SUSE Manager is a server solution for providing updates, patches, and security fixes for single SUSE Linux Enterprise, OES, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux clients. It comes with a set of tools and a Web-based user interface for management tasks. For more information on SUSE Manager, see the SUSE Manager documentation.
IMPORTANT:
Novell Archive and Version Services installation is not supported on an OES server that has been patched using SUSE manger.
SUSE manager-based patching support is available only from OES 11 onwards.
You can use SUSE Manager to patch an OES 11 or OES 11 SP1 server.
Use the information contained in the following sections to set up a SUSE Manager server:
For more information about installing, patching and mirroring, see the SUSE Manager 1.7 Quick Start.
Install SUSE Manager.
Patch SUSE Manager before configuring it.
When you configure SUSE Manager, provide the appropriate mirror credentials for access to the OES and SLES channels.
Use PuTTY to log in to SUSE Manager with administrative credentials.
Execute the mgr-ncc-sync -l command to view all channels that you are allowed to synchronize with SUSE Manager.
The output lists both parent and child channels. The following notations are used to mark each channel:
[.] Denotes a channel that is not mirrored or synchronized.
[p] Denotes a channel that was previously mirrored or synchronized.
Select the channels you want to import.
You can import child channels only if their respective parent channels are already imported.
IMPORTANT: After they are mirrored, SUSE channels cannot be deleted. Only custom software channels can be deleted.
For each channel that you want to mirror, run the mgr-ncc-sync -c <the channel name> command.
For example, to mirror oes11-pool-x86_64, the command is:
mgr-ncc-sync -c oes11-pool-x86_64
The channel data is imported into the SUSE Manager database and a full synchronization is triggered for that channel.
(Conditional) If this is the first time the OES channel has been mirrored, you see the following error message:
ChannelException: The GPG keys listed for the oes11-pool-x86_64 repository are already installed but they are not correct. Check that the correct key URLs are configured for this repository.
Use the following steps to resolve the issue:
Run the spacewalk-repo-sync -c <any-oes-channel-name> command.
For example, spacewalk-repo-sync -c oes11-pool-x86_64.
When you are prompted to import the keys, import the keys and continue with Step 6.
After the keys are imported, other OES channels are mirrored without any issues.
Repeat Step 4 and mirror the following OES 11, OES 11 SP1, SLES 11 SP1, and SLES 11 SP2 channels:
For OES11: sles11-sp1-pool , sles11-sp1-updates, sles11-sp1-suse-manager-tools, oes11-pool, oes11-updates, and sles11-extras.
For OES11SP1: sles11-sp2-core, sles11-sp2-updates, sles11-sp2-suse-manager-tools, sles11-sp2-extension-store, oes11-sp1-pool, and oes11-sp1-updates.
When you patch the OES server, you encounter a Tomcat vendor conflict issue that requires user intervention to resolve. For more information on the Tomcat vendor conflict issue, see Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 - Updated Installation and Patching information.
To resolve this conflict issue, you must create configuration channels and add files:
Log in to the SUSE Manager Web console with administrative credentials.
To create the configuration channel, click , enter the details in and , then click .
For example, you can specify the details as Novell-Tomcat-VendorConflict.
To add files, click , specify the following details, then click .
File Type: Select
Filename/Path: Type /etc/zypp/vendors.d.
Click .
In the Create New Configuration File screen, specify the following details, then click .
File Type: Select .
Filename/Path: Specify /etc/zypp/vendors.d/novell.
File Contents: Specify the following snippet:
[main] vendors = novell,suse,opensuse
To create and subscribe channels with the activation keys that can be used to register the OES servers with SUSE Manager:
Log in to the SUSE Manager Web console with administrative credentials.
Click , specify the following details, then click .
Description: Specify a short description that identifies the settings this key creates on the systems that use it.
Key: Specify a key of your choice. For example, novell-production could be a key.
Usage: Specify the number of servers that can use this key. Leave it blank for unlimited usage.
Base Channels: Select .
Add-On Entitlements: Select and .
To subscribe a channel, click , select the channel name (This the name of the channel that you provided in Step 2 of Resolving Tomcat Vendor Conflict Issues), then click .
Click , select , then click .
Click , deselect all the selected channels by holding the Ctrl key, then click .
A bootstrap file is used to register the OES server to SUSE Manager. For more information on bootstrap scripts, refer to the SUSE Manager 1.7 Quick Start.
Create an OES bootstrap file and add an activation key:
Use PuTTY to log in to SUSE Manager with administrative credentials.
Navigate to /srv/www/htdocs/pub/bootstrap.
Create a copy of the bootstrap file using the cp bootstrap.sh oes11strap.sh command.
Use an editor to open oes11strap.sh, locate the following elements, and add the following:
ACTIVATION_KEYS=1-: Add the key that you specified in Step 2 of Creating the Activation Keys and the Bootstrap File.
For example, 1-novell. Where “novell” is the activation key that you provided in Step 2 of Creating the Activation Keys and the Bootstrap File.
FULLY_UPDATE_THIS_BOX=: Change 1 to 0. This prevents the auto-update followed by the bootstrap.
Identify the following block and remove exit 1.
echo "the exit below)" echo exit 1
Save and exit the oes11strap.sh file.
Register the OES servers to the SUSE manager for patching and upgrading:
Use PuTTY to log in to the OES server with administrative credentials.
Execute the curl -Sks https://<SUSE Manager Server_Hostname OR IP_Address>/pub/bootstrap/oes11strap.sh | /bin/bash command.
Ensure that you have completed Setting Up SUSE Manager.
Log in to the SUSE Manager Web console (https://<SUSE Manager Server_hostname or IP_address>) with administrative credentials.
Click .
SUSE Manager lists all the registered OES servers along with the number of patches available for each OES server.
Select the OES server, click , then verify that the required channels are selected.
To apply a patch, select the OES server, click , select all the patches, then click .
After all the patches are applied, click , select the OES System to be patched and then click.
Select all the packages, then click .
The OES server is updated with all the patches, according to the schedule.