Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Satellite managed-node licensing is the way Red Hat measures its two infrastructure management products, the Ansible Automation Platform automation suite and the Red Hat Satellite systems management server. Both are sold as annual subscriptions whose Unit is the Managed Node, which Product Appendix 1 defines as each and every Node managed, directly or indirectly, by the Software or Online Service, where a Node is a Virtual Node, Physical Node, device or other instance of software.[1] The two products share the Unit name but not the counting rules in practice: Ansible Automation Platform counts everything that its automation reaches, including network devices, cloud services and software instances behind APIs, while Satellite counts the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or non-RHEL systems registered to it. Red Hat publishes no conversion between Managed Nodes and the Socket-pair or Core-pair Units used for RHEL and OpenShift.
Product Appendix 1, Exhibit 1.D (Management Subscriptions) is the contractual source. Red Hat supplements it with Customer Portal knowledgebase articles and product documentation that describe how the counts are observed in automation controller.
Editions
Exhibit 1.D Table 2 lists four Ansible offerings measured in Managed Nodes and one measured in Deployments.[1]
| Offering | Unit | Supported use |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | Managed Node | Server-based, on Supported Configurations; includes RHEL or OpenShift Container Platform to run the platform |
| Red Hat Ansible Developer | Managed Node | Command-line subset only, for Development Use |
| Ansible Automation Platform for Server OS | Managed Node | Only to manage an operating system on a node |
| Ansible Automation Platform for Server Out of Band Management | Managed Node | Only for nodes running out-of-band remote management services on other systems |
| Red Hat Ansible Private Partner Automation Hub | Deployment | On Supported Configurations |
The platform subscription includes a RHEL or OpenShift Container Platform subscription solely for running Ansible Automation Platform itself, so the hosts that run automation controller, automation hub and execution nodes do not need separate operating system subscriptions for that purpose (rule).[1] Support does not extend to the creation or maintenance of customer playbooks or roles, or to upstream Ansible Project Software. Red Hat documentation describes the platform subscription as an annual subscription with Standard (8x5) or Premium (24x7) support, both including maintenance and upgrades.[10]
For Satellite, Exhibit 1.D Table 1 distinguishes the infrastructure subscription (Unit: System) from the per-client entitlements (Unit: Managed Node):[1]
- Red Hat Satellite, Satellite Capsule and Satellite Proxy. An infrastructure offering of fifty System entitlements for the Satellite or Capsule management components, plus Red Hat Portal access and a RHEL subscription for running Satellite (rule). Subscription Services are provided only when these components run on a server, and Capsule and Proxy only when deployed with Satellite.
- Red Hat Satellite (Managed Node), formerly sold as Red Hat Smart Management. Required for each Unit of RHEL managed by Satellite, Capsule or Proxy.
- Red Hat Satellite for non-RHEL. Required for each non-RHEL Unit managed by the same components.
The RHEL subscription guide describes Satellite Server as the platform that synchronizes content from the Customer Portal and provides lifecycle management, and Capsule Server as a content mirror used to federate content across locations.[8] Several RHEL SKUs already bundle Satellite: RHEL Server with Satellite, RHEL for Virtual Datacenters with Satellite, and the RHEL Workstation and Desktop subscriptions, each of which includes one Satellite Module for use with that single system.[1]
Metrics
The Managed Node row in the catalog carries the Appendix 1 definition. Two further Units appear in this product family: Deployment for Private Partner Automation Hub, and System for the Satellite infrastructure components. The Module Unit (use of the Software to manage one System, Virtual Node or Physical Node) is how Satellite entitlements included with Workstation and Desktop subscriptions are expressed.
Counting / floors
The term-long counting window
Exhibit 1.D Note 1 states that a Managed Node includes each and every Node managed, directly or indirectly, by Ansible automation during the term of the Subscription (rule).[1] The count is therefore cumulative over the subscription term, not a peak or point-in-time figure. A host automated once in the first month and then decommissioned still counts for that term.
Red Hat’s product documentation says the same thing in operational terms: Ansible does not recycle node counts or reset automated hosts (rule).[3] Customer Portal article 3331481 adds that customers may not manage a total estate larger than their entitlement, and names cycling, rotating or pulling Managed Nodes through automation controller in increments, or clearing the controller database, as examples of prohibited practice (rule).[2]
What counts as a node
Article 3331481 lists servers, virtual machines, storage arrays and other physical devices; containers, appliances and software instances such as databases, middleware and applications; and software-defined networking, wireless and other network controllers as examples of nodes.[2] It sets out four use cases:
- Direct management. Each physical or virtual instance that Ansible identifies and connects to counts once.
- Indirect management behind an API. Each identifiable instance counts once. “Identifiable” means an instance that the control node reaches through an intermediate management controller by device or instance name.
- Clustered platforms. Each instance of technology within a managed cluster counts as a managed node, whether managed directly or through an API (rule).
- Infrastructure and application software. Each software instance managed directly or through an API counts.
The same article limits double counting: if Ansible reaches one host through several access paths and the host appears in inventory under more than one identifier, the required entitlements do not increase (rule).[2]
How automation controller reports compliance
Automation controller computes a subscription status of Compliant or Out of compliance by comparing the number of unique managed hosts, excluding deletions, with the managed-host limit in the subscription manifest (rule).[4] The interface also shows hosts automated, hosts imported (which do not consume the count), hosts remaining, hosts deleted and previously deleted hosts that have become active again. The documentation’s example: with a capacity of 10, starting at 9 hosts, adding 2 and deleting 3 leaves 8 (compliant); automating 3 more brings the total to 11 (out of compliance).
The Host Metrics view lists each unique hostname with the first and last time it was automated. Hosts can be soft-deleted there, through the awx-manage host_metric utility or through the host metric API, which removes them from the count.[5] Red Hat names legitimate cases (decommissioned hosts, ephemeral CI/CD or test hosts, bench or temporary hosts) and states that soft deletion must not be used to violate subscription counting, for example for node recycling (rule).
For renewals, the metrics-utility RENEWAL_GUIDANCE report merges several entries for the same managed node into one, analysing host name, ansible_host, product serial and machine ID, so that renewal quantities are not inflated by duplicates (rule).[6]
Satellite counting
For Satellite, a Managed Node entitlement is required for each Unit of RHEL managed by Satellite, Capsule or Proxy (rule).[1] Non-RHEL systems need the separate non-RHEL entitlement, and for those systems Red Hat supports only the Satellite functionality, not installation, configuration, connectivity or general use of the non-RHEL node (rule).
Virtualization & partitioning
The Managed Node Unit is indifferent to virtualization: a virtual machine, a container, a physical server and a network switch each count as one node when automated. The self-managed OpenShift subscription guide notes that Ansible Automation Platform offers an add-on at reduced cost for virtualization-only use with OpenShift Virtualization Engine, and that customers automating Day 2 operations inside the VMs need a node subscription for each VM instance in addition to the hypervisor node subscriptions.[9] The same guide lists Ansible Automation Platform, when used only for cluster management, among workloads that may run on OpenShift infrastructure nodes without consuming OpenShift compute subscriptions.
Relationship to RHEL entitlements
RHEL Server subscriptions include an entitlement to certain Ansible components, limited to running playbooks, roles or modules included with or generated by Red Hat Products, such as RHEL System Roles or remediation playbooks generated by Red Hat Insights (now Red Hat Lightspeed). Any other use of Ansible components requires Ansible Automation Platform subscriptions (rule).[1] The RHEL subscription guide describes how Satellite can run Lightspeed-generated remediation playbooks through existing Satellite servers and capsules.[8]
Appendix 1 Table 1.2(c) classifies activities by product line. For the products in Exhibit 1.D, which include Ansible and Satellite, multi-user development, test and integration activities are Production Use, whereas for RHEL they are Development Use (rule).[1] An Ansible installation that drives a shared CI or test environment therefore needs production subscriptions, not the Ansible Developer SKU.
Content support
An Ansible Automation Platform subscription gives access to pre-built automation content with different support levels. Customer Portal article 3166901 states that Certified Content from Automation Hub is supported by Red Hat and the collection provider under the customer’s SLA, Validated Content is reviewed and tested by Red Hat but not supported, and Community Content from Galaxy is not reviewed, tested or supported by Red Hat (rule).[7]
Cloud / BYOL
Appendix 1 section 3.1 opens Cloud Access to Subscriptions whose Units are not solely based on physical attributes, with the list of eligible products kept on the Red Hat Subscription Management portal (see Red Hat Cloud Access and pay-as-you-go cloud subscriptions).[1] Red Hat’s hosted Ansible offerings are Online Services governed by Product Appendix 4 and are not covered here.
Programs
Ansible Automation Platform and Satellite are bought under the Red Hat Enterprise Agreement, which requires customers to report Units used above those purchased, with the dates of use (see Red Hat Enterprise Agreement, Appendix 1 terms and support levels).
Out of scope
- Ansible Automation Platform as a managed service and other Appendix 4 Online Services.
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management and Advanced Cluster Security, also in Exhibit 1.D, which are Core Band or Socket-pair products (see Red Hat OpenShift editions, node roles and core counting).
- List prices and part numbers, which Red Hat does not publish in Appendix 1.
- Upstream AWX and Ansible community projects, to which Appendix 1 does not apply unless Subscription Services are used with them.[1]