8.9 Using SUSE Manager to Patch an OES Server

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:SUSE manager-based patching support is available only from OES 11 onwards.

You can use SUSE Manager to patch an OES 11 SP2, OES 11 SP3 or OES 2015 server.

8.9.1 Setting Up SUSE Manager

Use the information contained in the following sections to set up a SUSE Manager server:

Installing SUSE Manager

For more information about installing, patching and mirroring, see the SUSE Manager Getting Started Guide.

  1. Install SUSE Manager.

  2. Patch SUSE Manager before configuring it.

  3. Configure SUSE Manager. Ensure to provide the appropriate mirror credentials to access the OES and SLES channels.

Mirroring the Required OES and SLES Channels

  1. Mirror the SLES 11 SP3, SLES 11 SP4, OES 2015 and OES 2015 SP1 channels. For more information on mirroring the channels, see Synchronizing with SUSE Customer Center.

    • For SLES 11 SP3 and OES 2015 Channels: Select SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 product and click icon to expand. Again, select Open Enterprise Server 2015.

    • For SLES 11 SP4 and OES 2015 SP1 Channels: Select SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 product and click icon to expand. Again, select Open Enterprise Server 2015 SP1.

  2. (Conditional) If this is the first time the OES channel is mirrored, the following error message is displayed:

    ChannelException: The GPG key for this repository is not part of the keyring.
Please run spacewalk-repo-sync in interactive mode to import it.

    Use the following steps to resolve the issue:

    1. Run the spacewalk-repo-sync -c <any-oes-channel-name> command.

      For example, spacewalk-repo-sync -c oes2015-sp1-pool-x86_64.

    2. When you are prompted to import the keys, import the keys and continue with Step 1

      After the keys are imported, other OES channels are mirrored without any issues.

Creating Activation Keys and Registering Clients

For information on how to create activation keys and register clients, see “Registering Clients” in the SUSE Manager Documentation.

8.9.2 Patching an OES 11 or Later Server Using SUSE Manager

  1. Ensure that you have completed Setting Up SUSE Manager.

  2. Log in to the SUSE Manager Web console (https://<SUSE Manager Server_hostname or IP_address>) with administrative credentials.

  3. Click Systems.

    SUSE Manager lists all the registered OES servers along with the number of patches available for each OES server.

  4. Select the OES server, click Software > Software Channels, then verify that the required channels are selected.

  5. To apply a patch, select the OES server, click Software > Patches, select all the patches, then click Apply patches > Schedule the patch > Confirm.

    The OES server is updated with all the patches.