Red Hat Knowledgebase

The best way to make sure your system is always able to connect to Red Hat Network is to apply all relevant Errata and obtain the latest versions of the Red Hat Update Agent (up2date) and the Red Hat Network Registration Client (rhn_register). Short of this, you should ensure your SSL certificates for RHN are new and functional.

On August 28th, 2003 the SSL certificates originally issued with all versions of Red Hat Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux expired. Symtoms of this problem include the Red Hat Network Alert Notification Tool (applet) turning gray and up2date returning the following error: "certificate verify failed."

Red Hat addressed this by immediately issuing Errata containing new certificates for RHL and RHEL. The Errata, RHSA-2003:267 and RHSA-2003:268, respectively, consist of updated versions of up2date and rhn_register.

Links to these Errata and the application packages themselves can be found on the Client Software page:
https://rhn.redhat.com/help/latest-up2date.pxt

Simply follow the instructions at the top and select the appropriate downloads from below, depending on your distribution and version. Make sure the installation command includes both the GNOME and non-GNOME versions of the applications at once to resolve interdependencies.

If your distribution is no longer supported and therefore not provided new client software, you may obtain the latest RHN certificate separately here:
https://rhn.redhat.com/help/ssl_cert.pxt

Steps for manual or scripted certificate installation are provided on that page. Still, if the applications are available for your system, Red Hat strongly urges you to install them entirely instead. To verify your system has the most recent versions of the Red Hat Update Agent and the Red Hat Network Registration Client, run the following commands using Red Hat Package Manager (RPM):
rpm -q up2date
rpm -q rhn_register

Ensure these versions match those listed on the Client Software page. For instance, RHEL (AS, ES, and WS) 2.1 requires rhn_register-2.8.34-1, rhn_register-gnome-2.8.34-1, up2date-2.8.46.3-1, and up2date-gnome-2.8.46.3-1. If the correct version isn't returned, obtain and install the latest.