Novell SLRS 8 - Manual

Red-Paper: POS/Retail Project
SUSE LINUX Retail Solution 8
(SLRS 8)
Admin Guide
F. Balzer, S. Duehr, T. Franke, R. Oertel,
G. Rieger, M. Schaefer, A. Schmidt
SUSE LINUX AG, Nuernberg
May 3, 2006
Revision: 1275

Contents
1 Introduction 7
2 Architectural Overview 9
2.1 Administration Server ....................... 9
2.2 Branch Server ............................ 14
2.3 Cash Register ............................ 16
3 Quick Start Guide 21
3.1 Installation Process ......................... 22
3.2 Installation of the Administration Server ............. 23
3.3 Installation of the Branch Server ................. 31
3.4 Test your SLRS System Environment ............... 38
4 Server Structure 43
4.1 Requirements ............................ 43
4.2 Architecture ............................. 44
4.3 LDAP Structure ........................... 44
4.4 Server Configuration and Server Services ............. 47
4.5 POS Scripts ............................. 48
4.6 Cash Register Images ........................ 50
5 Setting up Administration and Branch Servers 55
5.1 Installation of the Administration Server ............. 55
5.2 Installation of the Branch Server ................. 61
5.3 Installation of the Highly Available Branch Servers ....... 65
6 Server Commands 71
6.1 posInitLdap.sh .......................... 72
6.2 posInitBranchserver.sh ..................... 73
6.3 possyncimages.pl ......................... 74
6.4 posldap2crconfig.pl ....................... 75
6.5 posleases2ldap.pl ........................ 75
6.6 posldap2dns.pl .......................... 76
6.7 posldap2dhcp.pl .......................... 77
6.8 posReadPassword.pl ........................ 77
6.9 poscheckip.pl ........................... 78
3

Contents
7 PosAdmin 79
7.1 Basic Command Line Options ................... 79
7.2 Basic Actions ............................ 80
7.3 Managing Hardware ........................ 92
7.4 Managing Images .......................... 95
8 The imageBuilder 99
8.1 Overview of the POS_Image Packages ............... 99
8.2 Operating System Images .....................101
8.3 Installing imageBuilder .......................101
8.4 Copying the SLRS CDs into a Central Archive ..........102
8.5 Configuring the imageBuilder ...................102
8.6 Prebuilt Standard Images .....................103
9 The Boot Process of a Cash Register System 105
10 The scr tool 107
11 Creating Operating System Images 111
11.1 List All Image Descriptions .....................112
11.2 Creating a Standard Image .....................112
11.3 Creating a New Image Description Tree ..............113
11.4 Extending an Image ........................117
11.5 Manually Extending an Image ...................119
11.6 Configuring an Image .......................120
11.7 Distributing New Images ......................123
12 Preparing a CD-ROM Boot Image 125
12.1 Preparing the CR CD-ROM Boot Image ..............125
12.2 Creating the CD ISO Image ....................128
12.3 Booting the CR CD-ROM Boot Image ...............129
13 Automatic Branch Server Installation 131
13.1 Server Preparation .........................131
13.2 LDAP Data for the Branch Server .................132
13.3 XML Template File .........................133
13.4 Tools .................................134
13.5 Creating the Boot Media ......................135
14 Best Practices 137
14.1 Backup and Restore .........................137
14.2 Access Control ...........................139
15 Advanced Topics 141
15.1 Operating System and Boot Image Details ............141
15.2 Standard Images ..........................142
15.3 Boot Images .............................142
15.4 Naming and Storing Images ....................143
4

Contents
15.5 Creating Images ...........................144
15.6 Booting the Cash Registers .....................146
15.7 Thin Client Adminstration .....................154
16 Troubleshooting 157
16.1 Server Infrastructure ........................157
16.2 Operating ..............................159
A Installation RPM Lists 163
A.1 RPM Lists for Minimal Installations ................163
A.2 RPM Lists for Default Installations ................164
Index 177
5

Contents
6

1 Introduction
The SUSE LINUX Retail Solution 8 (SLRS 8) for Point of Sale (POS) Retail
Systems is based on the SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8 (SLES 8) and pro-
vides a complete SUSE LINUX operating system and management solution
for POS Cash Register Systems (CR). The SLRS architecture was designed to
use a central administration server for deployment and management and a
branch server infrastructure in each branch (office) for preinstall or in-store
deployment.
The administration server provides the following features:
•Central LDAP directory to manage POS terminals and servers
•Global and default parameters and application configuration
•POS Image creation and release management
The branch server provides the following features:
•Software transport for OS and application updates
•Multicast boot infrastructure for POS terminals
•Diskless and diskful POS clients
•AutoYaST installation and online update for server OS
•Option: Two-node high availability cluster with replicated data
Because this document comprises conceptual and user information, the fol-
lowing list of topics is provided for the reader:
•Architectural Overview — Chapter 2:The purpose of this chapter is
to provide an overview of the concept of the SLRS and the interaction of
the several components.
•Quick Start Guide — Chapter 3:Best point to start with the SLRS.
•All about Servers — Chapters 4,6, and 7:The topics of these chap-
ters are the server structure, the SLRS LDAP directory service, the POS-
related server commands, and the PosAdmin commands for manipulat-
ing the LDAP directory entries.
7

1 Introduction
•Building and Maintaining POS Images — Chapters 8,10,11 and
12 These chapters summarize all information about how to build and
distribute custom POS images.
•Autobuild Branch Server — Chapter 13:Description for SLRS experts
of how to prepare a CD boot media for automatic branch server installa-
tion.
•Maintaining SLRS — A View Inside SLRS — Chapters 14 and 15:
Further expert information for sysadmins can be found in these chapters.
8

2 Architectural Overview
Contents
2.1 Administration Server ..................... 9
2.1.1 LDAP Directory ..................... 11
2.1.2 Tools ........................... 11
2.2 Branch Server ......................... 14
2.2.1 Functionality ...................... 14
2.2.2 Operating System .................... 14
2.2.3 Administration ..................... 15
2.2.4 Clustering ........................ 15
2.2.5 Accessing the POS Terminals ............. 15
2.3 Cash Register .......................... 16
2.3.1 Requirements ...................... 16
2.3.2 Operating System .................... 16
2.3.3 SLRS Boot System ................... 17
2.3.4 Boot Process ...................... 18
2.3.5 Graphical Display Configuration ............ 19
2.3.6 Hard Disk Installation ................. 19
2.3.7 CD Boot Installation .................. 19
The SLRS provides a system platform for the cash registers and in-store servers,
a scalable deployment infrastructure, and a centralized management system.
The CRs are implemented in a variety of hardware forms, with the main differ-
ence being whether they are equipped with hard drives (diskless vs. diskful).
Figure 2.1 describes the system architecture: one centralized administration
server (AS) controls a large number of branch servers (BS), which in turn pro-
vide the local infrastructure for the cash register point of sales (POS) systems.
All servers are intended to be set up as highly available two-node failover
cluster systems.
2.1 Administration Server
All system management for BS and POS systems (CR) is done on the central
administration server (AS). It provides the following services:
9

2 Architectural Overview
100 MBit Ethernet
Cash Register (CR)
Administrator
Admin Server (AS)
Branch Server (BS)
WAN
100 MBit Ethernet
AS
BS
BS
BS
Router
Router Switch
Figure 2.1: System Architecture of the SUSE LINUX POS/Retail Solution
10