Which software repositories to mirror with Subscription Management Tool

  • 7001199
  • 22-Aug-2008
  • 10-Nov-2014

Environment

Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 Software Development Kit
SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Software Development Kit
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Thin Client
SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack
Novell Open Enterprise Server 2
Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2) Linux Support Pack 1
Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES 2) Linux Support Pack 2
Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (OES 11) Linux
Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (OES 11) Linux Support Pack 1
Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (OES 11) Linux Support Pack 2

Situation

Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise (SMT) has been installed and configured.
You want to mirror updates for one or more of the products
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (SLES12)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 3 (SLES11SP3)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2 (SLES11SP2)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1 (SLES11SP1)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (SLES11)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 4 (SLES10SP4) 
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 3 (SLES10SP3)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2 (SLES10SP2)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1 (SLES10SP1)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 (SLED12)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 3 (SLED11SP3)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 2 (SLED11SP2)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 1 (SLED11SP1)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (SLED11)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 4 (SLED10SP4)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 3 (SLED10SP3)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 2 (SLED10SP2)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 1 (SLED10SP1)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2 (OES11SP2)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1 (OES11SP1)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 11 (OES11)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 Service Pack 3 (OES2SP3)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 Service Pack 2 (OES2SP2)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 Service Pack 1 (OES2SP1)
  • Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES2)
There are many repositories (also formerly known as catalogs or channels) to choose from, but which ones should be enabled for mirroring to ensure that the clients get subscribed to what they need ?

Resolution

In this document the wildcard notation "SLE?" covers both SLED and SLES. First Customer Shipment (FCS) is also known as Gold Master (GM) is the original release of a product - e.g. In turn SLES 11 FCS. SLE? 1? refers to SLED/SLES 10/11/12 (six products) etc.

As described in TID 7010200 - How to upgrade to SLES/SLED 11 SP2 there are several ways of updating a client to a newer SP.
Starting from SLE 10 SP2 and until SLE 11 SP1 there are generally three repositories per SP release :

SLE?1?-SP?-Updates : Updates that have been published after the SP was released. This catalog will also eventually contain the trigger patch to initialize update to the next SP.

SLE?1?-SP?-Online : Contains all updates needed to bring a client from the previous SP version to the current. If the client was installed as SLE?10-SP2 and has an SLE?10-SP2 installation source, this catalog is needed to fulfill dependency resolution. Combined, SLE?10-SP2 installation source and SLE?10-SP3-Online provides the same as an SLE?10-SP3 installation source.

SLE?1?-SP?-Pool :
New from SLE?10-SP2. This is an rpm-md (xml-based rpm metadata) repository containing all packages from the respective SP installation medium. The intention of this catalog is to minimize the need for multiple installation source and update repositories for clients that have been upgraded to a newer service pack one or more times.
Since -Pool exists to serve as installation source (only), it does not contain any source packages. The source packages for the shipping product corresponding to the -Pool, only exist on the product medium (e.g. SLES10-SP2 DVD2).
There is generally no need to both have the -Pool repository and the corresponding installation source (medium) enabled/defined. While the installation source will be picked first in case -Pool is also available, the former can be disabled/deleted.
As an example, if a server has been originally installed from the SLES 10 medium, then online updated to SP1 and later to SP2, then it could potentially have the following repositories available :
- SLES 10 installation source
- SLES10SP1-Online catalog
- SLES10SP2-Online catalog
- SLES10SP2-Updates catalog

In case e.g. the SLE?10 SP2 installation source is not available or desired, the SLE?10-SP2-Pool can be used as an alternative and eliminate the need for first three repositories above (SLES 10 installation source, SLES10SP1-Online and SLES10SP2-Online). This way it is possible to use SMT to provide both software update and installation source repositories.
NOTE : The pool repositories can not be used as installation sources during the installation process of machines. As a side note, an SMT server can also be configured to host installation repositories from the YaST Installation Server module.

SLE?11-Updates : Updates that have been published after SLE?11 FCS was released. This catalog will also eventually contain the trigger patch to initialize update to SP1.

SLES11-*Extras : Packages for SLES 11 and SLES 11 SP?, that are not Level 3 supported (for support level definitions see SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supported packages). Starting with SLES 11 FCS, only Level 3 supported packages are included on the installation medium/DVD. A limited number of packages are made available by Novell through the SLES-11-Extras repository, however these packages are not supported by Novell. An example of this is kernel-<flavor>-extra as described in the release notes.

SLE 11 SP2 :
In SLE 11 SP2, the following repositories were introduced :
SLE?11-SP2-Core : This is a subset of the unpacked installation media, it only contains those packages that were considered by SLE Product and Release Management to be the "core" of SP2. The SP repositories only contain packages specific to a SP and its themes (e.g. hardware enablement).
NOTE : The SLE?11-SP2-Core repository only applies to SLE 11 SP2. From SLE 11 SP3 we are back to -Pool and -Updates only.

SLE?11-SPx-Extension-Store :
This repository is not yet in use, but supposed to contain packages for (future) add-on products. The purpose is to make installation of SLE add-on products simpler by allowing customers to directly install e.g. SLE HA GEO simply via installing a package in the Extension-Store repository - instead of having to first add the installation source/repository for the add on product to install. The "installation" package will then set up the repositories as parts of the add-on installation.

For more details on SLE 11 SP2 repositories, see TID 7010225 - Software repositories in SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Service Pack 2.

SLE 12 :
As in SLE 11 SP3 -Pool and -Updates apply.

Important note : The SLE 12 repositories are provided through the SUSE Customer Center/SCC only, so the SMT server needs to be migrated to fetch its updates from SCC as described in TID 7015836 - How to migrate SMT to access SCC (SUSE Customer Center) and register SLES 12 servers

SLE 12 Modules :
SLE 12 introduces a new concept called "Modules", which is a set of software bundles/extensions.
Each of these Modules is a collection of packages with a common use case, support status and life cycle.
Delivery of packages via Modules enables SUSE to provide sets of packages for a specific part of the main product (SLES), but with a different life cycle than the main product.
The SLES 12 release notes contain more information in the Modules section and in section 8.4.2 SUSE Linux Enterprise Legacy Module 12.
The Modules appear to the SLE installer in the same way as extensions like the SLE High Availability Extension, which are selectable for installation in the initial stages of the workflow, based on what the registration server provides. Registration server is either the SUSE or Novell Customer Center (SCC/NCC) or a local proxy like SMT (/SUSE Manager).

The Modules are only delivered via online repositories since this enables the flexibility of providing new packages post release and ensures customers always get the most recent packages automatically. For these reasons ISO images are not provided.

Currently the following Modules are available :
  • Web and Scripting Module
  • Legacy Module
  • Public Cloud Module
  • Advanced Systems Management Module
For each Module a -Pool and -Updates repository are provided and to enable installation of the Modules, these must be mirrored from the SUSE Customer Center prior to starting installation of SLES.

In SMT these appear as :
SLE-Module-Adv-Systems-Management12-Pool
SLE-Module-Adv-Systems-Management12-Updates
SLE-Module-Legacy12-Pool
SLE-Module-Legacy12-Updates
SLE-Module-Public-Cloud12-Pool
SLE-Module-Public-Cloud12-Updates
SLE-Module-Web-Scripting12-Pool
SLE-Module-Web-Scripting12-Updates

For performance reasons it is important to keep the number of installation sources and update repositories to a minimum, since the YaST and the update tools have to search through all of them when managing software.

The table below provides an overview of what repositories are required for a number of scenarios based on the information above.
Software installation scenario
Possible installation source and catalog combinations
SLES 12
To ease administration we use (update) repositories instead of installation media/sources.
SLES12-Pool
SLES12-Updates
SLE-Module*12-Pool (optional as per above)
SLE-Module*12-Updates (optional as per above)
SLES 12 installation source (optional)
SLED 12
To ease administration we use (update) repositories instead of installation media/sources.
SLED12-Pool
SLED12-Updates
SLED 12 installation source (optional)
SLES 11 SP3
To ease administration we use (update) repositories instead of installation media/sources.
Thus same scenario applies to all
SLES11-SP3-Pool
SLES11-SP3-Updates
SLES11-SP3-Extention-Store (optional as per above)
SLES 11 SP3 installation source (optional)
SLED 11 SP3
To ease administration we use (update) repositories instead of installation media/sources.
Thus same scenario applies to all
SLED11-SP3-Pool
SLED11-SP3-Updates
SLED 11 SP3 installation source (optional)
SLES 11 SP2
To ease administration we use (update) repositories instead of installation media/sources.
Thus same scenario applies to all
SLES11-SP1-Pool
SLES11-SP1-Updates
SLES11-SP2-Core
SLES11-SP2-Updates
SLES11-SP2-Extention-Store (optional as per above)
SLES 11 SP2 installation source (optional)
SLED 11 SP2
To ease administration we use (update) repositories instead of installation media/sources.
Thus same scenario applies to all
SLED11-SP1-Pool
SLED11-SP1-Updates
SLED11-SP2-Core
SLED11-SP2-Updates
SLED 11 SP2 installation source (optional)
SLE? 11 SP1 installed from SLE? 11 SP1 mediumSLE? 11 SP1 installation source (alternatively SLE?11-SP1-Pool)
SLE?11-SP1-Updates
SLES11-SP1-Extras - optional as per above
SLE? 11 SP1 installed from SLE? 11 medium and upgraded to SP1SLE? 11 SP1 installation source (alternatively SLE?11-SP1-Pool)
SLE?11-SP1-Updates
SLES11-SP1-Extras - optional as per above
(recommended solution)
- or -
SLE? 11 installation source
SLE?11-SP1-Online
SLE?11-SP1-Updates
SLES11-SP1-Extras - optional as per above
SLE? 11 (FCS)
SLE? 11 FCS installation source (alternatively SLE?11-Pool)
SLE?11-Updates
(Optionally SLES11-Extras if needed as per above)
SLE? 10 SP4 installed from SLE? 10 SP4 medium
SLE? 10 SP4 installation source (alternatively SLE?10-SP4-Pool)
SLE?10-SP4-Updates
SLE? 10 SP4, installed from SLE? 10 SP3 medium and upgraded to SP4
SLE?10-SP4-Pool or other SLE? 10 SP4 installation source
SLE?10-SP4-Updates
(recommended combination)
- or -
SLE?10 SP3 installation source
SLE?10-SP4-Online
SLE?10-SP4-Updates
SLE? 10 SP4, installed from SLE? 10 medium and upgraded to SP1, SP2, SP3 and SP4
SLE?10-SP4-Pool or other SLE? 10 SP4 installation source
SLE?10-SP4-Updates
(recommended combination)
- or -
SLE? 10 installation source
SLE?10-SP1-Online
SLE?10-SP2-Online
SLE?10-SP3-Online
SLE?10-SP4-Online
SLE?10-SP4-Updates
(not at all recommended)
SLE? 10 SP3 installed from SLE? 10 SP3 medium
SLE? 10 SP3 installation source (alternatively SLE?10-SP3-Pool)
SLE?10-SP3-Updates
SLE? 10 SP3, installed from SLE? 10 SP2 medium and upgraded to SP3
SLE?10-SP3-Pool or other SLE? 10 SP3 installation source
SLE?10-SP3-Updates
(recommended combination)
- or -
SLE?10 SP2 installation source
SLE?10-SP3-Online
SLE?10-SP3-Updates
SLE? 10 SP3, installed from SLE? 10 medium and upgraded to SP1, then to SP2 and SP3
SLE?10-SP3-Pool or other SLE? 10 SP3 installation source
SLE?10-SP3-Updates
(recommended combination)
- or -
SLE? 10 installation source
SLE?10-SP1-Online
SLE?10-SP2-Online
SLE?10-SP2-Updates
SLE?10-SP3-Online
SLE?10-SP3-Updates
(not at all recommended)
SLE? 10 SP2 installed from SLE? 10 SP2 medium
SLE? 10 SP2 installation source (alternatively SLE?10-SP2-Pool)
SLE?10-SP2-Updates
SLE? 10 SP2, installed from SLE? 10 SP1 medium and upgraded to SP2
SLE?10-SP2-Pool or other SLE? 10 SP2 installation source
SLE?10-SP2-Updates
(recommended combination)
- or -
SLE?10 SP1 installation source
SLE?10-SP2-Online
SLE?10-SP2-Updates
SLE? 10 SP2, installed from SLE? 10 medium and upgraded to SP1 and later to SP2
SLE?10-SP2-Pool or other SLE? 10 SP2 installation source
SLE?10-SP2-Updates
(recommended combination)
- or -
SLE?10 installation source
SLE?10-SP1-Online
SLE?10-SP2-Online
SLE?10-SP2-Updates
SLE? 10 SP1 installed from SLE? 10 SP1 medium
SLE? 10 SP1 installation source
SLE?10-SP1-Updates
 SLE? 10 SP1, installed from SLE? 10 medium and upgraded to SP1
SLE? 10 installation source
SLE?10-SP1-Online
SLE?10-SP1-Updates
OES11 SP2
SLES11-SP3 as described above
OES11-SP2-Pool or other OES11-SP2 installation source
OES11-SP2-Updates
OES11 SP1
SLES11-SP2 as described above
OES11-SP1-Pool or other OES11-SP1 installation source
OES11-SP1-Updates
OES11
SLES11-SP1 as described above
OES11-Pool or other OES11 installation source
OES11-Updates
OES2 SP3
SLES10-SP3 as described above
OES2-SP3-Pool or other OES2-SP3 installation source
OES2-SP3-Updates (recommended solution)
-- or --
SLES10-SP3 as described above
OES2SP1 installation source
OES2-SP2-Online
OES2-SP3-Pool or other OES2-SP3 installation source
OES2-SP3-Updates
(not at all recommended for performance reasons)
OES2 SP2
SLES10-SP3 as described above
OES2-SP2-Pool or other OES2-SP2 installation source
OES2-SP2-Updates (recommended solution)
-- or --
SLES10-SP3 as described above
OES2SP1 installation source
OES2-SP2-Online
OES2-SP2-Pool or other OES2-SP2 installation source
OES2-SP2-Updates
OES2 SP1
SLES 10 SP2 as described above
OES2SP1 installation source
OES2-SP1-Updates

Once the repositories to mirror have been determined, the next step is to decide which architectures are needed when enabling the repositories for mirroring. While OES2 updates are currently only provided for sles-10-i586 and sles-10-x86_64, some other products are also products are also built for ia64, ppc and s390x.

Be aware that the SLE*-Pool repositories are quite voluminous and if you are already having (network based) installation sources, mirroring this should be avoided. If it is available on the SMT server, the based clients will automatically add it to their list of repositories even though they already do have an SLE* installation source and thus slow down software management operations unnecessarily.

The table above only covers the repositories for the main operating systems and services since describing all Novell Update catalogs is not feasible.
There are of course also a variety of catalogs available for mirroring (based on the active product maintenance linked to the mirroring credentials) for other operating systems and add-on products.
Examples of these :
Catalog
Operating system or add-on Product
SLE10-POS-UpdatesSUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service
SLE10-SDK-SP2-UpdatesSUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2 Software Development Kit
SLE11-SDK-UpdatesSUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Software Development Kit
SLE10-SP2-Debuginfo-UpdatesDebuginfo packages for SLE 10 SP2
SLE11-Debuginfo-PoolDebuginfo packages for SLE 11 FCS
SLE11-Debuginfo-UpdatesDebuginfo packages for SLE 11 post FCS
SLE10-SP2-SMT-UpdatesSubscription Management Tool for SLE
SLE10-TC-UpdatesSUSE Linux Enterprise Thin Client
SLE10-VMDriverPack-UpdatesSUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack (Xen)

These catalogs can also be mirrored and will then automatically be registered on the applicable clients on their next execution of suse_register, which by default happens during boot unless it gets invoked manually.
 

Additional Information

Regarding the disk space consumed by the repositories.

This varies from product to product also depending on whether the source files are mirrored or not. Furthermore the -Updates repositories obviously grow over the lifetime of each product.

As a general rule of thumb it is recommended to reserve 20GB per architecture per -Updates repository for the SLES and SDK products if the source RPMs are mirrored. A product is e.g. SLES 11 SP1.
SLED and Debuginfo repositories usually use additional 10GB space.
The sources usually occupy between 30 and 55 percent of this space.
Pool repositories nearly reflect the sizes of the installation media for the product.

As an example SLES11-SP1-Updates/sle-11-i586/ consumes 19GB of which 10 are source RPMs. Approximately the same space requirement counts for SLES11-SP1-Updates/sle-11-x86_64/.
It is important to note that SMT creates hardlinks between files, that exist in multiple repositories in order to save disk space and to speed up the mirror process).
For example the source files in the SLES11-SP1-Updates/sle-11-i586/ and SLES11-SP1-Updates/sle-11-x86_64/ repositories are linked.

The space consumed by repositories for other products is insignificant in today's disk market (less than 5 GB per repository - for most less than one).

For more information about what SMT is and how to configure it, see How to Use the Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 or alternatively the AppNote Keep your Linux Desktops and Servers Updated with Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise for SMT 1.0 for the SLES 10 specific version.