Populating new foreman server (3.15)

Support
1

Problem:
old foreman server 3.20 on rhel7
new foreman server 3.15 on rhel9

Too many steps to migrate old to new, also requiring an interim rhel8 system to migrate one version at a time 3.2.0 to 3.15.0, so the approach is now to start afresh with the 3.15.0 “empty” and populate it ro “match” 3.2.0

Expected outcome:
a working foreman 3.15.0 system that does everything that the 3.2.0 did.

Whilst also being a chance to remove the rubbish that has accumulated on the old server that may no longer be appropriate/is now redundant.

Also - no documentation from the implementer of the old system at all. I have inherited the role of “foreman administrator” and am learning on the hoof, step by step.

there are no proxies required - all “clients” will communicate directly with the new server

Foreman and Proxy versions:
old = 3.2.0
new=3.15.0

Foreman and Proxy plugin versions:
A total lack of knowledge of Foreman (see above) means I am unable to answer this the question.

Distribution and version:
foreman 3.145.0

Other relevant data:
see next post for query

2

Does anybody know of a “starting guide for total dummy foreman administration” online?
The official foreman documentation is as tends to be the case with official documentation written by somebody who understands foreman for those that understand foreman.

First thing I notice. Logged in as admin on old and new
left hand menu
old - monitor, content, hosts, configure, infrastructure, administer
new - monitor, hosts, configure, infrastructure, administer

does this suggest in the new version(s) what was covered by “content” is now buried elsewhere? Its very fundamental to the working given its RH repos, sync plans, content views, activation keys etc etc etc

I also notice that under “Hosts” there is no “Hosts Collection” section?

cheers

Ian

3

So - searching more I did come across this.

New install content menu is missing - Support - TheForeman

in which the guru kvde advised

"You must follow the Katello instructions, not those for foreman."

FWIW I installed initially using Foreman :: Quickstart

Anyway in that post mentioned above, aruzicka follows up gvde with

" following instructions to install Foreman without Katello, so you don’t have the content related functionality available. If you want to have those, these are the docs to follow [Katello 3.15 Documentation - Installation](https://theforeman.org/plugins/katello/3.15/installation/index.html)"

But that URL doesnt exist - page not found

?

cheers

Ian

4

Hey,
To get started and to install Foreman+Katello, I suggest that you have a look at Planning for Foreman & Installing Foreman Server with Katello 4.17 plugin on Enterprise Linux. To get started with Foreman/Katello, there’s also Quickstart guide for Foreman with Katello on Enterprise Linux but I am unsure if this is a good starting point for you.

If your menu is missing “Content”, then you’re running Foreman, not Foreman+Katello. Note that you cannot install the Katello plugin on Foreman after the initial installation process.