How to migrate from CentOS to RHEL?

Question

What packages do I need to install to migrate my CentOS 5.7 server to identical version of RHEL. I have RHN subscription but I don't want to create a fresh install and move files.

Answer 1

Despite the fact that both distributions are built from mostly the same sources the installed binaries are not the same.

For copyright reasons the CentOS team (just like the Unbreakable Linux team at Oracle) has to remove certain Red Hat owned material (logos etc.) and recompile.

So even if your install the necessary packages to make the system "look" like a RHEL system (package redhat-release is an obvious one) I doubt Red Hat would consider it a supported system.

It may not be the answer you're looking for but I suggest you do reinstall in order to avoid support issues at a time you need it.

You should be able to start from the kickstart file created by anaconda (/root/anaconda-ks.cfg) to quickly set up a new system identical to the existing system.