Managing SUSE Content

You can use the SCC Manager plug-in to comfortably manage content from SUSE using your orcharhino.

Running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on managed hosts requires a subscription from SUSE. Ensure to provide valid licenses for all used SUSE products. Using insufficient, invalid, or otherwise inadequate licenses might violate your terms with SUSE.

We recommend using the SCC Manager plugin to import available products from SUSE to orcharhino. Navigate to Content > SUSE Subscriptions to see available and consumed SUSE subscriptions.

Preparing SUSE Installation Media

Extract the SUSE installation medium on your orcharhino Server to perform offline installations. This example prepares the installation medium for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3.

Procedure

  1. Download the SLES 15 SP3 installation medium from suse.com/download/sles.

  2. Download the signature and checksum from suse.com.

  3. Transfer the .iso image, the signature, and the checksum from your local machine to orcharhino Server using scp:

    # scp SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso root@orcharhino.example.com:/tmp/
# scp SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso.sha256 root@orcharhino.example.com:/tmp/
# scp sles_15_sp3.signature root@orcharhino.example.com:/tmp/

  4. On your orcharhino Server, verify the integrity and authenticity of the .iso image using GPG public keys:

    # cd /tmp
# gpg --verify sles_15_sp3.signature SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso.sha256
# echo '2a6259fc849fef6ce6701b8505f64f89de0d2882857def1c9e4379d26e74fa56 SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso' | sha256sum --check

  5. Mount the .iso image:

    # mount SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso /mnt

  6. Copy the content of the mounted installation medium to the pub directory:

    # mkdir -p /var/www/html/pub/installation_media/sles/15sp3
# cp -a /mnt/* /var/www/html/pub/installation_media/sles/15sp3/

  7. Unmount and delete the .iso image:

    # cd
# umount /mnt
# rm -f /tmp/SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso
# rm -f /tmp/SLE-15-SP3-Full-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso.sha256
# rm -f /tmp/sles_15_sp3.signature

Use the path to the local installation media files when creating an installation medium, for example http://orcharhino.example.com/pub/installation_media/sles/15sp3/.

Creating a SUSE Operating System

Create an installation media and operating system entry for SLES 15 SP3.

Prerequisite

  • An extracted .iso image on orcharhino or an HTTP server that can be reached during the host provisioning process.

Procedure

  1. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Hosts > Installation Media and click Create Medium.

  2. Set a Name for the installation medium for SLES 15 SP3. Add local to the name because the path of the extracted .iso image points to your orcharhino.

  3. Set the Path of the extracted .iso image. The content of /var/www/html/pub/ is publicly available on http://orcharhino.example.com/pub/. If you extract the .iso image to /var/www/html/pub/installation_media/sles/15sp3/, the path is http://orcharhino.example.com/pub/installation_media/sles/15sp3/.

  4. Set the Operating System Family to SUSE for all SLES systems.

  5. Set a location and organization context for the installation media.

  6. On the Parameters tab, add the sle-module-basesystem-url parameter, select the string type, and enter the value http://orcharhino.example.com/pub/installation_media/sles/15sp3/. Note that the value depends on the path of the extracted .iso image.

    Add the or_client_repo_url parameter, select the string type, and enter the value http://orcharhino.example.com/pulp/repos/My_Organization/Library/custom/SLES_Client/SLES_Client_15SP3/.

    (SLES 12 only) Add the parameter additional_media, select the string type, and enter the value "".

  7. Click Submit to save the installation media entry for SLES 15 SP3.

  8. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Hosts > Operating Systems and click Create Operating System.

  9. Set the Name of the operating system. Choose a name as reported by Ansible, Puppet, or Salt as fact.

  10. Set the Major Version of SLES, for example 15.

  11. Set the Minor Version of SLES, for example 3 for SLES 15 SP3.

  12. Optional: Add an arbitrary Description.

  13. Set the Family to SUSE for all SLES systems.

  14. Set the Root Password Hash to SHA256 for SLES 15 SP3.

  15. Assign the Architectures to SLES 15 SP3.

  16. Click Submit to save the operating system entry.

  17. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Hosts > Partition Tables and click Create Partition Table. The partition tables are stored in the /usr/share/foreman/app/views/unattended/partition_tables_templates/ directory on your orcharhino Server.

    For more information, see Partition Tables in Provisioning Hosts.

  18. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Hosts > Provisioning Templates and click Create Template. The provisioning templates are stored in the /usr/share/foreman/app/views/unattended/provisioning_templates/ directory on your orcharhino Server.

    For more information, see Provisioning Templates in Provisioning Hosts.

  19. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Hosts > Operating Systems.

  20. Select the previously created operating system.

  21. On the Partition Table tab, select the previously created partition table.

  22. On the Templates tab, select the previously created provisioning template.

  23. Click Submit to save the operating system entry.

Installing the SCC Manager Plug-in

Perform the following steps to install the SCC Manager plug-in on your orcharhino.

Procedure

  1. Connect to your orcharhino Server using SSH:

    # ssh root@orcharhino.example.com

  2. Install the SCC Manager plug-in on your orcharhino:

    # dnf install rubygem-foreman_scc_manager

  3. Run database migrations on your orcharhino:

    # foreman-rake db:migrate
# foreman-rake db:seed

  4. Restart orcharhino services:

    # orcharhino-maintain service restart

Continue with adding your SCC account to orcharhino.

Adding an SCC Account to orcharhino

Prerequisite
Procedure

  1. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > Content Credentials and click Create Content Credential.

    Add the GPG public key for SLES 15 SP3 from suse.com.

  2. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > SUSE Subscriptions.

  3. Click Add SCC Account.

  4. Enter your account name and password.

  5. Optional: Set a Sync interval to periodically update the SCC authentication tokens. Note that this does not refer to synchronizing content to orcharhino.

  6. Assign a GPG key for SUSE products to the SCC products. zypper automatically verifies the signatures of each software package to ensure their authenticity.

    You can also set the GPG public key for SUSE repositories at a later stage. However, changing it does not affect already synchronized products. If you already have synchronized products in orcharhino, navigate to Content > Products and replace the GPG key in each respective product.

  7. Click Test connection to verify your account information. Note that you have to re-enter your password if you have already saved your SCC account to orcharhino.

  8. Click Submit to save your SCC account to orcharhino.

  9. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > SUSE Subscriptions, select your SCC account, and click Sync to fetch a list of products associated to your SCC account.

Continue with importing products from your SCC account.

Switching SCC Accounts

You can switch your SCC account by changing the SCC credentials saved on orcharhino.

The SCC Manager plug-in does not support multiple SCC accounts.

If you want to switch your SCC account and retain the synchronized content, do not immediately delete your old SCC account, even if it is expired. If you delete your old SCC account, you cannot reuse existing repositories, products, Content Views, and composite Content Views.
Procedure

  1. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > SUSE Subscriptions.

  2. Select your SCC account.

  3. Enter a new Login and Password.

  4. Click Submit to change your SCC account.

Your new SCC account reuses existing products and repositories from SUSE. Content that is no longer available for your new SCC account cannot be synchronized anymore.

Importing SUSE Products

Prerequisites
Procedure

  1. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > SUSE Subscriptions.

  2. Click Select products on your previously synchronized SCC account.

  3. Select all SUSE products you want to synchronize to orcharhino. This guide assumes you have access to and select the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 x86_64 product.

  4. Click Submit to create the selected SUSE products in orcharhino.

Continue with synchronizing SUSE products.

Synchronizing SUSE Content

You can use orcharhino to synchronize SUSE content to deploy, attach, and serve content to managed hosts.

Procedure

  1. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > Products.

  2. Select the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 x86_64 product and click Sync Now to synchronize the SUSE repositories for SLES 15 SP3 to orcharhino.

  3. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > Content Views.

  4. Create a Content View called SLES 15 SP3 comprising the SLES repositories created in the SLES 15 SP3 product and a Content View called SLES 15 SP3 orcharhino client comprising the orcharhino client repository created in the SLES 15 SP3 orcharhino client product.

    For more information, see creating a Content View.

  5. Publish a new version of both Content Views.

    For more information, see promoting a Content View.

  6. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > Content Views.

  7. Click Create Content View to create a Composite Content View called Composite SLES 15 SP3 comprising the previously published SLES 15 SP3 Content View, the SLES 15 SP3 orcharhino client Content View, and optionally further Content Views of your choice, for example a Content View containing Puppet. For more information, see the ATIX Service Portal for the necessary upstream URL. For more information, see creating a Composite Content View.

  8. Publish a new version and promote this version to the Life Cycle Environment of your choice.

  9. In the orcharhino management UI, navigate to Content > Activation Keys.

  10. Click Create Activation Key to create an Activation Key called sles-15-sp3.

    For more information, see creating an Activation Key.

  11. On the Details tab, select a Life Cycle Environment and Composite Content View.

  12. On the Subscriptions tab, select the necessary subscriptions, for example SLES 15 SP3, SLES 15 SP3 orcharhino client, and Puppet.

You can now create a Host Group and assign the previously created Activation Key to it to deploy hosts running SLES 15 SP3 more comfortably.

Enabling Kernel Live Patching

You can enable Kernel Live Patching using KLP for managed hosts running SLES 15 SP3 to allow for Linux Kernel updates without reboots.

Prerequisites

  • Synchronized content for SLES 15 SP3

  • Access to the SUSE product SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 x86_64

Procedure

  1. Navigate to Content > SUSE Subscriptions and click Select products. Select the SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 x86_64 product.

  2. Navigate to Content > Products, select the previously added product, and click Sync Selected.

  3. Once synchronized, navigate to Content > Content Views and add the repositories of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 x86_64 product to your SLES 15 SP3 content view.

  4. Navigate to Content > Content Views and select the SLES 15 SP3 content view. Publish a new version of the selected content view.

  5. Navigate to Content > Activation Keys and select the previously created sles-15-sp3 activation key. On the Subscriptions tab, select the repositories of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 x86_64 product.

  6. Connect to your managed host running SLES 15 SP3:

    # ssh root@my-host.example.com

  7. Update the available content on your managed hosts:

    # subscription-manager refresh

  8. Install the required package:

    # zypper install kernel-livepatch-tools

  9. Reboot your managed host:

    # reboot now

You can now update the Linux Kernel without rebooting your managed host.

Installing KLP Patches

After you have enabled Kernel Live Patching, you can install KLP patches to update the Linux Kernel without rebooting your managed host.

Prerequisite

  • Kernel Live Patching is enabled on your managed host running SLES 15 SP3

Procedure

  1. Connect to your managed host running SLES 15 SP3:

    # ssh root@my-host.example.com

  2. Search for available Kernel live patches:

    # zypper search kernel-livepatch

  3. Install a KLP patch:

    # zypper install kernel-livepatch-5_3_18-59_5-default

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