Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 10 SP2 User manual

SUSE Linux Enterprise
www.novell.com10 SP2
September23,2008 Subscription Management Tool Guide

Subscription Management Tool Guide
List of Authors: Jakub Friedl
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Contents
1SMT Installation 1
1.1 Installation During the Initial Installation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Installation On Top of an Already Installed System . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 SMT Conguration Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2Conguring SMT Using YaST 5
2.1 Activating and Deactivating SMT with YaST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Setting NU Credentials with YaST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Setting SMT Database Password with YaST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 Setting E-mail Addresses to Receive Reports with YaST . . . . . . . . . 10
2.5 Setting the SMT Job Schedule with YaST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3Mirroring Installation and Update Sources Using SMT 13
3.1 Getting Mirror Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2 Managing Software Catalogs with SMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 The /srv/www/htdocs Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4 Using Test Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4Managing Client Machines With SMT 21
4.1 Listing Registered Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2 Deleting Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.3 Manual Registration of Clients at Novell Customer Center . . . . . . . . 22
4.4 Scheduling Periodic Registrations of Clients at Novell Customer Center . . 22
5SMT Reports 25
5.1 Report Schedule and Recipients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.2 Types of SMT Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.3 Report Output Formats and Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

6SMT Tools and Conguration Files 29
6.1 Important Scripts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6.2 SMT Conguration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.3 ServerCerticates......................... 44
7Conguring Clients to Use SMT 49
7.1 Using Kernel Parameters to Access an SMT Server . . . . . . . . . . . 50
7.2 Conguring Clients Using AutoYaST Prole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7.3 Conguring Clients Using the clientSetup4SMT.sh Script . . . . . . . . . 52
7.4 Registering Clients Against SMT Test Environment . . . . . . . . . . . 53

1
SMT Installation
SMT is distributed as an add-on product for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2
system. To install it, install the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2 base system.
You can choose to install the SMT add-on together with your base system during the
initial installation process, or you can install the SMT add-on on top of an already in-
stalled base system at any later time.
1.1 Installation During the Initial
Installation Process
To install SMT add-on together with your base system during the initial installation
process, follow these steps:
1Start SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2 installation as usual. For more infor-
mation, see the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server documentation.
2To include the SMT add-on product, check the Include Add-On Products from
Separate Media option in the Installation Mode dialog in the System Analysis
step and click Next.
3In the next dialog, click Add and, if you are installing SMT from a CD medium,
select CD as the source type. If you are installing from a different source, such
as NFS or HTTP, choose the appropriate source type. Click Next.
SMT Installation 1

4If you are installing from CD, insert the SMT add-on product CD. If you are in-
stalling from a different source, provide the necessary source. Click Continue.
5Conrm the SMT license agreement and click Next.
6The SMT add-on product is displayed in the overview. Continue with the instal-
lation as usual. Make sure, that the SMT: Subscription Management Tool for SLE
installation pattern is selected automatically and do not remove it.
7A two-step SMT Conguration Wizard is shown during the nal steps of the in-
stallation workow. Congure SMT as described in Section 1.3, “SMT Congu-
ration Wizard” (page 3) and continue with the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
installation as usual.
1.2 Installation On Top of an Already
Installed System
To install SMT on top of an already installed base system, follow these steps:
1Start YaST and select Software >Add-On Product.
2If you are installing SMT from a CD medium, select CD as the source type. If
you are installing from a different source, such as NFS or HTTP, choose the ap-
propriate source type. Click Next.
3If you are installing from CD, insert the SMT add-on product CD. If you are in-
stalling from a different source, provide the necessary source. Click Continue.
4Conrm the SMT license agreement and click Next.
5Click Accept to install the SMT: Subscription Management Tool for SLE pattern.
6The SMT Conguration Wizard is launched. See Section 1.3, “SMT Conguration
Wizard” (page 3).
2Subscription Management Tool Guide

1.3 SMT Conguration Wizard
During the installation of SMT the two-step SMT Conguration Wizard is launched,
irrespective of the used installation method. Congure SMT using this wizard. However,
you will be able to change the conguration later using the YaST SMT Conguration
module.
1The Enable Subscription Management Tool service (SMT) option is checked by
default. Uncheck it only if you want to disable the installed SMT.
If the rewall is enabled, check Open Port in Firewall to allow access to the
SMT service from remote computers.
Enter your Novell Customer Center mirroring credentials in NU User and NU
Password. NU stands for Novell Update. If you do not know your Novell Cus-
tomer Center credentials, refer to Section 3.1, “Getting Mirror Credentials”
(page 13). Test the entered credentials by pressing the Test button. SMT will
connect to the Customer Center server using the provided credentials and
download some testing data.
Enter the e-mail address you have used for the Novell Customer Center registra-
tion into NCC E-mail Used for Registration.
Your SMT Server URL should contain the URL of the SMT server being cong-
ured. It is lled in automatically.
Press Next to continue to the second conguration step.
2For security reasons, SMT uses a special user in the database. Set the SMT
Database Password in the respective elds. The password should not be empty.
Enter all e-mail addresses SMT should send reports to using the Add button. You
are also able to Edit or Delete any incorrect or needless addresses.
Press Next.
3If the current MySQL root password is empty—as in any freshly installed sys-
tem— you will be asked to enter a New MySQL Root Password.
SMT Installation 3

2
Conguring SMT Using YaST
SMT can be activated and congured using a graphical interface. A special YaST
module has been created for this purpose. The YaST SMT Conguration module can
be used to congure mirroring credentials, SMT database passwords and e-mail address-
es to send SMT reports to, or to set the SMT job schedule, and activate or deactivate
the SMT service.
To congure SMT using the YaST SMT Conguration module, follow these steps:
1To start YaST SMT module with text (ncurses) interface, run the yast smt
command as root.
To start the YaST SMT module with graphical interface, run yast2 smt as
root or open YaST Control Center and select SMT Conguration in the Network
Services section.
2To activate SMT, check the Enable Subscription Management Tool Service
(SMT) option in the Customer Center Access tab. If you want to disable SMT,
uncheck this option. For more information about activating SMT using YaST,
see Section 2.1, “Activating and Deactivating SMT with YaST” (page 6)
3In the Customer Center Access tab, set and test credentials for the NU (Novell
Update) service. Correct credentials are necessary to enable mirroring from NU
and determine the products that should be mirrored. Also set the e-mail address
used for the registration and the URL of your SMT server. For more information,
see Section 2.2, “Setting NU Credentials with YaST” (page 8).
Conguring SMT Using YaST 5

4In the Database and Reporting tab, set the password for the SMT user in the
MySQL database and enter the e-mail addresses where reports should be sent to.
For more information, see Section 2.3, “Setting SMT Database Password with
YaST” (page 9) and Section 2.4, “Setting E-mail Addresses to Receive Reports
with YaST” (page 10).
5In the Scheduled SMT Jobs tab, set a schedule of periodic SMT jobs, such as
synchronization of updates, Novell Customer Center registration, or SMT report
generation. For more information, see Section 2.5, “Setting the SMT Job
Schedule with YaST” (page 10).
6If satised with the conguration, click Finish. YaST adjusts the SMT congu-
ration and starts or restarts necessary services.
If you want to abort the conguration and cancel any changes, click Abort.
NOTE
When the YaST SMT module applies conguration changes, it checks for
the existence of the common server certicate. If the certicate does
not exist, you will be asked whether the certicate should be created
and the YaST CA Management module will be started, if you approve.
2.1 Activating and Deactivating SMT
with YaST
YaST provides an easy way to activate or deactivate the SMT service. To activate SMT
service using YaST, follow these steps:
1Open the Customer Center Access tab of the YaST SMT Conguration module.
2Check the Enable Subscription Management Tool service (SMT) option.
NOTE
Note that if not already congured, mirroring credentials should be
congured before activating SMT. For more information about how to
6Subscription Management Tool Guide