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1. Preparing your environment for installation

Review the following prerequisites before you install Capsule Server.

For interactive instructions for performing the installation, you can use the Red Hat Satellite Installation Helper on the Red Hat Customer Portal. This application provides you with an interactive way to prepare installation instructions customized for your required Satellite version number and configuration. For more information, see Red Hat Satellite Installation Helper on the Red Hat Customer Portal.

1.1. System requirements

The following requirements apply to the networked base operating system:

  • x86_64 architecture

  • The latest version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

  • 4-core 2.0 GHz CPU at a minimum

  • A minimum of 12 GB RAM is required for Capsule Server to function. In addition, a minimum of 4 GB RAM of swap space is also recommended. Capsule running with less RAM than the minimum value might not operate correctly.

  • A unique host name, which can contain lower-case letters, numbers, dots (.) and hyphens (-)

  • A current Red Hat Satellite subscription

  • Administrative user (root) access

  • Full forward and reverse DNS resolution using a fully-qualified domain name

Satellite only supports UTF-8 encoding. If your territory is USA and your language is English, set en_US.utf-8 as the system-wide locale settings. For more information about configuring system locale in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see Configuring the system locale in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Configuring basic system settings.

Your Satellite must have the Red Hat Satellite Infrastructure Subscription manifest in your Customer Portal. Satellite must have satellite-capsule-6.x repository enabled and synced. To create, manage, and export a Red Hat Subscription Manifest in the Customer Portal, see Creating and managing manifests for a connected Satellite Server in Subscription Central.

Satellite Server and Capsule Server do not support shortnames in the hostnames. When using custom certificates, the Common Name (CN) of the custom certificate must be a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) instead of a shortname. This does not apply to the clients of a Satellite.

Before you install Capsule Server, ensure that your environment meets the requirements for installation.

Warning

The version of Capsule must match with the version of Satellite installed. It should not be different. For example, the Capsule version 6.17 cannot be registered with the Satellite version 6.16.

Capsule Server must be installed on a freshly provisioned system that serves no other function except to run Capsule Server. The freshly provisioned system must not have the following users provided by external identity providers to avoid conflicts with the local users that Capsule Server creates:

  • apache

  • foreman-proxy

  • postgres

  • pulp

  • puppet

  • redis

For more information on scaling your Capsule Servers, see Capsule Server scalability considerations.

Certified hypervisors

Capsule Server is fully supported on both physical systems and virtual machines that run on hypervisors that are supported to run Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For more information about certified hypervisors, see Certified Guest Operating Systems in Red Hat OpenStack Services on OpenShift, Red Hat Virtualization, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization and Red Hat Enterprise Linux with KVM.

SELinux mode

SELinux must be enabled, either in enforcing or permissive mode. Installation with disabled SELinux is not supported.

Synchronized system clock

The system clock on the base operating system where you are installing your Capsule Server must be synchronized across the network. If the system clock is not synchronized, SSL certificate verification might fail. For example, you can use the Chrony suite for timekeeping. For more information, see Configuring time synchronization in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Configuring basic system settings

FIPS mode

You can install Capsule on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system that is operating in FIPS mode. You cannot enable FIPS mode after the installation of Capsule. For more information, see Switching RHEL to FIPS mode in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security hardening.

Note

Satellite supports DEFAULT and FIPS crypto-policies. The FUTURE crypto-policy is not supported for Satellite and Capsule installations. The FUTURE policy is a stricter forward-looking security level intended for testing a possible future policy. For more information, see Using system-wide cryptographic policies in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security hardening.

1.2. Storage requirements

The following table details storage requirements for specific directories. These values are based on expected use case scenarios and can vary according to individual environments.

The runtime size was measured with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, 8, and 9 repositories synchronized.

Table 1. Storage requirements for Capsule Server installation
Directory Installation Size Runtime Size

/var/lib/pulp

1 MB

300 GB

/var/lib/pgsql

100 MB

20 GB

/usr

3 GB

Not Applicable

/opt/puppetlabs

500 MB

Not Applicable

The size of the PostgreSQL database on your Capsule Server can grow significantly with an increasing number of lifecycle environments, content views, or repositories that are synchronized from your Satellite Server. In the largest Satellite environments, the size of /var/lib/pgsql on Capsule Server can grow to double or triple the size of /var/lib/pgsql on your Satellite Server.

1.3. Storage guidelines

Consider the following guidelines when installing Capsule Server to increase efficiency.

  • If you mount the /tmp directory as a separate file system, you must use the exec mount option in the /etc/fstab file. If /tmp is already mounted with the noexec option, you must change the option to exec and re-mount the file system. This is a requirement for the puppetserver service to work.

  • Because most Capsule Server data is stored in the /var directory, mounting /var on LVM storage can help the system to scale.

  • Use high-bandwidth, low-latency storage for the /var/lib/pulp/ and PostgreSQL /var/lib/pgsql directories. As Red Hat Satellite has many operations that are I/O intensive, using high latency, low-bandwidth storage causes performance degradation.

You can use the storage-benchmark script to get this data. For more information on using the storage-benchmark script, see Impact of Disk Speed on Satellite Operations.

File system guidelines

  • Do not use the GFS2 file system as the input-output latency is too high.

Log file storage

Log files are written to /var/log/messages/, /var/log/httpd/, and /var/lib/foreman-proxy/openscap/content/. You can manage the size of these files using logrotate. For more information, see How to use logrotate utility to rotate log files.

The exact amount of storage you require for log messages depends on your installation and setup.

SELinux considerations for NFS mount

When the /var/lib/pulp directory is mounted using an NFS share, SELinux blocks the synchronization process. To avoid this, specify the SELinux context of the /var/lib/pulp directory in the file system table by adding the following lines to /etc/fstab:

nfs.example.com:/nfsshare  /var/lib/pulp  nfs  context="system_u:object_r:var_lib_t:s0"  1 2

If NFS share is already mounted, remount it using the above configuration and enter the following command:

# restorecon -R /var/lib/pulp
Duplicated packages

Packages that are duplicated in different repositories are only stored once on the disk. Additional repositories containing duplicate packages require less additional storage. The bulk of storage resides in the /var/lib/pulp/ directory. These end points are not manually configurable. Ensure that storage is available on the /var file system to prevent storage problems.

Symbolic links

You cannot use symbolic links for /var/lib/pulp/.

Synchronized RHEL ISO

If you plan to synchronize RHEL content ISOs to Satellite, note that all minor versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux also synchronize. You must plan to have adequate storage on your Satellite to manage this.

1.4. Supported operating systems

You can install the operating system from a disc, local ISO image, Kickstart, or any other method that Red Hat supports. Red Hat Capsule Server is supported on the latest version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 that is available at the time when Capsule Server is installed. Previous versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux including EUS or z-stream are not supported.

The following operating systems are supported by the installer, have packages, and are tested for deploying Satellite:

Table 2. Operating systems supported by satellite-installer

Operating System

Architecture

Notes

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

x86_64 only

Red Hat advises against using an existing system because the Satellite installer will affect the configuration of several components. Red Hat Capsule Server requires a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation with the @Base package group with no other package-set modifications, and without third-party configurations or software not directly necessary for the direct operation of the server. This restriction includes hardening and other non-Red Hat security software. If you require such software in your infrastructure, install and verify a complete working Capsule Server first, then create a backup of the system before adding any non-Red Hat software.

Do not register Capsule Server to the Red Hat Content Delivery Network (CDN).

Red Hat does not support using the system for anything other than running Capsule Server.

1.5. Port and firewall requirements

For the components of Satellite architecture to communicate, ensure that the required network ports are open and free on the base operating system. You must also ensure that the required network ports are open on any network-based firewalls.

The installation of a Capsule Server fails if the ports between Satellite Server and Capsule Server are not open before installation starts.

Use this information to configure any network-based firewalls. Note that some cloud solutions must be specifically configured to allow communications between machines because they isolate machines similarly to network-based firewalls. If you use an application-based firewall, ensure that the application-based firewall permits all applications that are listed in the tables and known to your firewall. If possible, disable the application checking and allow open port communication based on the protocol.

Integrated Capsule

Satellite Server has an integrated Capsule and any host that is directly connected to Satellite Server is a Client of Satellite in the context of this section. This includes the base operating system on which Capsule Server is running.

Clients of Capsule

Hosts which are clients of Capsules, other than Satellite’s integrated Capsule, do not need access to Satellite Server. For more information on Satellite Topology, see Capsule networking in Overview, concepts, and deployment considerations.

Required ports can change based on your configuration.

The following tables indicate the destination port and the direction of network traffic:

Table 3. Capsule incoming traffic
Destination Port Protocol Service Source Required For Description

53

TCP and UDP

DNS

DNS Servers and clients

Name resolution

DNS (optional)

67

UDP

DHCP

Client

Dynamic IP

DHCP (optional)

69

UDP

TFTP

Client

TFTP Server (optional)

443, 80

TCP

HTTPS, HTTP

Client

Content Retrieval

Content

443, 80

TCP

HTTPS, HTTP

Client

Content Host Registration

Capsule CA RPM installation

443

TCP

HTTPS

Red Hat Satellite

Content Mirroring

Management

443

TCP

HTTPS

Red Hat Satellite

Capsule API

Smart Proxy functionality

443

TCP

HTTPS

Client

Content Host registration

Initiation

Uploading facts

Sending installed packages and traces

1883

TCP

MQTT

Client

Pull based REX (optional)

Content hosts for REX job notification (optional)

8000

TCP

HTTP

Client

Provisioning templates

Template retrieval for client installers, iPXE or UEFI HTTP Boot

8000

TCP

HTTP

Client

PXE Boot

Installation

8140

TCP

HTTPS

Client

Puppet agent

Client updates (optional)

8443

TCP

HTTPS

Client

Content Host registration

Deprecated and only needed for Client hosts deployed before upgrades

9090

TCP

HTTPS

Red Hat Satellite

Capsule API

Capsule functionality

9090

TCP

HTTPS

Client

Register Endpoint

Client registration with an external Capsule Server

9090

TCP

HTTPS

Client

OpenSCAP

Configure Client (if the OpenSCAP plugin is installed)

9090

TCP

HTTPS

Discovered Node

Discovery

Host discovery and provisioning (if the discovery plugin is installed)

Any host that is directly connected to Satellite Server is a client in this context because it is a client of the integrated Capsule. This includes the base operating system on which a Capsule Server is running.

A DHCP Capsule performs ICMP ping and TCP echo connection attempts to hosts in subnets with DHCP IPAM set to find out if an IP address considered for use is free. This behavior can be turned off using satellite-installer --foreman-proxy-dhcp-ping-free-ip=false.

Table 4. Capsule outgoing traffic
Destination Port Protocol Service Destination Required For Description

ICMP

ping

Client

DHCP

Free IP checking (optional)

7

TCP

echo

Client

DHCP

Free IP checking (optional)

22

TCP

SSH

Target host

Remote execution

Run jobs

53

TCP and UDP

DNS

DNS Servers on the Internet

DNS Server

Resolve DNS records (optional)

53

TCP and UDP

DNS

DNS Server

Capsule DNS

Validation of DNS conflicts (optional)

68

UDP

DHCP

Client

Dynamic IP

DHCP (optional)

443

TCP

HTTPS

Satellite

Capsule

Capsule

Configuration management

Template retrieval

OpenSCAP

Remote Execution result upload

443

TCP

HTTPS

Red Hat Portal

SOS report

Assisting support cases (optional)

443

TCP

HTTPS

Satellite

Content

Sync

443

TCP

HTTPS

Satellite

Client communication

Forward requests from Client to Satellite

443

TCP

HTTPS

Infoblox DHCP Server

DHCP management

When using Infoblox for DHCP, management of the DHCP leases (optional)

623

Client

Power management

BMC On/Off/Cycle/Status

7911

TCP

DHCP, OMAPI

DHCP Server

DHCP

The DHCP target is configured using --foreman-proxy-dhcp-server and defaults to localhost

ISC and remote_isc use a configurable port that defaults to 7911 and uses OMAPI

8443

TCP

HTTPS

Client

Discovery

Capsule sends reboot command to the discovered host (optional)
Note

ICMP to Port 7 UDP and TCP must not be rejected, but can be dropped. The DHCP Capsule sends an ECHO REQUEST to the Client network to verify that an IP address is free. A response prevents IP addresses from being allocated.

1.6. Enabling connections from Satellite Server and clients to a Capsule Server

On the base operating system on which you want to install Capsule, you must enable incoming connections from Satellite Server and clients to Capsule Server and make these rules persistent across reboots.

Procedure

  1. Open the ports for clients on Capsule Server:

    # firewall-cmd \
--add-port="8000/tcp" \
--add-port="9090/tcp"

  2. Allow access to services on Capsule Server:

    # firewall-cmd \
--add-service=dns \
--add-service=dhcp \
--add-service=tftp \
--add-service=http \
--add-service=https \
--add-service=puppetmaster

  3. Make the changes persistent:

    # firewall-cmd --runtime-to-permanent
Verification

  • Enter the following command:

    # firewall-cmd --list-all

For more information, see Using and configuring firewalld in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Configuring firewalls and packet filters.

2. Installing Capsule Server

Before you install Capsule Server, you must ensure that your environment meets the requirements for installation. For more information, see Preparing your Environment for Installation.

2.1. Registering to Satellite Server

Use this procedure to register the base operating system on which you want to install Capsule Server to Satellite Server.

Red Hat subscription manifest prerequisites

  • On Satellite Server, a manifest must be installed and it must contain the appropriate repositories for the organization you want Capsule to belong to.

  • The manifest must contain repositories for the base operating system on which you want to install Capsule, as well as any clients that you want to connect to Capsule.

  • The repositories must be synchronized.

For more information on manifests and repositories, see Managing Red Hat Subscriptions in Managing content.

Proxy and network prerequisites

  • The Satellite Server base operating system must be able to resolve the host name of the Capsule base operating system and vice versa.

  • Ensure HTTPS connection using client certificate authentication is possible between Capsule Server and Satellite Server. HTTP proxies between Capsule Server and Satellite Server are not supported.

  • You must configure the host and network-based firewalls accordingly. For more information, see Port and firewall requirements in Installing Capsule Server. You can register hosts with Satellite using the host registration feature in the Satellite web UI, Hammer CLI, or the Satellite API. For more information, see Registering hosts and setting up host integration in Managing hosts.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > Register Host.

  2. From the Activation Keys list, select the activation keys to assign to your host.

  3. Click Generate to create the registration command.

  4. Click on the files icon to copy the command to your clipboard.

  5. Connect to your host using SSH and run the registration command.

  6. Check the /etc/yum.repos.d/redhat.repo file and ensure that the appropriate repositories have been enabled.

CLI procedure

  1. Generate the host registration command using the Hammer CLI:

    $ hammer host-registration generate-command \
--activation-keys "My_Activation_Key"

    If your hosts do not trust the SSL certificate of Satellite Server, you can disable SSL validation by adding the --insecure flag to the registration command.

    $ hammer host-registration generate-command \
--activation-keys "My_Activation_Key" \
--insecure true

  2. Connect to your host using SSH and run the registration command.

  3. Check the /etc/yum.repos.d/redhat.repo file and ensure that the appropriate repositories have been enabled.

API procedure

  1. Generate the host registration command using the Satellite API:

    # curl -X POST https://satellite.example.com/api/registration_commands \
--user "My_User_Name" \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{ "registration_command": { "activation_keys": ["My_Activation_Key_1, My_Activation_Key_2"] }}'

    If your hosts do not trust the SSL certificate of Satellite Server, you can disable SSL validation by adding the --insecure flag to the registration command.

    # curl -X POST https://satellite.example.com/api/registration_commands \
--user "My_User_Name" \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{ "registration_command": { "activation_keys": ["My_Activation_Key_1, My_Activation_Key_2"], "insecure": true }}'

    Use an activation key to simplify specifying the environments. For more information, see Managing Activation Keys in Managing content.

    To enter a password as a command line argument, use username:password syntax. Keep in mind this can save the password in the shell history. Alternatively, you can use a temporary personal access token instead of a password. To generate a token in the Satellite web UI, navigate to My Account > Personal Access Tokens.

  2. Connect to your host using SSH and run the registration command.

  3. Check the /etc/yum.repos.d/redhat.repo file and ensure that the appropriate repositories have been enabled.

2.2. Configuring repositories

Prerequisite

  • If you are installing Capsule Server as a virtual machine hosted on Red Hat Virtualization, you must also enable the Red Hat Common repository and then install Red Hat Virtualization guest agents and drivers. For more information, see Installing the Guest Agents and Drivers on Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the Virtual Machine Management Guide.

Procedure

  1. Disable all repositories:

    # subscription-manager repos --disable "*"

  2. Enable the following repositories:

    # subscription-manager repos \
--enable=rhel-9-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms \
--enable=rhel-9-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms \
--enable=satellite-capsule-6.17-for-rhel-9-x86_64-rpms \
--enable=satellite-maintenance-6.17-for-rhel-9-x86_64-rpms
Verification

  • Verify that the required repositories are enabled:

    # dnf repolist enabled

2.3. Optional: Using fapolicyd on Capsule Server

By enabling fapolicyd on your Satellite Server, you can provide an additional layer of security by monitoring and controlling access to files and directories. The fapolicyd daemon uses the RPM database as a repository of trusted binaries and scripts.

You can turn on or off the fapolicyd on your Satellite Server or Capsule Server at any point.

2.3.1. Installing fapolicyd on Capsule Server

You can install fapolicyd along with Capsule Server or can be installed on an existing Capsule Server. If you are installing fapolicyd along with the new Capsule Server, the installation process will detect the fapolicyd in your Red Hat Enterprise Linux host and deploy the Capsule Server rules automatically.

Prerequisites

  • Ensure your host has access to the BaseOS repositories of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Procedure

  1. For a new installation, install fapolicyd:

    # dnf install fapolicyd

  2. For an existing installation, install fapolicyd using satellite-maintain packages install:

    # satellite-maintain packages install fapolicyd

  3. Start the fapolicyd service:

    # systemctl enable --now fapolicyd
Verification

  • Verify that the fapolicyd service is running correctly:

    # systemctl status fapolicyd
New Satellite Server or Capsule Server installations

In case of new Satellite Server or Capsule Server installation, follow the standard installation procedures after installing and enabling fapolicyd on your Red Hat Enterprise Linux host.

Additional resources

For more information on fapolicyd, see Blocking and allowing applications using fapolicyd in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Security hardening.

2.4. Installing Capsule Server packages

Before installing Capsule Server packages, you must update all packages that are installed on the base operating system.

Procedure

To install Capsule Server, complete the following steps:

  1. Update all packages:

    # dnf upgrade

  2. Install the Capsule Server packages:

    # dnf install satellite-capsule

2.5. Configuring Capsule Server with SSL certificates

Red Hat Satellite uses SSL certificates to enable encrypted communications between Satellite Server, external Capsule Servers, and all hosts. Depending on the requirements of your organization, you must configure your Capsule Server with a default or custom certificate.

2.5.1. Configuring Capsule Server with a default SSL certificate

Use this section to configure Capsule Server with an SSL certificate that is signed by Satellite Server default Certificate Authority (CA).

Prerequisites
Procedure

  1. On Satellite Server, to store all the source certificate files for your Capsule Server, create a directory that is accessible only to the root user, for example /root/capsule_cert:

    # mkdir /root/capsule_cert

  2. On Satellite Server, generate the /root/capsule_cert/capsule.example.com-certs.tar certificate archive for your Capsule Server:

    # capsule-certs-generate \
--foreman-proxy-fqdn capsule.example.com \
--certs-tar /root/capsule_cert/capsule.example.com-certs.tar

    Retain a copy of the satellite-installer command that the capsule-certs-generate command returns for deploying the certificate to your Capsule Server.

    Example output of capsule-certs-generate
    output omitted
satellite-installer --scenario capsule \
--certs-tar-file "/root/capsule_cert/capsule.example.com-certs.tar" \
--foreman-proxy-register-in-foreman "true" \
--foreman-proxy-foreman-base-url "https://satellite.example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-trusted-hosts "satellite.example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-trusted-hosts "capsule.example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-oauth-consumer-key "s97QxvUAgFNAQZNGg4F9zLq2biDsxM7f" \
--foreman-proxy-oauth-consumer-secret "6bpzAdMpRAfYaVZtaepYetomgBVQ6ehY"

  3. On Satellite Server, copy the certificate archive file to your Capsule Server:

    # scp /root/capsule_cert/capsule.example.com-certs.tar \
root@capsule.example.com:/root/capsule.example.com-certs.tar

  4. On Capsule Server, to deploy the certificate, enter the satellite-installer command that the capsule-certs-generate command returns.

    When network connections or ports to Satellite are not yet open, you can set the --foreman-proxy-register-in-foreman option to false to prevent Capsule from attempting to connect to Satellite and reporting errors. Run the installer again with this option set to true when the network and firewalls are correctly configured.

    Important

    Do not delete the certificate archive file after you deploy the certificate. It is required, for example, when upgrading Capsule Server.

2.5.2. Configuring Capsule Server with a custom SSL certificate

If you configure Satellite Server to use a custom SSL certificate, you must also configure each of your external Capsule Servers with a distinct custom SSL certificate.

To configure your Capsule Server with a custom certificate, complete the following procedures on each Capsule Server:

  1. Creating a custom SSL certificate for Capsule Server

  2. Deploying a custom SSL certificate to Capsule Server

  3. Deploying a custom SSL certificate to hosts

Creating a custom SSL certificate for Capsule Server

On Satellite Server, create a custom certificate for your Capsule Server. If you already have a custom SSL certificate for Capsule Server, skip this procedure.

Procedure

  1. To store all the source certificate files, create a directory that is accessible only to the root user:

    # mkdir /root/capsule_cert

  2. Create a private key with which to sign the certificate signing request (CSR).

    Note that the private key must be unencrypted. If you use a password-protected private key, remove the private key password.

    If you already have a private key for this Capsule Server, skip this step.

    # openssl genrsa -out /root/capsule_cert/capsule_cert_key.pem 4096

  3. Create the /root/capsule_cert/openssl.cnf configuration file for the CSR and include the following content:

    [ req ]
req_extensions = v3_req
distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
prompt = no

[ req_distinguished_name ]
commonName = capsule.example.com

[ v3_req ]
basicConstraints = CA:FALSE
keyUsage = digitalSignature, keyEncipherment
extendedKeyUsage = serverAuth, clientAuth
subjectAltName = @alt_names

[ alt_names ]
DNS.1 = capsule.example.com

    For more information about the [ v3_req ] parameters and their purpose, see RFC 5280: Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile.

  4. Optional: If you want to add Distinguished Name (DN) details to the CSR, add the following information to the [ req_distinguished_name ] section:

    [req_distinguished_name]
CN = capsule.example.com
countryName = My_Country_Name (1)
stateOrProvinceName = My_State_Or_Province_Name (2)
localityName = My_Locality_Name (3)
organizationName = My_Organization_Or_Company_Name
organizationalUnitName = My_Organizational_Unit_Name (4)

    1. Two letter code

    2. Full name

    3. Full name (example: New York)

    4. Division responsible for the certificate (example: IT department)

  5. Generate CSR:

    # openssl req -new \
-key /root/capsule_cert/capsule_cert_key.pem \ (1)
-config /root/capsule_cert/openssl.cnf \ (2)
-out /root/capsule_cert/capsule_cert_csr.pem (3)

    1. Path to the private key

    2. Path to the configuration file

    3. Path to the CSR to generate

  6. Send the certificate signing request to the certificate authority (CA). The same CA must sign certificates for Satellite Server and Capsule Server.

    When you submit the request, specify the lifespan of the certificate. The method for sending the certificate request varies, so consult the CA for the preferred method. In response to the request, you can expect to receive a CA bundle and a signed certificate, in separate files.

Deploying a custom SSL certificate to Capsule Server

Use this procedure to configure your Capsule Server with a custom SSL certificate signed by a Certificate Authority. The satellite-installer command, which the capsule-certs-generate command returns, is unique to each Capsule Server. Do not use the same command on more than one Capsule Server.

Prerequisites
Procedure

  1. On your Satellite Server, generate a certificate bundle:

    # capsule-certs-generate \
--foreman-proxy-fqdn capsule.example.com \
--certs-tar ~/capsule.example.com-certs.tar \
--server-cert /root/capsule_cert/capsule_cert.pem \ (1)
--server-key /root/capsule_cert/capsule_cert_key.pem \ (2)
--server-ca-cert /root/capsule_cert/ca_cert_bundle.pem (3)

    1. Path to Capsule Server certificate file that is signed by a Certificate Authority.

    2. Path to the private key that was used to sign Capsule Server certificate.

    3. Path to the Certificate Authority bundle.

  2. Retain a copy of the satellite-installer command that the capsule-certs-generate command returns for deploying the certificate to your Capsule Server.

    Example output of capsule-certs-generate
    output omitted
satellite-installer --scenario capsule \
--certs-tar-file "/root/capsule.example.com-certs.tar" \
--foreman-proxy-register-in-foreman "true" \
--foreman-proxy-foreman-base-url "https://satellite.example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-trusted-hosts "satellite.example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-trusted-hosts "capsule.example.com" \
--foreman-proxy-oauth-consumer-key "My_OAuth_Consumer_Key" \
--foreman-proxy-oauth-consumer-secret "My_OAuth_Consumer_Secret"

  3. On your Satellite Server, copy the certificate archive file to your Capsule Server:

    # scp ~/capsule.example.com-certs.tar \
root@capsule.example.com:/root/capsule.example.com-certs.tar

  4. On your Capsule Server, to deploy the certificate, enter the satellite-installer command that the capsule-certs-generate command returns.

    If network connections or ports to Satellite are not yet open, you can set the --foreman-proxy-register-in-foreman option to false to prevent Capsule from attempting to connect to Satellite and reporting errors. Run the installer again with this option set to true when the network and firewalls are correctly configured.

    Important

    Do not delete the certificate archive file after you deploy the certificate. It is required, for example, when upgrading Capsule Server.
Deploying a custom SSL certificate to hosts

After you configure Satellite to use a custom SSL certificate, you must deploy the certificate to hosts registered to Satellite.

Procedure

  • Update the SSL certificate on each host:

    # dnf install http://capsule.example.com/pub/katello-ca-consumer-latest.noarch.rpm

2.6. Resetting custom SSL certificate to default self-signed certificate on Capsule Server

To reset the custom SSL certificate to default self-signed certificate on your Capsule Server, you must re-register your Capsule Server through Global Registration. For more information, see Registering hosts by using global registration in Managing hosts.

Verification

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Capsules and select any Capsule Server.

  2. On the Overview tab, click Refresh features.

Additional Resources

2.7. Assigning the correct organization and location to Capsule Server in the Satellite web UI

After installing Capsule Server packages, if there is more than one organization or location, you must assign the correct organization and location to Capsule to make Capsule visible in the Satellite web UI.

Note

Assigning a Capsule to the same location as your Satellite Server with an embedded Capsule prevents Red Hat Insights from uploading the Insights inventory. To enable the inventory upload, synchronize SSH keys for both Capsules.
Procedure

  1. Log into the Satellite web UI.

  2. From the Organization list in the upper-left of the screen, select Any Organization.

  3. From the Location list in the upper-left of the screen, select Any Location.

  4. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > All Hosts and select Capsule Server.

  5. From the Select Actions list, select Assign Organization.

  6. From the Organization list, select the organization where you want to assign this Capsule.

  7. Click Fix Organization on Mismatch.

  8. Click Submit.

  9. Select Capsule Server. From the Select Actions list, select Assign Location.

  10. From the Location list, select the location where you want to assign this Capsule.

  11. Click Fix Location on Mismatch.

  12. Click Submit.

  13. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Administer > Organizations and click the organization to which you have assigned Capsule.

  14. Click Capsules tab and ensure that Capsule Server is listed under the Selected items list, then click Submit.

  15. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Administer > Locations and click the location to which you have assigned Capsule.

  16. Click Capsules tab and ensure that Capsule Server is listed under the Selected items list, then click Submit.

Verification

Optionally, you can verify if Capsule Server is correctly listed in the Satellite web UI.

  1. Select the organization from the Organization list.

  2. Select the location from the Location list.

  3. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Hosts > All Hosts.

  4. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Capsules.

3. Performing additional configuration on Capsule Server

After installation, you can configure additional settings on your Capsule Server.

3.1. Configuring Capsule for host registration and provisioning

Use this procedure to configure Capsule so that you can register and provision hosts using your Capsule Server instead of your Satellite Server.

Procedure

  • On Satellite Server, add the Capsule to the list of trusted proxies.

    This is required for Satellite to recognize hosts' IP addresses forwarded over the X-Forwarded-For HTTP header set by Capsule. For security reasons, Satellite recognizes this HTTP header only from localhost by default. You can enter trusted proxies as valid IPv4 or IPv6 addresses of Capsules, or network ranges.

    Warning

    Do not use a network range that is too broad because that might cause a security risk.

    Enter the following command. Note that the command overwrites the list that is currently stored in Satellite. Therefore, if you have set any trusted proxies previously, you must include them in the command as well:

    # satellite-installer \
--foreman-trusted-proxies "127.0.0.1/8" \
--foreman-trusted-proxies "::1" \
--foreman-trusted-proxies "My_IP_address" \
--foreman-trusted-proxies "My_IP_range"

    The localhost entries are required, do not omit them.

Verification

  1. List the current trusted proxies using the full help of Satellite installer:

    # satellite-installer --full-help | grep -A 2 "trusted-proxies"

  2. The current listing contains all trusted proxies you require.

3.2. Configuring pull-based transport for remote execution

By default, remote execution uses push-based SSH as the transport mechanism for the Script provider. If your infrastructure prohibits outgoing connections from Capsule Server to hosts, you can use remote execution with pull-based transport instead, because the host initiates the connection to Capsule Server. The use of pull-based transport is not limited to those infrastructures.

The pull-based transport comprises pull-mqtt mode on Capsules in combination with a pull client running on hosts.

Note

The pull-mqtt mode works only with the Script provider. Ansible and other providers will continue to use their default transport settings.

The mode is configured per Capsule Server. Some Capsule Servers can be configured to use pull-mqtt mode while others use SSH. If this is the case, it is possible that one remote job on a given host will use the pull client and the next job on the same host will use SSH. If you wish to avoid this scenario, configure all Capsule Servers to use the same mode.

Procedure

  1. Enable the pull-based transport on your Capsule Server:

    # satellite-installer --foreman-proxy-plugin-remote-execution-script-mode=pull-mqtt

  2. Configure the firewall to allow the MQTT service on port 1883:

    # firewall-cmd --add-service=mqtt

  3. Make the changes persistent:

    # firewall-cmd --runtime-to-permanent

  4. In pull-mqtt mode, hosts subscribe for job notifications to either your Satellite Server or any Capsule Server through which they are registered. Ensure that Satellite Server sends remote execution jobs to that same Satellite Server or Capsule Server:

    1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Administer > Settings.

    2. On the Content tab, set the value of Prefer registered through Capsule for remote execution to Yes.

Next steps

3.3. Enabling OpenSCAP on Capsule Servers

On Satellite Server and the integrated Capsule of your Satellite Server, OpenSCAP is enabled by default. To use the OpenSCAP plugin and content on external Capsules, you must enable OpenSCAP on each Capsule.

Procedure

  • To enable OpenSCAP, enter the following command:

    # satellite-installer \
--enable-foreman-proxy-plugin-openscap \
--foreman-proxy-plugin-openscap-ansible-module true \
--foreman-proxy-plugin-openscap-puppet-module true

    If you want to use Puppet to deploy compliance policies, you must enable it first. For more information, see Managing configurations by using Puppet integration.

3.4. Adding lifecycle environments to Capsule Servers

If your Capsule Server has the content functionality enabled, you must add an environment so that Capsule can synchronize content from Satellite Server and provide content to host systems.

Do not assign the Library lifecycle environment to your Capsule Server because it triggers an automated Capsule sync every time the CDN updates a repository. This might consume multiple system resources on Capsules, network bandwidth between Satellite and Capsules, and available disk space on Capsules.

You can use Hammer CLI on Satellite Server or the Satellite web UI.

Procedure

  1. In the Satellite web UI, navigate to Infrastructure > Capsules, and select the Capsule that you want to add a lifecycle to.

  2. Click Edit and click the Lifecycle Environments tab.

  3. From the left menu, select the lifecycle environments that you want to add to Capsule and click Submit.

  4. To synchronize the content on the Capsule, click the Overview tab and click Synchronize.

  5. Select either Optimized Sync or Complete Sync.

    For definitions of each synchronization type, see Recovering a Repository.

CLI procedure

  1. To display a list of all Capsule Servers, on Satellite Server, enter the following command:

    # hammer capsule list

    Note the Capsule ID of the Capsule to which you want to add a lifecycle.

  2. Using the ID, verify the details of your Capsule:

    # hammer capsule info \
--id My_Capsule_ID

  3. To view the lifecycle environments available for your Capsule Server, enter the following command and note the ID and the organization name:

    # hammer capsule content available-lifecycle-environments \
--id My_Capsule_ID

  4. Add the lifecycle environment to your Capsule Server:

    # hammer capsule content add-lifecycle-environment \
--id My_Capsule_ID \
--lifecycle-environment-id My_Lifecycle_Environment_ID
--organization "My_Organization"

    Repeat for each lifecycle environment you want to add to Capsule Server.

  5. Synchronize the content from Satellite to Capsule.

    • To synchronize all content from your Satellite Server environment to Capsule Server, enter the following command:

      # hammer capsule content synchronize \
--id My_Capsule_ID

    • To synchronize a specific lifecycle environment from your Satellite Server to Capsule Server, enter the following command:

      # hammer capsule content synchronize \
--id My_Capsule_ID \
--lifecycle-environment-id My_Lifecycle_Environment_ID

    • To synchronize all content from your Satellite Server to your Capsule Server without checking metadata:

      # hammer capsule content synchronize \
--id My_Capsule_ID \
--skip-metadata-check true

      This equals selecting Complete Sync in the Satellite web UI.

3.5. Enabling power management on hosts

To perform power management tasks on hosts using the intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) or a similar protocol, you must enable the baseboard management controller (BMC) module on Capsule Server.

Prerequisites
Procedure

  • To enable BMC, enter the following command:

    # satellite-installer \
--foreman-proxy-bmc "true" \
--foreman-proxy-bmc-default-provider "freeipmi"

Appendix A: Capsule Server scalability considerations when managing Puppet clients

Capsule Server scalability when managing Puppet clients depends on the number of CPUs, the run-interval distribution, and the number of Puppet managed resources. Capsule Server has a limitation of 100 concurrent Puppet agents running at any single point in time. Running more than 100 concurrent Puppet agents results in a 503 HTTP error.

For example, assuming that Puppet agent runs are evenly distributed with less than 100 concurrent Puppet agents running at any single point during a run-interval, a Capsule Server with 4 CPUs has a maximum of 1250 – 1600 Puppet clients with a moderate workload of 10 Puppet classes assigned to each Puppet client. Depending on the number of Puppet clients required, the Satellite installation can scale out the number of Capsule Servers to support them.

If you want to scale your Capsule Server when managing Puppet clients, the following assumptions are made:

  • There are no external Puppet clients reporting directly to the Satellite integrated Capsule.

  • All other Puppet clients report directly to an external Capsule.

  • There is an evenly distributed run-interval of all Puppet agents.

Note

Deviating from the even distribution increases the risk of overloading Satellite Server. The limit of 100 concurrent requests applies.

The following table describes the scalability limits using the recommended 4 CPUs.

Table 5. Puppet scalability using 4 CPUs
Puppet Managed Resources per Host Run-Interval Distribution

1

3000 – 2500

10

2400 – 2000

20

1700 – 1400

The following table describes the scalability limits using the minimum 2 CPUs.

Table 6. Puppet scalability using 2 CPUs
Puppet Managed Resources per Host Run-Interval Distribution

1

1700 – 1450

10

1500 – 1250

20

850 – 700