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Red Hat Registration and Subscriptions

I recently decided to spend some time refreshing my Red Hat knowledge because it has been a while since I have supported production Red Hat based servers. A lot has changed. You can signup for a developer license for free and get limited access to Red Hat products.

Registration, among other things, controls the repos that the server can use.  For instance, you cannot run ‘dnf update’ until the system is registered and attached to the available desired software repositories. The ‘subscription-manager’ command exists to handle various subscription configuration situations.

For a basic free developer subscription, the following will get things started from the command line.

Show the various commands available to the subscription manager command:

subscription-manager

Subscribe and configure the available repos. This can apparently be used with kickstart as well:

subscription-manager register --username --password --auto-attach

Update the system:

dnf update

There is a lot more to subscription manager based on workflows, hosted repositories, configurations, etc. Because of different workflows, registration can also be performed via the GUI, web console, automation, etc.

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2010 HD Dyna: Dealing with the Factory Alarm System

The 2010 Dyna models came with a factory alarm that flashed the signal lights if it was triggered. I paid the HD tax and added the siren unit since flashing turn signal lights by themselves doesn’t add much security.

The alarm system adds some challenges to performing battery maintenance, transportation, and overcoming dead/lost FOB issues (disabling the the alarm to ride).

Disable the Alarm when disconnecting the battery.

1) With the FOB near the bike, turn the ignition switch to on to disable the alarm system.
2) Remove the negative cable from the battery.

It has also been suggested to remove the 40A main fuse before removing the negative lead from the battery. In fact, this is recommended when disconnecting power in a different section of the manual. I see no point in the additional labor for a simple battery removal. The above is straight from the owner’s manual.

Transport Mode.

This is described as disarming the motion detection but allowing the alarm to trigger if an attempt to is made to start the engine. It is safer and works better than tying the FOB to the motorcycle when transporting long distances.

1) With the FOB in range, turn the ignition switch to on.
2) Set the engine stop switch to off.
3) Turn the ignition switch to ACC.
Within 5 seconds, press both the left and right turn signals at the same time (turn signals flash once).
4) Turn ignition switch to off (turn signals flash 3 times).

To return to normal operation:

With FOB in range, turn switch to ignition and and set the engine stop switch to run.

Disabling the Alarm System to Ride

This method assumes that you are going to ride the motorcycle and the steps must be repeated after the ignition switch is turned off.

This requires that you know the security system PIN.

You must keep the FOB away from the motorcycle.

If you screw up entering the PIN, wait more than 2 minutes before attempting the next try.

1) Turn the ignition switch to ignition.
2) Within 2 seconds, hold both turn signal switched in until confirmation on the dashboard.
3) Enter the PIN by toggling the left turn signal switch to the proper number on the dash, and using the right turn signal switch to advance to the following digits.
4) After the 5th digit has been entered, press the right turn signal switch one more time. The key icon on the dash should stop blinking.

Again, once the ignition switch is turned off, the alarm system will turn back on.

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Enabling the AD Recycle Bin and Recovering Objects

This is an easy process. Recovering deleted AD objects using the old methods was not. By default, even in new domains, the AD Recycle Bin is not enabled.

Before doing this, the object lifecycle should be understood. Once the AD Recycle Bin is enabled, when an object is deleted it is considered to be logically deleted, which is when the object’s attributes are preserved. It remains in this condition until the “Deleted Object Lifetime” period is met. This value is called the msDS-deletedObjectLifetime attribute, which by default is null, and thus is controlled by the “tombstone lifetime” attribute. At the end of this time point, most of the attributes are stripped away and the object is now in the “Recycled Object Lifetime” period. At this point an object can not be recovered using the AD Recycle Bin and the the object is similar to “tombstoned” objects, the lifecycle of which can be controlled by changing the tombstone lifetime attributes. Default for this time period is 180 days, but older domains may be different. Following this time period, the object is permanently and physically deleted.

Enabling the AD Recycle Bin

PowerShell example from the MS website:

Enable-ADOptionalFeature -Identity 'CN=Recycle Bin Feature,CN=Optional Features,CN=Directory Service,CN=Windows NT,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=contoso,DC=com' -Scope ForestOrConfigurationSet -Target 'contoso.com'

Or for the GUI:

Server Manager -> Tools -> Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC) -> Manage -> Add Navigation Nodes -> <Domain Name>(local)

In the Tasks pane, click “Enable Recycle Bin”

Recovering Deleted Objects

Server Manager -> Tools -> Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC) -> Manage -> Add Navigation Nodes -> <Domain Name>(local)-> Deleted Objects

Chose the object to restore and click “Restore” in the Tasks pane. For recovering multiple objects, such as recovering an OU, a search of the web might be necessary to script the recovery.

Note about msDS-deletedObjectLifetime and tombstone lifetime attributes

These can be found and changed using ADSI Edit and PowerShell.

It is worth taking a look at these especially if the existing domain began prior to Server 2003 since the default tombstone dates were typically only 60 days in length.