Red Hat Knowledgebase

Software channels provide a well-defined method to determine which packages should be available to a system for installation or upgrade, based upon its operating systems, packages, and functionality. You can click a channel name to view its Channel Details page.

You can use the following steps to add child channels such as Red Hat Application Server, Red Hat Cluster Suite, Red Hat Developer Suite, Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES/WS Extras, and numerous Beta channels. Child channels will only be available for a valid subscription. Use the Channels tab to view the software channels available for your account.

1. For a system that is already registered to Red Hat Network (RHN), log into your account.
2. Select the Systems tab along the top menu. This will bring up the System Overview.
3. If the System Overview menu shows System Groups, select View Systems, to see the Systems list.
4. Select the desired system by clicking the system name link under the System column.
5. Select the Alter Channel Subscriptions link under the Subscribed Channels section (on the right side of the page).
6. To modify the child channels associated with this system, use the checkboxes next to the channels and click the Change Subscriptions button. You will receive a success message or be notified of any errors.

To verify that the child channel is now associated with the system, use the up2date command with the --show-channels option from the system. For example:

up2date --show-channels

Shows that this particular system has the following channels:

# up2date --show-channels
rhel-i386-as-3
rhel-i386-as-3-extras
rhel-i386-as-3-cluster
rhel-3-as-i386-rhaps-1
rhel-3-as-i386-rhds-2

In this example, rhel-i386-as-3 is the base channel and rhel-i386-as-3-extras, rhel-i386-as-3-cluster, rhel-3-as-i386-rhaps-1, and rhel-3-as-i386-rhds-2 are all child channels.