system-unregister

name	system_unregister
description	Maintains the ansible/roles/system_unregister Ansible role that unconditionally unregisters a host from Red Hat Insights and Red Hat Subscription Management, as part of the Linux SOE. Use when decommissioning a host or removing it from RHSM/Insights.

system_unregister

Maintains ansible/roles/system_unregister/. See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the shared conventions (role layout, audit vs. remediate via --check --diff, safety rules, branch + PR contribution workflow).

ansible/roles/system_unregister/README.md documents this role's full configuration surface (every defaults/main.yml variable, with its original inline comments, rendered as a single reference). Read it before proposing or explaining how to configure this role — it reflects the role's actual current defaults even if a variable summary elsewhere in this file has drifted out of sync with the role.

What the role actually does

Encoded in ansible/roles/system_unregister/defaults/main.yml:

• No configuration variables — running this role always attempts to stop rhcd, unregister insights-client, remove Insights state files, run subscription-manager unregister + clean, and remove any RHSM server certs under /etc/containers/certs.d. Each step is conditioned on the relevant package/state actually being present (via package_facts), so it's safe to run on a host that's already partially or fully unregistered.

This role is sourced from the myllynen/rhel-ansible-roles import (see git log -- ansible/roles/system_unregister) rather than hand-authored for this repo. Unlike the original reference domains (e.g. timesync, usbguard_setup), it applies state declaratively via standard Ansible modules and does not add its own assert-based drift checks on top — an audit here is exactly what --check --diff reports from the underlying modules, nothing more.

What to do

Audit (read-only, safe to run any time):

ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags system_unregister --check --diff

Summarize the diff output and any failed tasks in plain language.

Remediate (modifies the system — only after the user explicitly asks): first summarize what will change from the --check --diff output, then run the same command without --check:

ansible-playbook ansible/configure_rhel.yml --tags system_unregister

Note this only works at all if system_unregister has been uncommented in ansible/configure_rhel.yml's roles: list first — see "Wiring into the SOE" below; by default the tag matches nothing.

Propose a change to the role itself: never edit and commit directly. On a branch named soe/system_unregister/<short-desc>, edit ansible/roles/system_unregister/, validate locally (--syntax-check, ansible-lint roles/system_unregister/, and --check --diff against a real/test host if available), then push and open a PR titled [system_unregister] <what changed> with the --check --diff output in the body. Then stop — a human reviews and merges; see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md's "Contribution workflow".

Notes

• This is destructive to the host's ability to get RHEL/Satellite content until re-registered via repository_setup (or manually) — this is a decommissioning action, not something to include in a routine SOE compliance run. Confirm the host is actually being decommissioned before remediating.

Wiring into the SOE

This role is not present at all in ansible/configure_rhel.yml's roles: list — not even as a commented-out line — nor in any of the other playbooks (load_balancer_setup.yml, nfs_client_setup.yml, nfs_server_setup.yml, update_rhel.yml, connect_linux.yml). This is deliberate: it acts unconditionally with no guard variable and would de-register every host it touched, so it must never run as a side effect of a routine baseline run.

To actually invoke it, add - system_unregister directly to ansible/configure_rhel.yml's roles: list yourself before running the commands above, or write a small dedicated decommissioning playbook — either way, propose it via the branch + PR workflow, and treat adding it to configure_rhel.yml permanently as a cross-cutting, high-blast-radius change needing an explicit human decision, same as it was under the old ansible/site.yml. This repo no longer uses ansible/site.yml; see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.