Support for child channels in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

In versions earlier than 8.2, you could download metadata and payload for only base channels in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS by using the Patch Downloader utility.

Starting with BMC Server Automation version 8.2, you can download metadata and payloads for both the supported base channels and their child channels by using the the Patch Downloader utility. For more information about what constitutes base channels and child channels, see the Redhat website.

To download child channels by using the Patch Downloader utility

1. Obtain the list of supported base channels and their child channels.
   • Obtain the list of supported channels by running the listChannels command:

     * redhat_downloader.bat |sh redhat_downloader.sh -listChannels [-configFile
     * configFile] -rhnUser RHNusername -rhnPass RHNpassword
     * where - configFile is optional; to be used for proxy settings.

   • Identify the child channels.
     The child channels are listed after the base channels. To help you to distinguish between the child channels and the base channels, the output displays a blank line after the base channels. In the following sample output of the listChannels command, the supported child channels start with MRG Grid v. 2 (for RHEL 6 Server x86).

     Channel Name                                                      Channel Label                                    OS      Arch
     
     Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES (v. 4 for 32-bit x86)                 rhel-i386-es-4                                   RHES4   x86
     Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (v. 3 for x86)                        rhel-i386-as-3                                   RHAS3   x86
     Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6 for 32-bit x86)             rhel-i386-server-6                               RHES6   x86
     
     MRG Grid v. 2 (for RHEL 6 Server x86)                             rhel-i386-server-6-mrg-grid-2                    RHES6   x86
     MRG Grid v. 2 Debuginfo (for RHEL 6 Server x86)                   rhel-i386-server-6-mrg-grid-2-debuginfo          RHES6   x86
     MRG Management v. 2 (for RHEL 6 Server x86)                       rhel-i386-server-6-mrg-management-2              RHES6   x86
     
     
     ...

2. For each child channel that you want to download, specify an <errata-type> entry in your XML configuration file, and provide the channel label of the child channel within the <channel-label> parameter.
3. Save the XML configuration file.
4. Run the Patch Downloader Utility for Red Hat Enterprise Linux by following the steps in the BMC Server Automation User Guide.