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

set mirroring credentials using YaST, see Section 2.2, “Setting NU Creden-
tials with YaST” (page 8).
3Click Finish to apply the changes and leave YaST SMT Conguration module.
To deactivate SMT service using YaST, follow these steps:
1Open the Customer Center Access tab of the YaST SMT Conguration module.
2Uncheck the Enable Subscription Management Tool service (SMT) option.
3Click Finish to apply the changes and leave YaST SMT Conguration module.
When activating SMT, the following important operations are performed by YaST:
• The Apache conguration is changed by creating symbolic links in the /etc/
apache2/conf.d/ directory. Links to the /etc/smt.d/nu_server.conf
and /etc/smt.d/smt_mod_perl.conf les are created there.
• The Apache Web server is started or reloaded if already running.
• The MySQL server is started or reloaded if already running. If it does not exist,
smt user and necessary tables in the database are created.
• The schema of the SMT database is checked. If the database schema is obsolete,
the SMT database is upgraded to conform to the current schema.
• Cron is adjusted by creating a symbolic link in the /etc/cron.d/ directory. A
link to the /etc/smt.d/novell.com-smt le is created there.
When deactivating SMT, the following important operations are performed by YaST:
• Symbolic links created upon SMT activation in the /etc/apache2/conf.d/
and /etc/cron.d/ directories are deleted.
• The Cron, Apache Web and MySQL servers are reloaded. Neither Apache nor
MySQL are stopped, because they may be used for other purposes than the SMT
service.
Conguring SMT Using YaST 7

2.2 Setting NU Credentials with YaST
YaST provides a comfortable interface to set and test NU credentials and the URL of
the NU service. To do so, follow these steps:
Figure 2.1 Setting NU Credentials with YaST
1Open the Customer Center Access tab of the YaST SMT Conguration module.
If the credentials have been already set using YaST or the /etc/smt.conf
conguration le, they appear in the dialog. Otherwise, the NU User and NU
Password elds are blank.
2If you do not have your credentials, visit Novell Customer Center to obtain them.
For more information, see Section 3.1, “Getting Mirror Credentials” (page 13).
3Enter your NU username in NU User and the corresponding password in NU
Password.
4Press Test to check the credentials. YaST will try to download a list of available
repositories using the provided credentials. If the test succeeded, the last line of
8Subscription Management Tool Guide

the test results will read Test result: success. If the test fails, check the
provided credentials and try again.
Figure 2.2 Succesful Test of NU Credentials
5Enter the NCC E-mail Used for Registration. This should be the address you
used to register to Novell Customer Center.
Enter Your SMT Server URL if it has not been detected automatically.
6Press Finish or continue with other congurations.
2.3 Setting SMT Database Password
with YaST
For security reasons, SMT uses its own user in the database. YaST provides a comfort-
able interface for setting up or changing the SMT database password. To set or change
the SMT database password using YaST follow these steps:
1Open the Database and Reporting tab of the YaST SMT module.
2Enter the SMT Database Password for smt User. Conrm the password by
reentering it and press Finish or continue with other congurations.
Conguring SMT Using YaST 9

2.4 Setting E-mail Addresses to
Receive Reports with YaST
YaST SMT Conguration module provides a comfortable interface for setting up a list
of e-mail addresses SMT reports will be sent to. To edit the list of addresses to receive
the reports, follow these steps:
1Open the Database and Reporting tab of the YaST SMT Conguration module.
2The list of e-mail addresses to send reports to is shown in the table. You can Add,
Edit, or Delete addresses using the respective buttons.
3Press Finish or continue with other congurations.
The comma separated list of adresses SMT reports should be sent to is written to the
reportEmail option of the /etc/smt.conf conguration le.
2.5 Setting the SMT Job Schedule with
YaST
The YaST SMT Conguration module provides a comfortable interface to schedule
periodical SMT jobs. YaST uses cron to schedule congured jobs. If needed, cron
can be used directly. Three types of periodical jobs can be set:
Synchronization of Updates
Synchronizes with Novell Customer Center, updates catalogs, and downloads new
updates.
Report Generation
Generates and sends SMT reports to addresses dened in Section 2.4, “Setting E-
mail Addresses to Receive Reports with YaST” (page 10).
NCC Registration
Registers all clients to Novell Customer Center that are not already registered or
that changed their data since the last registration.
10 Subscription Management Tool Guide

Figure 2.3 Setting SMT Job Schedule with YaST
To congure the schedule of SMT jobs using YaST, follow these steps:
1Open the Scheduled SMT Jobs tab of the YaST SMT Conguration module. The
table contains a list of all scheduled jobs, their type, frequency, date, and time
to run. You can add, delete or edit these scheduled events.
2If you want to add a scheduled SMT job, press Add. The Adding New SMT
Scheduled Job dialog opens.
Choose the synchronization job to schedule. You can choose between Synchro-
nization of Updates,Report Generation, and NCC Registration.
Choose the Frequency of the new scheduled SMT job. Jobs can be performed
Daily,Weekly,Monthly, or Periodically (every n-th hour or every m-th minute).
Set the Job Start Time by entering Hour and Minute. In case of periodical fre-
quency, enter the respective periods. For weekly and monthly schedules, select
Day of the Week or Day of the Month.
Press Add.
3If you want to edit a scheduled SMT job, for example, change its frequency,
time, or date, select the job in the table and press Edit. Then change any parame-
ters as if you were creating a new schedule and press OK.
Conguring SMT Using YaST 11

4If you want to cancel a scheduled job and delete it from the table, select the job
in the table and press Delete.
5Press Finish to apply the settings and quit the YaST SMT Conguration module
or continue with other congurations.
12 Subscription Management Tool Guide

3
Mirroring Installation and
Update Sources Using SMT
SMT provides the possibility to mirror installation and update sources locally and to
bypass per-machine downloads and the bandwidth charges that go with it.
3.1 Getting Mirror Credentials
Before creating local mirrors of the repositories, you need to have proper mirror creden-
tials. You can get these credentials from the Novell Customer Center by following these
steps:
1Visit Novell Customer Center at http://www.novell.com/center and
log in.
2Click on My Products. The list of product families is shown.
3Expand any product family by clicking on its name. You can also expand all
product families by clicking on the icon showing the arrow with two converse
arrowheads (with the Expand All Product Families tooltip). Products in the ex-
panded families are shown.
4Double click on any specic product in the list to show detailed information
about the product.
5In the Downloads section, click on the Mirror Credentials link.
Mirroring Installation and Update Sources Using SMT 13

6The credentials and mirror sites will be listed. These values are the same for all
users and subscriptions for a specic company.
Figure 3.1 NU Credentials in Novell Customer Center
The obtained credentials should be set in the YaST SMT module or manually written
in the /etc/smt.conf le. For more information about conguring NU credentials
using YaST, see Chapter 2, Conguring SMT Using YaST (page 5). For more infor-
mation about the /etc/smt.conf le, see Section 6.2.1, “/etc/smt.conf” (page 37)
3.2 Managing Software Catalogs with
SMT
This section describes tools and procedures for viewing information about software
catalogs available through SMT, conguring these catalogs and setting new custom
catalogs.
14 Subscription Management Tool Guide

3.2.1 Updating the local SMT database
The local SMT database needs to be updated periodically with the information down-
loaded from Novell Customer Center. These periodical updates can be congured with
YaST SMT Conguration module, as described in Section 2.5, “Setting the SMT Job
Schedule with YaST” (page 10).
To update the SMT database manually, use the smt-ncc-sync command. For more
information about the smt-ncc-sync command, see Section “smt-ncc-sync”
(page 33).
3.2.2 Enabled Catalogs and Catalogs that
Can Be Mirrored
The database installed with SMT contains information about all software catalogs
available on Novell Customer Center. However, the used mirror credentials determine
which catalogs can really be mirrored. For more information about getting and setting
mirror credentials, see Section 3.1, “Getting Mirror Credentials” (page 13).
The mirrorability of catalogs is determined by fetching https://nu.novell.com/
repo/repoindex.xml using the provided mirror credentials. Catalogs that can be
mirrored have the MIRRORABLE ag set in the catalogs table in the SMT database.
The fact that a catalog can be mirrored does not mean that it has to be mirrored. Only
catalogs with the DOMIRROR ag set in the SMT database will be mirrored. For more
information about setting which catalogs should be mirrored, see Section 3.2.4, “Select-
ing Catalogs to be Mirrored” (page 16).
3.2.3 Getting Information About Catalogs
Use the smt-catalogs command to list available software catalogs and additional
information. Using this command without any options lists all available catalogs, in-
cluding catalogs that cannot be mirrored. In the rst column, the enabled catalogs
(catalogs set to be mirrored) are marked with Yes. Disabled catalogs are marked with
No. The other columns show ID, type, name, target, and description of the listed catalogs.
The last column shows whether the catalog can be mirrored.
Mirroring Installation and Update Sources Using SMT 15

Use the -verbose option, to get additional information as the source URL of the
catalog and the path it will be mirrored to.
The catalog listing can be limited to only catalogs that can be mirrored or to enabled
catalogs. To list only catalogs that can be mirrored, use the -m or
--only-mirrorable option: smt-catalogs -m.
To list only enabled catalogs, use the -o or --only-enabled option:
smt-catalogs -o.
Example 3.1 Listing All Enabled Catalogs
tux:~ # smt-catalogs -o
.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Mirror? | ID | Type | Name | Target | Description | Can be Mirrored |
+---------+----+------+--------------------+----------------+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Yes | 6 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Online | sles-10-i586 | SLES10-SP2-Online for sles-10-i586 | Yes |
| Yes | 7 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Online | sles-10-ia64 | SLES10-SP2-Online for sles-10-ia64 | Yes |
| Yes | 8 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Online | sles-10-ppc | SLES10-SP2-Online for sles-10-ppc | Yes |
| Yes | 9 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Online | sles-10-s390x | SLES10-SP2-Online for sles-10-s390x | Yes |
| Yes | 10 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Online | sles-10-x86_64 | SLES10-SP2-Online for sles-10-x86_64 | Yes |
| Yes | 11 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Updates | sles-10-i586 | SLES10-SP2-Updates for sles-10-i586 | Yes |
| Yes | 12 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Updates | sles-10-ia64 | SLES10-SP2-Updates for sles-10-ia64 | Yes |
| Yes | 13 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Updates | sles-10-ppc | SLES10-SP2-Updates for sles-10-ppc | Yes |
| Yes | 14 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Updates | sles-10-s390x | SLES10-SP2-Updates for sles-10-s390x | Yes |
| Yes | 15 | nu | SLES10-SP2-Updates | sles-10-x86_64 | SLES10-SP2-Updates for sles-10-x86_64 | Yes |
'---------+----+------+--------------------+----------------+---------------------------------------+-----------------'
It is also possible to list only catalogs with a particular name or to show information
about a catalog with a particular name and target. To list catalogs with a particular
name, use the smt-catalogs catalog_name command. To show information
about a catalog with a particular name and target, use the smt-catalogs
catalog_name target command.
3.2.4 Selecting Catalogs to be Mirrored
Only enabled catalogs can be mirrored. In the database, the enabled catalogs have the
DOMIRROR ag set. Catalogs can be enabled or disabled using the smt-catalogs
script.
To enable one or more catalogs, follow these steps:
1If you want to enable all catalogs that can be mirrored or just choose one catalog
from the list of all catalogs, run the smt-catalogs -e command.
You are able to limit the list of catalogs by using the respective options. To limit
the list to only catalogs that can be mirrored, use the -m option: smt-catalogs
16 Subscription Management Tool Guide