Streamlining RHEL Registration and Subscription Automation

Projects: c2platform/rws/ansible-gis

Automate the registration and unregistration of RHEL machines using Vagrant in conjunction with the vagrant-registration plugin, streamlining development workflows.

Problem

Accessing Red Hat services and software repositories is crucial for developers working in environments based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Automating the system registration and subscription management pr0ocesses is key to ensuring uninterrupted access to these essential resources.

Context

In environments utilizing RHEL 9, the need arises for an efficient mechanism to register systems with Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM) and manage subscriptions. This enables developers to seamlessly install software packages, receive updates, and utilize Red Hat services.

Solution

Leveraging the Red Hat Developer Subscription, developers can cost-effectively manage their RHEL 9 system registrations within development settings. This involves registering the system with RHSM and attaching a developer subscription, thereby unlocking access to crucial Red Hat software repositories and services.

To automate this process within the C2Platform development environment, the vagrant-registration  is pre-installed. This facilitates a smooth, automated registration experience.

Examples and implementation

The example below illustrates the process of registering a RHEL 9 system and managing subscriptions through terminal commands:

subscription-manager register --username <username>
subscription-manager attach

For detailed automation examples, refer to the c2platform/rws/ansible-gis project. Key points include:

1. The Vagrantfile incorporates a code snippet for handling registration. If you configure your Red Hat Developer  account credentials using variables RHEL_DEV_ACCOUNT and RHEL_DEV_SECRET, the setup will be fully automated. If you don’t configure these credentials, Vagrant will prompt you for the credentials each time you create a RHEL based VM.
2. The Vagrantfile.yml includes a rhel9 box definition with a registration flag, indicating that systems based on this box will be automatically registered upon creation and unregistered upon destruction.

This setup guarantees that systems spun up with the rhel9 configuration will automatically handle registration and unregistration, streamlining the development process and ensuring compliance with Red Hat’s subscription management.

Registration and Unregistration in Action:

The following terminal outputs demonstrate the automatic registration and unregistration process when managing a Vagrant box:

1. Upon executing vagrant up, the system registers with Red Hat, facilitated by the vagrant-registration plugin.
2. Running vagrant destroy triggers the system’s unregistration, maintaining a clean state and ensuring no unnecessary subscriptions remain active.

[:ansible-gis]└2 master(+15/-1,+1/-1) ± vagrant up gsd-ansible-repo --no-provision
Bringing machine 'gsd-ansible-repo' up with 'virtualbox' provider...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Importing base box 'generic/rhel9'...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Matching MAC address for NAT networking...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Checking if box 'generic/rhel9' version '4.3.12' is up to date...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Setting the name of the VM: ansible-gis_gsd-ansible-repo_1708418067798_69697
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Fixed port collision for 22 => 2222. Now on port 2206.
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Clearing any previously set network interfaces...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Preparing network interfaces based on configuration...
    gsd-ansible-repo: Adapter 1: nat
    gsd-ansible-repo: Adapter 2: hostonly
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Forwarding ports...
    gsd-ansible-repo: 22 (guest) => 2206 (host) (adapter 1)
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Running 'pre-boot' VM customizations...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Booting VM...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
    gsd-ansible-repo: SSH address: 127.0.0.1:2206
    gsd-ansible-repo: SSH username: vagrant
    gsd-ansible-repo: SSH auth method: private key
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Machine booted and ready!
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Registering box with vagrant-registration...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Checking for guest additions in VM...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Setting hostname...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Configuring and enabling network interfaces...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Mounting shared folders...
    gsd-ansible-repo: /vagrant => /home/ostraaten/git/gitlab/c2/ansible-gis
    gsd-ansible-repo: /arcgis-software-repo => /software/projects/rws
    gsd-ansible-repo: /ansible-dev-collections => /home/ostraaten/git/gitlab/c2/ansible-dev-collections
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Machine not provisioned because `--no-provision` is specified.
θ66° [:ansible-gis]└2 master(+15/-1,+1/-1) ±

[:ansible-gis]└2 master(+15/-1,+1/-1) ± vagrant destroy gsd-ansible-repo
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Unregistering box with vagrant-registration...
    gsd-ansible-repo: Are you sure you want to destroy the 'gsd-ansible-repo' VM? [y/N] y
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Forcing shutdown of VM...
==> gsd-ansible-repo: Destroying VM and associated drives...
[:ansible-gis]└2 master(+15/-1,+1/-1) ±

The following two guides utilize Red Hat boxes with automatic registration:

• Create a Simple Software Repository for Ansible
• Setup Ansible Control Node