User's Manual

2 Chapter 1. Red Hat Network Overview
Many Red Hat Network terms are used throughout this manual. As you read the Red Hat Network
Reference Guide, refer to the Glossary as necessary for an explanation of common terms.
Tip
For a comparison chart of RHN service levels, refer to http://www.redhat.com/software/rhn/table/.
1.1. Demo
The RHN Demo service level is the complimentary service level. All users receive one free subscrip-
tion to RHN Demo. All that is required is the completion of a brief survey once every 60 days.
With each Demo subscription, you receive:
• Errata Notifications — Be the first to know about Red Hat’s patches. Subscribe to email errata
notification through Red Hat Network.
• Errata Updates — Immediately bring individual systems up-to-date with the click of a button.
• Search Packages — Search through the full repository of RPMs available to Red Hat Network
users.
• Search Errata — Search through the collection of all errata ever released through Red Hat Network.
1.2. Update
The RHN Update service is ideal for a user with one Red Hat Enterprise Linux system or a small num-
ber of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems to keep updated. Subscription to Update can be purchased
at http://rhn.redhat.com/purchase_info.pxt.
With each Update subscription, you receive the essential functionality provided to Demo users, plus:
• Easy ISOs — For customers who have purchased subscriptions to Red Hat Network, ISO images
are available for immediate download.
• Priority Access during periods of high load — When Red Hat releases a large errata, users with
Priority Access can be guaranteed that they will be able to access the updated packages immediately.
• RHN Support Access — All paying customers of Red Hat Network receive web based support for
their RHN questions.
• Errata Notification, Multiple Systems — Subscriptions for multiple systems means Errata notifi-
cation for Errata to all of those systems. Note that only one email is distributed per each Errata,
regardless of the number of systems affected.
• Errata Updates, Multiple Systems — Get quick updates for multiple systems with an easy button
click for each system.
1.3. Management
In addition to the features offered in the RHN Demo and Update subscription levels, the RHN Manage-
ment subscription service allows you to manage your network of Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems,
users, and system groups through its System Set Manager interface.
RHN Management is based upon the concept of an organization. Each Management-level Red Hat
customer has the ability to establish users who have administration privileges to system groups. An