS
The environments command lists all of the environments that have been configured for an organization. This command is only used for organi-
zations which have a locally-hosted subscription or content service of some kind, like Subscription Asset Manager. The concept of environ-
ments -- and therefore this command -- have no meaning for environments which use the Customer Portal Subscription Management services.
--username=USERNAME
Gives the username for the account to use to connect to the organization account.
--password=PASSWORD
Gives the user account password. This is required.
--org=ORG
Identifies the organization for which to list the configured environments.
REPOS OPTIONS
The repos command lists all of the repositories that are available to a system. This command is only used for organizations which have a
locally-hosted content service of some kind, like Subscription Asset Manager. With Red Hat's hosted content service, there is only one cen-
tral repository.
--list Lists all of the repositories that are provided by the content service used by the system.
--enable=REPO_ID
Enables the specified repository, which is made available by the content sources identified in the system subscriptions. To enable
multiple repositories, use this argument multiple times.
--disable=REPO_ID
Disables the specified repository, which is made available by the content sources identified in the system subscriptions. To disable
multiple repositories, use this argument multiple times.
ORGS OPTIONS
The orgs command lists all of the organizations which are available to the specified user account. A multi-tenant infrastructure may have
multiple organizations within a single customer, and users may be restricted to access only a subset of the total number of organizations.
--username=USERNAME
Gives the username for the account to use to connect to the organization account.
--password=PASSWORD
Gives the user account password. This is required.
--serverurl=SERVER_HOSTNAME
Passes the name of the subscription service to use to list all available organizations. The orgs command will list all organizations
for the specified service for which the user account is granted access. The default value, if this is not given, is the Customer
Portal Subscription Management service, https://subscription.rhn.redhat.com:443. If there is an on-premise subscription service
such as Subscription Asset Manager, this parameter can be used to submit the hostname of the subscription service, in the form [pro-
tocol://]servername[:port][/prefix]. For Subscription Asset Manager, if the Subscription Manager tool is configured with the Sub-
scription Asset Manager RPM, then the default value for the --serverurl parameter is for the on-premise Subscription Asset Manager
server.
PLUGIN OPTIONS
The plugins command list the available subscription-manager plugins.
--list List the available subscription-manager plugins.
--listslots
List the available plugin slots
--listhooks
List the available plugin slots and the hooks that handle them.
--verbose
Show additional info about the plugins, such as the plugin configuration values.
REPO-OVERRIDE OPTIONS
The repo-override command allows the user to manage custom content repository settings
--repo The repository to modify (can be specified more than once)
--add=NAME:VALUE
Adds a named overide with the provided value to repos specified with the --repo option
--remove=NAME
Removes a named overide from the repos specified with the --repo option
--remove-alll
Removes all overrides from repos specified with the --repo option
--list Lists all overrides from repos specified with the --repo option
IDENTITY OPTIONS
The identity command handles the UUID of a system, which identifies the system to the subscription management service after registration.
This command can simply return the UUID or it can be used to restore the registration of a previously-registered system to the subscription
management service.
--regenerate
Requests that the subscription management service issue a new identity certificate for the system, using an existing UUID in the
original identity certificate. If this is used alone, then the identity command also uses the original identity certificate to bind
to the subscription management service, using certificate-based authentication.
--username=USERNAME
Gives the username for the account which is registering the system; this user account is usually tied to the user account for the
content delivery system which supplies the content. Optional, for user-based authentication.
--password=PASSWORD
Gives the user account password. Optional, for user-based authentication.
--force
Regenerates the identity certificate for the system using username/password authentication. This is used with the --regenerate
option. --regenerate alone will use an existing identity certificate to authenticate to the subscription management service. If the
certificate is missing or corrupted or in other circumstances, then it may be better to use user authentication rather than certifi-
cate-based authentication. In that case, the --force option requires the username or password to be given either as an argument or
in response to a prompt.
FACTS OPTIONS
The facts command lists the system information, like the release version, number of CPUs, and other architecture information.
--list Lists the system information. These are simple attribute: value pairs that reflect much of the information in the /etc/sysconfig
directory
cpu.architecture: x86_64
cpu.core(s)_per_socket: 1
cpu.cpu(s): 2
cpu.cpu_family: 6
cpu.cpu_mhz: 1861.776
cpu.cpu_op-mode(s): 64-bit
cpu.cpu_socket(s): 2
cpu.hypervisor_vendor: KVM
cpu.model: 2
cpu.numa_node(s): 1
cpu.numa_node0_cpu(s): 0,1
cpu.stepping: 3
cpu.thread(s)_per_core: 1
cpu.vendor_id: GenuineIntel
cpu.virtualization_type: full
distribution.id: Santiago
distribution.name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation
distribution.version: 6.1
----
--update
Updates the system information. This is particularly important whenever there is a hardware change (such as adding a CPU) or a sys-
tem upgrade because these changes can affect the subscriptions that are compatible with the system.
CLEAN OPTIONS
The clean command removes all of the subscription and identity data from the local system without affecting the system information in the
subscription management service. This means that any of the subscriptions applied to the system are not available for other systems to
use. The clean command is useful in cases where the local subscription information is corrupted or lost somehow, and the system will be
reregistered using the register --consumerid=EXISTING_ID command.
This command has no options.
CONFIG OPTIONS
The config command changes the rhsm.conf configuration file used by Subscription Manager. Almost all of the connection information used by
Subscription Manager to access the subscription management service, content server, and any proxies is set in the configuration file, as
well as general configuration parameters like the frequency Subscription Manager checks for subscriptions updates. There are major divi-
sions in the rhsm.conf file, such as [server] which is used to configure the subscription management service. When changing the Subscrip-
tion Manager configuration, the settings are identified with the format section.name and then the new value. For example:
server.hostname=newsubscription.example.com
--list Prints the current configuration for Subscription Manager.
--remove=section.name
Deletes the current value for the parameter without supplying a new parameter. A blank value tells Subscription Manager to use ser-
vice default values for that parameter. If there are no defaults, then the feature is ignored.
--section.name=VALUE
Sets a parameter to a new, specified value. This is commonly used for connection settings:
* server.hostname (subscription management service)
* server.proxy
* server.proxy_port
* server.proxy_user
* server.proxy_password
* rhsm.baseurl (content server)
* rhsm.certFrequency
VERSION OPTIONS
The version command displays information about the current Subscription Manager packages and whatever subscription service the system is
registered with. For example:
[root@server ~]# subscription-manager version
registered to: subscription.rhn.redhat.com
server type: subscription management service
subscription-manager: 1.1.2-1.el6
python-rhsm: 1.1.3-1.el6
This command has no options.
STATUS OPTIONS
The status command shows the current status of the products and attached subscriptions for the system. If some products are not fully cov-
ered or subscriptions have expired, then the status command shows why subscriptions are not current.
[root@server ~]# subscription-manager status
+-------------------------------------------+
System Status Details
+-------------------------------------------+
Overall Status: Current
--ondate=DATE
Shows the system status for a specific date in the future. The format of the date is YYYY-MM-DD.
[root@server ~]# subscription-manager status --ondate=2014-01-01
+-------------------------------------------+
System Status Details
+-------------------------------------------+
Overall Status: Insufficient
DEPRECATED COMMANDS
As the structures of subscription configuration have changed, some of the original management commands have become obsolete. These commands
have been replaced with updated commands.
subscribe
This has been replaced with attach. A similar registration option, --subscribe, has also be replaced with --autoattach.
unsubscribe
This has been replaced with remove.
activate
This has been replaced with redeem.
USAGE
subscription-manager has two major tasks:
1. Handling the registration for a given system to a subscription management service
2. Handling the product subscriptions for installed products on a system
subscription-manager makes it easier for network administrators to maintain parity between software subscriptions and updates and their
installed products by tracking and managing what subscriptions are attached to a system and when those subscriptions expire or are
exceeded.
REGISTERING AND UNREGISTERING MACHINES
A system is either registered to a subscription management service -- which makes all of the subscriptions available to the system -- or it
is not registered. Unregistered systems necessarily lack valid software subscriptions because there is no way to record that the subscrip-
tions have been used or to renew them.
The default subscription management service in the Subscription Manager configuration is the Customer Portal Subscription Management ser-
vice. The configuration file can be edited before the system is registered to point to an on-premise subscription management service like
Subscription Asset Manager.
Systems are usually registered to a subscription management service as part of their initial configuration, such as the firstboot or kick-
start process. However, systems can be registered manually after they are configured, can be removed from a content service, or reregis-
tered.
If a system has never been registered (not even during firstboot), then the register command will register the system with whatever sub-
scription management service is configured in the /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf file. This command requires, at a minimum, the username and password
for an account to connect to the subscription management service. If the credentials aren't passed with the command, then subscription-man-
ager prompts for the username and password interactively.
When there is a single organization or when using the Customer Portal Subscription Management service, all that is required is the user-
name/password set. For example:
subscription-manager register --username=admin --password=secret
With on-premise subscription services, such as Subscription Asset Manager, the infrastructure is more complex. The local administrator can
define independent groups called organizations which represent physical or organizational divisions (--org). Those organizations can be
subdivided into environments (--environment). Optionally, the information about what subscription service (--serverurl) and content deliv-
ery network (--baseurl) to use for the system registration can also be passed (which overrides the Red Hat Subscription Manager settings).
The server and content URLs are usually configured in the Subscription Manager configuration before registering a system.
subscription-manager register --username=admin --password=secret
--org="IT Dept" --environment="local dev" --serverurl=local-cloudforms.example.com --baseurl=https://local-cloudforms.example.com:8088/cfse
If a system is in a multi-tenant environment and the organization is not provided with the registration request, registration fails with a
remote server error. In the rhsm.log, there will be errors about being unable to load the owners interface.
Some information is assigned automatically. Subscription Manager automatically generates a unique ID for the system which is used by the
subscription management service and it assigns a unit type, which indicates what kinds of software are available for the system. The name
for the entry can be manually assigned (for use within an on-premise subscription service, for instance). A handful of subscriptions (such
as specialized servers for content or identity management) have their own specific unit type. For example:
subscription-manager register --username=admin
--password=secret --type=system --name=server1
--org="IT Dept"
If a system is registered and then somehow its subscription information is lost -- a drive crashes or the certificates are deleted or cor-
rupted -- the system can be reregistered, with all of its subscriptions restored, by registering with the existing ID.
subscription-manager register --username=admin
--password=secret --consumerid=1234abcd
A system uses an SSL client certificate (its identity certificate) to authenticate to the subscriptions system to check for updates or
changes to subscriptions. If the identity certificate is lost or corrupted, it can be regenerated using the identity command.
subscription-manager identity --regenerate
Using the --force option will prompt for the username and password for the account, if one isn't given, and then return the new inventory
ID and the hostname of the registered system.
subscription-manager identity --force
Username: jsmith
Password:
eff9a4c9-3579-49e5-a52f-83f2db29ab52 server.example.com
A system is unregistered and removed from the subscription management service simply by running the unregister command. Unregistering a
system and removing its attached subscriptions can free up subscriptions when a system is taken offline or moved to a different department.
subscription-manager unregister
An option with registration, --auto-attach, will automatically attach the subscriptions pool which best matches the system architecture and
configuration to the newly-registered system. This option attaches subscriptions as part of the registration process, rather than sepa-
rately managing subscriptions.
subscription-manager register --username=admin --password=secret
--auto-attach
Autoattach also supports an option to set a preferred service level with the selected subscriptions, the --servicelevel option. In this
case, the --servicelevel option sets a preference that helps the autoattach process select appropriate subscriptions. For example, if the
preferred service level for a production server is premium, and there are three matching subscriptions with different service levels (none,
standard, and premium), the autoattach process selects the subscription which offers a premium service level.
subscription-manager register --username=admin --password=secret
--auto-attach --servicelevel=premium
LISTING, ATTACHING, AND REMOVING SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR PRODUCTS
A subscription is essentially the right to install, use, and receive updates for a Red Hat product. (Sometimes multiple individual software
products are bundled together into a single subscription.) When a system is registered, the subscription management service is aware of the
system and has a list of all of the possible product subscriptions that the system can install and use. A subscription is applied to a sys-
tem when the system is attached to the subscription pool that makes that product available. A system releases or removes that subscription
(meaning, it removes that subscription so that another system can use that subscription count).
list command shows you what subscriptions are available specifically to the system (meaning subscriptions which are active, have available
quantities, and match the hardware and architecture) or all subscriptions for the organization. Using the --ondate option shows subscrip-
tions that are or will be active at a specific time (otherwise, it shows subscriptions which are active today).
subscription-manager list --available --ondate=2012-01-31
+-------------------------------------------+
Available Subscriptions
+-------------------------------------------+
Subscription Name: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
SKU: SYS0395
Pool Id: 8a85f981302cbaf201302d899adf05a9
Quantity: 249237
Service Level: None
Service Type: None
Multi-Entitlement: No
Ends: 01/01/2022
Machine Type: physical
The list command can also be used to show what products you currently have installed, as a way of tracking what products you have versus
what subscriptions you have on the system.
subscription-manager list --installed
+-------------------------------------------+
Installed Product Status
+-------------------------------------------+
ProductName: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Product ID: 69
Version: 6.3
Arch: x86_64
Status: Subscribed
Started: 07/26/2012
Ends: 08/31/2015
Attaching a subscription requires the ID for the subscription pool (the --pool option). For example:
subscription-manager attach
--pool=ff8080812bc382e3012bc3845da100d2
As with the register command, the system can be autoattached to the best-fitting subscriptions using the --auto option:
subscription-manager attach --auto
Autoattach also supports an option to set a preferred service level with the selected subscriptions, the --servicelevel option. In this
case, the --servicelevel option sets a preference that helps the autoattach process select appropriate subscriptions. For example, if the
preferred service level for a production server is premium, and there are three matching subscriptions with different service levels (none,
standard, and premium), the autoattach process selects the subscription which offers a premium subscription.
subscription-manager attach --auto --servicelevel=premium
Some subscriptions define a count based on attributes of the system itself, like the number of sockets or the number of virtual guests on a
host. You can combine multiple subscriptions together to cover the count. For example, if there is a four socket server, you can use two
subscriptions for "RHEL Server for Two Sockets" to cover the socket count. To specify the number of subscriptions to use, use the --quan-
tity option. For example:
subscription-manager attach
--pool=ff8080812bc382e3012bc3845da100d2
--quantity=2
Removing subscription from a system releases the subscription back into the pool. The system remains registered with the subscription man-
agement service. Each product has an identifying X.509 certificate installed with it. To remove a subscription for a specific product,
specify the serial number (or numbers, in multiple --serial options) of the certificate:
subscription-manager remove --serial=1128750306742160
Giving the remove command with the --all option removes every subscription the system has used.
REDEEMING EXISTING SUBSCRIPTIONS
Sometimes, a system may come pre-configured with products and subscriptions. Rather than attaching a pool and claiming a subscription, this
system simply needs to redeem its existing subscriptions.
After registration, subscriptions on pre-configured systems can be claimed using the redeem command, which essentially autoattaches the
system to its pre-existing subscriptions.
subscription-manager redeem --email=admin@example.com --org="IT Dept"
VIEWING LOCAL SUBSCRIPTION & CONTENT PROVIDER INFORMATION
Red Hat has a hosted environment, through the Customer Portal, that provides centralized access to subscription management and content
repositories. However, organizations can use other tools -- like Subscription Manager -- for content hosting and subscription management.
With a local content provider, the organization, environments, repositories, and other structural configuration is performed in the content
provider. Red Hat Subscription Manager can be used to display this information, using the environments, orgs, and repos commands.
subscription-manager repos --list
subscription-manager environments --username=jsmith
--password=secret --org=prod
subscription-manager orgs --username=jsmith
--password=secret
CHANGING SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER CONFIGURATION
The Subscription Manager CLI and GUI both use the /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf file for configuration, including what content and subscription man-
agement services to use and management settings like auto-attaching. This configuration file can be edited directly, or it can be edited
using the config command. Parameters and values are passed as arguments with the config command in the format --section.parameter=value ,
where section is the configuration section in the file: server, rhsm, or rhsmcertd.
For example, to change the hostname of the subscription management service host:
subscription-manager config --server.hostname=myserver.example.com
UPDATING FACTS
The information about a system, such as its hardware and CPU, its operating system versions, and memory, are collected by Subscription Man-
ager in a list of facts. Subscription Manager uses these facts to determine what purchased subscriptions are compatible with the system.
Whenever these facts change (such as installing an additional CPU), the facts can be updated immediately using the facts command.
subscription-manager facts --update
The collected facts can also be overridden by creating a JSON file in the /etc/rhsm/facts/ directory. These have simple formats that define
a fact and value:
{"fact1": "value1","fact2": "value2"}
Any fact override file must have a .facts extension.
When these fact files are added, running the facts command will update the collected facts with the new, manual facts or values.
SUBSCRIPTIONS AND KICKSTART
The subscription-manager tool can be run as a post-install script as part of the kickstart installation process. This allows subscription
management (registing and applying subscriptions) to be automated along with installation. For example:
%post --log=/root/ks-post.log
/usr/sbin/subscription-manager register --username admin --password secret --org 'east colo' --auto-attach --servicelevel=premium --force
NETWORK INFORMATION
The subscription-manager tool uses outgoing HTTPS requests. In the default configuration it will use HTTPS on port 443 to the subscription
servers subscription.rhn.redhat.com and to the content delivery service cdn.redhat.com.
For information about the network addresses that subscription-manager and the subscription-manager yum plugin use see https://access.red-
hat.com/site/articles/414963
FILES
* /etc/pki/consumer/*.pem
* /etc/pki/entitlement/<serial>.pem
* /etc/pki/product/*.pem
* /etc/rhsm/rhsm.conf
* /etc/rhsm/facts/*.facts
AUTHORS
Deon Lackey, <dlackey@redhat.com>, and Pradeep Kilambi, <pkilambi@redhat.com>
version 2.8 January 29, 2014 subscription-manager(8)