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Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE 10 SP2 - SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT TOOL GUIDE Manual

Subscription management tool guide
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SUSE Linux Enterprise
10 SP2
www.novell.com
Subscription Management Tool Guide
September 23, 2008

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Summary of Contents for Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE 10 SP2 - SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT TOOL GUIDE

  • Page 1 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2 www.novell.com Subscription Management Tool Guide September 23, 2008...
  • Page 2 The express authorization of Novell, Inc must be obtained prior to any other use of any manual or part thereof. For Novell trademarks, see the Novell Trademark and Service Mark list http://www.novell...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Deleting Registrations ..... . . Manual Registration of Clients at Novell Customer Center ..
  • Page 4 6 SMT Tools and Configuration Files Important Scripts and Tools ....SMT Configuration Files ..... . Server Certificates .

  • Page 5: Smt Installation

    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.

  • Page 6: Installation On Top Of An Already Installed System

    4 If 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. 5 Confirm the SMT license agreement and click Next. 6 The SMT add-on product is displayed in the overview. Continue with the instal- lation as usual.

  • Page 7: Smt Configuration Wizard

    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 9: Configuring Smt Using Yast

    Section 2.1, “Activating and Deactivating SMT with YaST” (page 6) 3 In 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.

  • Page 10: Activating And Deactivating Smt With Yast

    YaST” (page 10). 5 In 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 11 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 file is created there. When deactivating SMT, the following important operations are performed by YaST: •...

  • Page 12: Setting Nu Credentials With Yast

    Otherwise, the NU User and NU Password fields are blank. 2 If 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: Setting Smt Database Password With Yast

    Figure 2.2 Succesful Test of NU Credentials 5 Enter 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.

  • Page 14: Setting E-Mail Addresses To Receive Reports With Yast

    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. Subscription Management Tool Guide...
  • Page 15 Figure 2.3 Setting SMT Job Schedule with YaST To configure the schedule of SMT jobs using YaST, follow these steps: 1 Open the Scheduled SMT Jobs tab of the YaST SMT Configuration module. The table contains a list of all scheduled jobs, their type, frequency, date, and time to run.
  • Page 16 4 If you want to cancel a scheduled job and delete it from the table, select the job in the table and press Delete. 5 Press Finish to apply the settings and quit the YaST SMT Configuration module or continue with other configurations. Subscription Management Tool Guide...

  • Page 17: Mirroring Installation And Update Sources Using Smt

    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: 1 Visit Novell Customer Center at http://www.novell.com/center...

  • Page 18: Managing Software Catalogs With Smt

    6 The credentials and mirror sites will be listed. These values are the same for all users and subscriptions for a specific 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 file.
  • Page 19 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 configured with YaST SMT Configuration module, as described in Section 2.5, “Setting the SMT Job Schedule with YaST”...
  • Page 20 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.
  • Page 21 -m -e. To limit the list to only catalogs with a particular name, use the smt-catalogs -e catalog_name command. To list only a catalog with a particular name and target, use the command smt-catalogs -e catalog_name target. If you want to enable all catalogs belonging to a certain product, use the --enable-by-prod or -p option followed by the name of the product and, optionally, its version, architecture, and release: smt-catalogs -p product[, version[, architecture[, release]]] .
  • Page 22 3.2.5 Mirroring Custom Catalogs It is possible to mirror catalogs that are not available at the Novell Customer Center —custom catalogs— using SMT. Use the smt-setup-custom-catalogs script for this purpose. Custom catalogs can also be deleted. To set up a custom catalog to be available through SMT, follow these steps: 1 If you do not know the ID of the product the new catalogs should belong to, use smt-list-products to get the ID.

  • Page 23: The /Srv/Www/Htdocs Structure

    For mirroring old style update repositories which were used for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 and similar products, use a special command: smt-mirror-sle9. This script mirrors from the https://you.novell.com server. The smt-mirror-sle9 script does not store information about sources to be mirrored in the SMT database.

  • Page 24: Using Test Environment

    The links can be created using the ln -s command, for example: ln -s '/MirrorTo/repo/$RCE/' '/srv/www/htdocs/repo/$RCE' 3.4 Using Test Environment It is possible to mirror catalogs to a test environment instead of mirroring them the production environment. The test environment can be used with a limited number of client machines before the tested catalogs are moved to the production environment.

  • Page 25: Managing Client Machines With Smt

    Managing Client Machines With SMT SMT provides the possibility to register client machines on Novell Customer Center. Client machines must be configured to be able to use SMT. For information about configuring clients to be able to use SMT, see Chapter 7, Configuring Clients to Use (page 49).

  • Page 26: Manual Registration Of Clients At Novell Customer Center

    4.3 Manual Registration of Clients at Novell Customer Center The smt-register command registers clients at Novell Customer Center. All clients that are currently not registered or whose data has changed since the last registration are registered. To register clients whose registration has failed, use the --reseterror option. This option resets the NCC registration error flag and tries to submit failed registrations again.
  • Page 27 Section 2.5, “Setting the SMT Job Schedule with YaST” (page 10) YaST uses cron to schedule Novell Customer Center registrations and other SMT jobs. If you do not want to use YaST, you can use cron directly. To disable automatic registration, change the forwardRegistration value in the [LOCAL] section of the /etc/smt.conf configuration file to false.

  • Page 29: Smt Reports

    SMT Reports SMT provides the possibility to generate reports based on SMT and Novell Customer Center data. Generated reports contain statistics of the registered machines and products used and of the active, expiring, or missing subscriptions. If the number of registered machines and products exceeds the number of available subscriptions, warnings are given.

  • Page 30: Types Of Smt Reports

    If neither --local nor --ncc is used, the type of report is determined by the forwardRegistration in the /etc/smt.conf configuration file. If the option is set to true, the report is based on Novell Customer Center data. If it is set to false, the report is based on local SMT data.
  • Page 31 --quiet or -q Suppress output to STDOUT and run smt-report in quiet mode. --file or -F Export report to one or several files. By default, the report will be written to a single file rendered as tables. Optionally, the filename or whole path may be specified after the parameter: --file filename.
  • Page 32 If you have disabled CSV attachments but need them occasionally, you can send them manually with the smt-report --mail --attach -L /var/log/smt-report.log command. Subscription Management Tool Guide...

  • Page 33: Smt Tools And Configuration Files

    SMT Tools and Configuration Files This chapter describes the most important scripts and configuration files shipped with SMT. 6.1 Important Scripts and Tools There are two important groups of SMT commands: The smt command with its sub- commands is used for managing mirroring of updates, registration of clients, and report- ing.
  • Page 34 • smt-list-registrations • smt-mirror • smt-ncc-sync • smt-register • smt-report • smt-setup-custom-catalogs • smt-mirror-sle9 There are two syntax types you can use with the smt command: either use smt followed by a subcommand or use a single command (composed of smt, dash, and the subcom- mand of choice).
  • Page 35 Show detailed catalog information. smt-delete-registration The smt-delete-registration command deletes one or more registrations from SMT and Novell Customer Center. It will deregister machines from the system. The following options are available: --guid ID or -g ID Deletes the machine with the guid ID from the system. This option can be used multiple times.
  • Page 36 smt-list-registrations The smt-list-registrations script lists all registrations. There are no options available for this command. smt-mirror The smt-mirror command performs the mirroring procedure and downloads catalogs that are set to be mirrored. The smt-mirror command can be run with the following options: --clean or -c Removes all files no longer mentioned in the metadata from the mirror.
  • Page 37 Center and updates the local SMT database. It can also save Novell Customer Center data to a directory instead of the SMT database, or read Novell Customer Center data from such a directory instead of downloading it from Novell Customer Center itself.
  • Page 38 Forces the creation of a report based on a local calculation without accessing Novell Customer Center data. --ncc Forces the creation of a report based on Novell Customer Center data. --nonccsync Disables synchronizing with Novell Customer Center before creating the report.
  • Page 39 a default filename containing a timestamp is used. However, SMT will not check if the file or files already exist. In CSV mode the report will be written to multiple files, therefore, the specified filename will expand to [path/]filename-reportname.extension for every report.
  • Page 40 For example: smt-setup-custom-catalogs --productid 434 --name My_Catalog --exturl http://my.domain.top/My_Catalog To remove an already set catalog, use the following command: smt-setup-custom-catalogs --delete Catalog_ID For example: smt-setup-custom-catalogs --delete 1cf336d819e8e5904f4d4b05ee081971a0cc8afc 6.1.2 rcsmt Init Script The rcsmt script starts, restarts, or stops SMT services. If used without any subcom- mands, it returns a help text.

  • Page 41: Smt Configuration Files

    The following options are available in the [NU] section: NUUrl URL of the NU service. In most cases, it should contain the https://nu.novell.com/ URL. NUUser NUUser should contain the username for NU service. For information about getting mirroring credentials, see Section 3.1, “Getting Mirror Credentials”...
  • Page 42 NUPass NUPass is the password for the user defined in NUUser. For information about getting mirroring credentials, see Section 3.1, “Getting Mirror Credentials” (page 13) This value can be set using the YaST SMT Configuration module. [DB] Section of /etc/smt.conf The three options defined in the [DB] section are used for configuring the database SMT uses.
  • Page 43 DNS) instead of the hostname of the server, for example http://smt.domain.tld/ instead of http://server1.domain.tld/. nccEmail E-mail address used for registration at the Novell Customer Center. This value can be set using the YaST SMT Configuration module. MirrorTo Determines the path to mirror to.
  • Page 44 HTTPSProxy If you do not want to use global proxy settings, specify the proxy to be used for HTTPS connection here. Use the form: http://proxy.example.com:3128. If the proxy settings are not configured in /etc/smt.conf, the global proxy settings configured in /etc/syconfig/proxy are used. The global proxy settings can be configured using the YaST Proxy module.
  • Page 45 .conf is not configured via the SMT database like the smt-mirror command, all configuration is contained in /etc/smt.conf. mirror_prod A product to be mirrored, for example Novell-Linux-Desktop. mirror_archs Comma separated list of architectures to be mirrored, for example i386,x86_64. Remove any architectures that do not need to be mirrored.
  • Page 46 # relay mail server - leave emtpy if mail should be sent directly mailServer = mailServerPort = # mail server authentication - leave empty if not required mailServerUser = mailServerPassword = [YOU9-Novell-Linux-Desktop] mirror_prod = Novell-Linux-Desktop mirror_archs = i386,x86_64 mirror_version = 9 mirror = false credentials = [YOU9-Novell-Linux-Desktop-SDK] mirror_prod = Novell-Linux-Desktop-SDK...
  • Page 47 Section 2.5, “Setting the SMT Job Schedule with YaST” (page 10)). Cron is used to launch these scheduled jobs. The crontable is located in the /etc/cron.d/novell.com-smt file. NCC_SYNC_PARAMS Contains parameters of the smt ncc-sync command, if called as a part of an SMT scheduled job via cron.

  • Page 48: Server Certificates

    MIRROR_PARAMS Contains parameters of the smt mirror command, if called as a part of an SMT scheduled job via cron. The default value is "-L /var/log/smt-mirror.log". REGISTER_PARAMS Contains parameters of the smt register command, if called as a part of an SMT scheduled job via cron.
  • Page 49 6.3.1 Certificate Expiration The common server certificate SMT uses is valid for one year. After that time, a new certificate is needed. Either generate a new certificate using YaST CA Management module or import a new certificate using the YaST Common Server Certificate module. Both options are described in the following sections.
  • Page 50 Figure 6.1 Certificates of a CA 5 Enter the fully qualified domain name of the server as Common Name. Add a valid e-mail address of the server administrator. Other fields, as Organization, Organizational Unit, Locality, and State are optional. Click Next to proceed. IMPORTANT: Hostname in Server Certificate The server certificate must contain the correct hostname.
  • Page 51 8 If you want to keep the default values for the other options, like Key Length and Valid Period, click Next. An overview of the certificate to be created is shown. 9 Click Create to generate the certificate. 10 To export the new certificate as the common server certificate, select it in the Certificates tab and select Export >...
  • Page 52 4 After having created a new certificate, restart SMT using the rcsmt restart command. Restarting SMT ensures that the new certificate is copied from /etc/ ssl/certs/YaST-CA.pem to /srv/www/htdocs/smt.crt, the copy SMT uses. Restarting SMT also restarts the Web server. 6.3.4 Synchronizing Time Between SMT Server and Clients There is no need for a precise synchronization of time between the SMT server and clients.

  • Page 53: Configuring Clients To Use Smt

    NOTE: Registering Against *.novell.com Subdomain If you try to register against any *.novell.com subdomain, the certificate will not be downloaded during registration for security reasons, and certificate handling will not be done. In such a case, use a different domain name or a plain IP address.

  • Page 54: Using Kernel Parameters To Access An Smt Server

    register against a specified SMT server. These methods are described in the following sections: 7.1 Using Kernel Parameters to Access an SMT Server Any client can be configured to use SMT by providing the following kernel parameters during machine boot: regurl and regcert. The first parameter is mandatory, the latter is optional.

  • Page 55: Configuring Clients Using Autoyast Profile

    Interactive Use ask to open a pop-up menu during installation where you can specify the path to the certificate. Do not use this option with AutoYaST. Example: regcert=ask Deactivate Certificate Installation Use done if either the certificate will be installed by an add-on product, or if you are using a certificate issued by an official certificate authority.

  • Page 56: Configuring Clients Using The Clientsetup4Smt.sh Script

    2 Open an existing profile using File > Open, create a profile based on the current system's configuration using Tools > Create Reference Profile, or just work with an empty profile. 3 Select Software > Novell Customer Center Configuration. An overview of the current configuration is shown. 4 Click Configure.

  • Page 57: Registering Clients Against Smt Test Environment

    1 Copy the /usr/share/doc/packages/smt/clientSetup4SMT.sh script at your SMT server to the client machine. 2 As root, execute the script on the client machine. The script can be executed in two ways. In the first case, the script name is followed by the registration URL: ./clientSetup4SMT.sh registration_URL, for example, ./clientSetup4SMT.sh https://smt.example.com/center/regsvc.

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