Inactive Red Hat Subscription

Last Updated On: 18 May 2026|

4 minutes read |

Problem

The scanning, download or deployment of Redhat patches fails with the error message - The account is missing an active Red Hat subscription.

Cause

This error will be shown when:

The Red Hat account information provided does not have an active subscription to receive updates from the portal or when the subscription status is 'Unknown'.

Resolution

You can resolve the issues as follows:

If you are a beginner to Red Hat Enterprise patching, start by purchasing a Red Hat subscription.

A Red Hat subscription gives you access to enterprise-ready software, updates, and information and support services that span your entire application infrastructure, life cycle, and architecture.

To receive updates from the Red Hat portal, you need to have an active subscription. Ensure the Red Hat account provided has a subscription that is currently active to receive updates.
To check the subscription status, open the terminal and type in:
sudo subscription-manager status
The subscription status will be shown as the following output:
```
# sudo subscription-manager status
         +-------------------------------------------+
            System Status Details
         +-------------------------------------------+
         Overall Status: Current
```

Verify if the purchased subscription has recently expired. If yes, renew your subscription. Refer here for the renewal steps.

To verify the subscription and expiry details, open the terminal and type in:

sudo subscription-manager list --consumed

The subscription and expiry details will be shown as the following output:

$ sudo subscription-manager list --consumed
         +-------------------------------------------+
            Consumed Subscriptions
         +-------------------------------------------+
         ...
         Active:            True
         Quantity Used:     1
         Service Level:     Premium
         Service Type:      L1-L3
         Status Details:    
         Subscription Type: Standard
         Starts:            dd/mm/yyyy
         Ends:              dd/mm/yyyy
         System Type:       Physical

Try to detach/remove the subscription from the system. Then, again attach the subscription to the system. Refer to the steps here.
Red Hat Subscription status is 'Unknown': When the system is registered offline, the subscription status is shown as Unknown. This is an unexpected behaviour. For resolution, refer here for steps.

In case you are not able to troubleshoot the error, and the problem still persists, then contact support team with the Log files.