Update RHEL 5.3 without the support.

[nickolaus]

Hello
I hae 5 servers with RHEL 5.3. I aim to cut costs.
I just wonder:

1. Can I buy the support only for one server and then use downloaded updates to another 4 unsupported servers?

2. How can I do this in the best way?

3. Is this legal?

[Steven McCoy]

Hey nickolaus,

That type of situation (using one system's subscription to update non-subscribed systems) would put you out of compliance, it's not legal.

If you are looking to cut license costs, you could check out CentOS (It is a direct clone of RHEL):

http://www.centos.org

If you decide to go with CentOS, you could use CentOS packages for security updates on the RHEL boxes, but it would render your RHEL systems in an unsupported state and I would highly recommend not mixing packages on production systems without testing them somewhere else first.

[Steven McCoy]

Whoops, I forgot to mention that using the mixed package scheme would just be a temporary solution while you migrate your systems off of RHEL to CentOS. I wouldn't recommend it as a long-term solution.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

1.) Yes, you can create a patch server and use download only option to build repositories. I use this same method to update systems without Internet connections. I actually invented this type of update.

2.) Use Centos http://www.centos.org

3.) What I did was legal. WE jhad What you propose is not. See item 2. Centos is binary compatible to RHEL and has no costs.

SEP

[Heironimus]

You can also get support for RHEL through companies other than Red Hat. You may be able to get a better deal from somebody else, depending on your specific needs.

[dirk dierickx]

for example, you can get rh linux support from oracle for $199. ofcourse, there might be an independent support organisation in your area that provides even cheaper support.

otherwise centos is a good 100% free alternative.

[westb]

Hey SEP, care to expand on your option #1. We went from a handful of rhel systems to now over 50 in a short period of time and I'm trying to figure out a good way to update systems without using RH proxy or satellite server.

They all have a subscription so everything is legit; just looking for a cheaper solution.

Thx.