7 Systems

This system summary page displays the system status message and the following key information about the system:

Clicking the Edit These Properties link beside the System Details › Overview › System Properties title opens the System Details › Properties subtab. From this page you can edit any text fields you choose, then click the Update Properties button to confirm.

This subtab allows you to alter basic properties of the selected system.

The remaining fields record the physical address at which the system is stored. To confirm any changes to these fields, click the Update Properties button.

Note: Setting Properties for Multiple Systems

Many of these properties can be set for multiple systems in one go via the System Set Manager interface. For details, see Section 7.5, “System Set Manager”.

This subtab allows you to run remote commands on the selected system. Before doing so, you must first configure the system to accept such commands.

When the setup is complete, refresh the page to view the text boxes for remote commands. Identify a specific user, group, and timeout period, and the script to run. Select a date and time to execute the command, then click Schedule or add the remote command to an action chain. For further information on action chains, see: Section 16.5, “Action Chains”.

Reactivation keys include this system’s ID, history, groups, and channels. This key can then be used only once with the rhnreg_ks command line utility to re-register this system and regain all SUSE Manager settings. Unlike typical activation keys, which are not associated with a specific system ID, keys created here do not show up within the Main Menu › Systems › Activation Keys page.

Reactivation keys can be combined with activation keys to aggregate the settings of multiple keys for a single system profile. For example:

rhnreg_ks --server=`server-url`\
  --activationkey=`reactivation-key`,`activationkey`--force

Warning

When autoinstalling a system with its existing SUSE Manager profile, the profile uses the system-specific activation key created here to re-register the system and return its other SUSE Manager settings. For this reason, you should not regenerate, delete, or use this key (with rhnreg_ks) while a profile-based autoinstallation is in progress. If you do, the autoinstallation will fail.

This subtab provides information about the system, such as networking, BIOS, memory, and other devices. This only works if you included the hardware profile during registration. If the hardware profile looks incomplete or outdated, click the Schedule Hardware Refresh button. The next time the SUSE Manager Daemon (rhnsd) connects to SUSE Manager, it will update your system profile with the latest hardware information.

This subtab provides the option to migrate systems between organizations. Select an organization form the dropdown Migrate System Between Organizations › Organization Name and click Migrate System to initiate the migration.

Note

Defined system details such as channel assignments, system group membership, custom data value, configuration channels, reactivation keys, and snapshots will be dropped from the system configuration after the migration.

This subtab provides a place to create notes about the system.

This subtab provides completely customizable information about the system. Unlike System Details › Notes, System Details › Custom Info is structured, formalized, and can be searched. Before adding custom information about a system, you must have Custom System Information › Custom Information Keys. To create such keys, click Custom System Info in the left bar. For more information, see: Section 7.11, “Custom System Info”.

Once you have created one or more keys, you may assign values for this system by selecting the Create Value link. Click the name of the key in the resulting list and enter a value for it in the Edit Custom Value › Value field, then click the Update Key button.

This tab is only available for SUSE Manager Proxy systems. The tab lists all clients registered with the selected SUSE Manager Proxy server.

This subtab contains a list of patch (errata) alerts applicable to the system. Refer to Section 6.2, “Patch Alert Icons” for meanings of the icons on this tab.

To apply updates, select them and click the Apply Patches button. Double-check the updates to be applied on the confirmation page, then click the Confirm button.

The action is added to the Main Menu › Schedule › Pending Actions list. Patches that have been scheduled cannot be selected for update. Instead of a check box there is a clock icon. Click the clock to see the Pending Actions › Action Details page.

A System Details › Software › Patches › Status column in the patches table shows whether an update has been scheduled. Possible values are:

This column displays only the latest action related to a patch. For example, if an action fails and you reschedule it, this column shows the status of the patch as Pending with no mention of the previous failure. Clicking a status other than None takes you to the Pending › Action Details page.

Manage the software packages on the system. Most of the following actions can also be performed via action chains. For further information on action chains, see: Section 16.5, “Action Chains”.

Warning

When new packages or updates are installed on the client via SUSE Manager, any licenses (EULAs) requiring agreement before installation are automatically accepted.

Software channels provide a well-defined method to determine which packages should be available to a system for installation or upgrade based on its operating systems, installed packages, and functionality.

Click the chain icon right to a channel name to view its Channels › Channel Details page. To change the base software channel the system is subscribed to select a different base channel in the left selection box.

To modify the child channels associated with this system, in the right selection box use the check boxes left to the channel names. If you enable include recommended, recommended child channels are automatically selected for subscription. Starting with SUSE Linux Enterprise 15, child channels can depend on other channels—they are required. In the channel subscription you can see the dependencies by hovering with a mouse on a child channel name. Selecting a channel that depends on another channel will select this channel, too. Unselecting a channel on which some other channels depend will also unselect those channels.

When done click Next to schedule the Software Channel Change action. Then click Confirm.

Note: Changing the Channels Is Now an Action

Since the 3.1 maintenance update (2018) changing the channels is an action that can be scheduled like any other action. Earlier channel changes were applied immediately.

For more information about channel management, see: Section 12.1, “Channels”.

Service Pack Migration (SP Migration) allows you to upgrade a system from one service pack to another.

Warning

During migration SUSE Manager automatically accepts any required licenses (EULAs) before installation.

Beginning with SLE 12 SUSE supports service pack skipping, it is now possible to migrate from for example, SLE 12 to SLE 12 SP2. Note that SLE 11 may only be migrated step by step and individual service packs should not be skipped. Supported migrations include any of the following:

Warning: Migrating from an Earlier Version of SLES

It is not possible to migrate, for example, from SLE 11 to SLE 12 using this tool. You must use autoYaST to perform a migration on this level.

Warning: Rollback Not Possible

The migration feature does not cover any rollback functionality. When the migration procedure is started, rolling back is not possible. Therefore it is recommended to have a working system backup available for an emergency.

This subtab provides access to the configuration files of your system and to the most common tasks used to manage configuration files.

This subtab lists all configuration files currently associated with the system. These are sorted via subtabs in centrally and locally managed files and a local sandbox for files under development.

Using the appropriate buttons on a subtab, you can copy from one to the other subtabs.

Use Configuration Overview › Copy Latest to System Channel to install a configuration on the local system only. When done, the file will end up on the Configuration Overview › Locally-Managed Files subtab.

To upload, import, or create new configuration files, click Add Files.

In the text box under Import New Files enter the full path of any files you want import into SUSE Manager or select deployable configuration files from the Import Existing Files list. When done, click Import Configuration Files.

Under Deploy Files you find all files that can be deployed on the selected system.

Files from configuration channels with a higher priority take precedence over files from configuration channels with a lower priority.

This subtab compares a configuration file stored on the SUSE Manager with the file stored on the client. It does not compare versions of the same file stored in different channels.

Select the files to be compared, click the Compare Files button, select a time to perform the diff, and click the Schedule Compare button to confirm.

To watch progress, see Section 7.3.10, “System Details > Events”. After the diff has been performed, go to Recent Events in Section 7.3.3.1, “System Details > Configuration > Overview” to see the results.

This subtab allows you to subscribe to and rank configuration channels associated with the system, lowest first.

The List/Unsubscribe from Channels subtab contains a list of the system’s configuration channel subscriptions. Click the check box next to the Channel and click Unsubscribe to remove the subscription to the channel.

The Subscribe to Channels subtab lists all available configuration channels. To subscribe to a channel, select the check box next to it and click Continue. To subscribe to all configuration channels, click Select All and click Continue. The View/Modify Rankings page automatically loads.

The View/Modify Rankings subtab allows users to set the priority with which files from a particular configuration channel are ranked. The higher the channel is on the list, the more its files take precedence over files on lower-ranked channels. For example, the higher-ranked channel may have an httpd.conf file that will take precedence over the same file in a lower-ranked channel.

The Schedule subtab allows you to configure and schedule an autoinstallation for this system. For background information about autoinstallation, see Chapter 8, Autoinstallation.

In the Schedule subtab, schedule the selected system for autoinstallation. Choose from the list of available profiles.

Note

You must first create a profile before it appears on this subtab. If you have not created any profiles, refer to Section 8.3.1, “Create a Kickstart Profile” before scheduling an autoinstallation for a system.

To alter autoinstallation settings, click the Advanced Configuration button. Configure the network connection and post-installation networking information. You can aggregate multiple network interfaces into a single logical "bonded" interface. In Kernel Options specify kernel options to be used during autoinstallation. Post Kernel Options are used after the installation is complete and the system is booting for the first time. Configure package profile synchronization.

Select a time for the autoinstallation to begin and click Schedule Autoinstall and Finish for all changes to take effect and to schedule the autoinstallation.

Alternatively, click Create PXE Installation Configuration to create a Cobbler system record. The selected autoinstallation profile will be used to automatically install the configured distribution next time that particular system boots from PXE. In this case SUSE Manager and its network must be properly configured to allow boot using PXE.

Note

Any settings changed on the Advanced Configuration page will be ignored when creating a PXE installation configuration for Cobbler.

The Variables subtab can be used to create Kickstart variables, which substitute values in Kickstart files. To define a variable, create a name-value pair (name/value) in the text box.

For example, to Kickstart a system that joins the network of a specific organization (for example the Engineering department) you can create a profile variable to set the IP address and the gateway server address to a variable that any system using that profile will use. Add the following line to the Variables text box:

IPADDR=192.168.0.28
GATEWAY=192.168.0.1

To use the system variable, use the name of the variable in the profile instead of the value. For example, the network portion of a Kickstart file could look like the following:

network --bootproto=static --device=eth0 --onboot=on --ip=$IPADDR \
  --gateway=$GATEWAY

The $IPADDR will be 192.168.0.28, and the $GATEWAY will be 192.168.0.1.

Note

There is a hierarchy when creating and using variables in Kickstart files. System Kickstart variables take precedence over profile variables, which in turn take precedence over distribution variables. Understanding this hierarchy can alleviate confusion when using variables in Kickstart.

Using variables are one part of the larger Cobbler infrastructure for creating templates that can be shared between multiple profiles and systems. For more information about Cobbler and Kickstart templates, refer to Chapter 10, Cobbler.

SUSE Manager allows you to power on, off, and reboot systems via the IPMI protocol if the systems are IPMI-enabled.

You need a fully patched SUSE Manager installation. To use any power management functionality, IPMI configuration details must be added to SUSE Manager. First select the target system on the systems list, then select Provisioning › Power Management. On the displayed configuration page, edit all required fields (marked with a red asterisk) and click Save.

Systems can be powered on, off, or rebooted from the configuration page via corresponding buttons. Note that any configuration change is also saved in the process. The Save and Get Status button can also be used to query for the system’s power state. If configuration details are correct, a row is displayed with the current power status ("on" or "off"). If a power management operation succeeds on a system, it will also be noted in its Events › History subtab.

Power management functionalities can also be used from the system set manager to operate on multiple systems at the same time. Specifically, you can change power management configuration parameters or apply operations (power on, off, reboot) to multiple systems at once:

To check that a power operation was executed correctly, click System Set Manager › Status on the left-hand menu, then click the proper line in the list. This will display a new list with systems to which the operation was applied. If errors prevent correct execution, a brief message with an explanation will be displayed in the Note column.

This feature uses Cobbler power management, thus a Cobbler system record is automatically created at first use if it does not exist already. In that case, the automatically created system record will not be bootable from the network and will reference a dummy image. This is needed because Cobbler does not currently support system records without profiles or images. The current implementation of Cobbler power management uses the fence-agent tools to support multiple protocols besides IPMI. Those are not supported by SUSE Manager but can be used by adding the fence agent names as a comma-separated list to the java.power_management.types configuration parameter.

Snapshots enable you to roll back the system’s package profile, configuration files, and SUSE Manager settings.

Snapshots are always captured automatically after an action takes place. The Snapshots subtab lists all snapshots for the system, including the reason the snapshot was taken, the time it was taken, and the number of tags applied to each snapshot.

Note: Technical Details

• A snapshot is always taken after a successful operation and not before, as you might expect. One consequence of taking snapshots after the action is that, to undo action number X, then you must roll back to the snapshot number X-1.

• It is possible to disable snapshotting globally (in rhn.conf set enable_snapshots = 0), but it is enabled by default. No further fine tuning is possible.

To revert to a previous configuration, click the Reason for the snapshot and review the potential changes on the provided subtabs, starting with Rollback .

Important: Unsupported Rollback Scenarios

Snapshot roll backs support the ability to revert certain changes to the system, but not in every scenario. For example, you can roll back a set of RPM packages, but rolling back across multiple update levels is not supported.

Rolling back an SP migration is also not supported.

Each subtab provides the specific changes that will be made to the system during the rollback:

When satisfied with the reversion, return to the Rollback subtab and click the Rollback to Snapshot button. To see the list again, click Return to snapshot list .

Note: Background Information About Snapshots

There is no maximum number of snapshots that SUSE Manager will keep, thus related database tables will grow with system count, package count, channel count, and the number of configuration changes over time. Installations with more than a thousand systems should consider setting up a recurring cleanup script via the API or disabling this feature altogether.

There is currently no integrated support for “rotated snapshots”.

Snapshot rollback gets scheduled like any other action, this means the rollback usually does not happen immediately.

Snapshot tags provide a means to add meaningful descriptions to your most recent system snapshot. This can be used to indicate milestones, such as a known working configuration or a successful upgrade.

To tag the most recent snapshot, click Create System Tag , enter a descriptive term in the Tag name field, and click the Tag Current Snapshot button. You may then revert using this tag directly by clicking its name in the Snapshot Tags list. To delete tags, select their check boxes, click Remove Tags , and confirm the action.

This subtab lists groups to which the system belongs and enables you to cancel membership.

Only System Group Administrators and SUSE Manager Administrators can remove systems from groups. Non-admins see a Review this system’s group membership page. To remove the system from one or more groups, select the respective check boxes of these groups and click the Leave Selected Groups button. To see the System Group Details page, click the group’s name. Refer to Section 7.4.3, “System Group Details” for more information.

Lists groups that the system can be subscribed to.

Only System Group Administrators and SUSE Manager Administrators can add a system to groups. Non-admins see a Review this system’s group membership page. To add the system to groups, select the groups' check boxes and click the Join Selected Groups button.

In the System Details › Virtualization tab of a traditionally registered bare-metal machine, there is a System Details › Virtualization › Deployment subtab. This form expects a URL to a qcow2 type of image and some other parameters allowing the user to schedule the deployment of that image.

When the deploment scheduled it is listed as an action on the Main Menu › Schedulte › Pending Actions.

Search and install packages then assign them with a pre-defined state for a selected machine.

Here you can search for a specific package, for example vim . Then with the drop-down box activate Unmanaged , Installed , or Removed . Select Latest or Any from the drop-down box. Latest applies the latest package version available while Any applies the package version required to fulfil dependencies. Click the Save button to save changes to the database, then click Apply to apply the new package state.

States which have been created on the States Catalog page located under Salt on the left bar may be assigned to a system on the States › Custom page.

Search for the custom state you want to apply to the system then select the Assign check box. Click Save to save the change to the database finally select Apply to apply the changes. States applied at the system level will only be applied to the selected system.

From the Highstate page you can view and apply the high state for a selected system.

Select a date and time to apply the high state. Then click Apply Highstate .

Lists events that are scheduled but have not started.

A prerequisite action must complete successfully before the given action is attempted. If an action has a prerequisite, no check box is available to cancel that action. Instead, a check box appears next to the prerequisite action; canceling the prerequisite action causes the action in question to fail.

Actions can be chained so that action 'a' requires action 'b' which requires action 'c'. Action 'c' is performed first and has a check box next to it until it is completed successfully. If any action in the chain fails, the remaining actions also fail. To unschedule a pending event, select the event and click the Cancel Selected Events button. The following icons indicate the type of events:

The default display of the Events tab lists the type and status of events that have failed, occurred or are occurring.

To view details of an event, click its summary in the System History list. To go back to the table again, click Return to history list at the bottom of the page.

Provides the group name and group description. To change this information, click Edit These Properties , make your changes in the appropriate fields, and click the Update Group button.

Lists all members of the system group. Clicking links within the table takes you to corresponding tabs within the System Details page for the associated system. To remove systems from the group, select the appropriate check boxes and click the Remove Systems button on the bottom of the page. Clicking it does not delete systems from SUSE Manager entirely. This is done through the System Set Manager or System Details pages. Refer to Section 7.5, “System Set Manager” or Section 7.3, “System Details”, respectively.

Target Systems  — Lists all systems in your organization. To add systems to the specified system group, click the check boxes to their left and click the Add Systems button on the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

List of relevant patches for systems in the system group. Clicking the advisory takes you to the Details tab of the Patch Details page. (Refer to Section 11.2.2, “Patch Details” for more information.) Clicking the Affected Systems number lists all of the systems affected by the patch. To apply the patch updates in this list, select the systems and click the Apply Patches button.

List of all organization users that have permission to manage the system group. SUSE Manager Administrators are clearly identified. System Group Administrators are marked with an asterisk (*). To change the system group’s users, select and deselect the appropriate check boxes and click the Update button.

The States tab displays states which have been created and added using the Salt > State Catalog . From this page you can select which states should be applied across a group of systems. A state applied from this page will be applied to all minions within a group.

Note

States are applied according to the following order of hierarchy within SUSE Manager :

Organization > Group > Single System

This list includes all channels to which systems in the set are subscribed. A package is only installed on a system if the system is subscribed to the channel providing the package.

Click the channel name and select the packages from the list. Then click the Install Packages button.

A list of all the packages installed on the selected systems that might be removed.

Multiple versions appear if systems in the System Set Manager have more than one version installed. Select the packages to be deleted, then click the Remove Packages button.

A list of all the packages installed on the selected systems that might be upgraded.

Systems must be subscribed to a channel providing the packages to be upgraded. If multiple versions of a package are available, note that your system will be upgraded to the latest version. Select the packages to be upgraded, then click the Upgrade Packages button.

A list of all installed packages whose contents, file checksum, and other details may be verified.

At the next check in, the verify event issues the command rpm --verify for the specified package. If there are any discrepancies, they are displayed in the System Details page for each system.

Select the check box next to all packages to be verified, then click the Verify Packages button. On the next page, select a date and time for the verification, then click the Schedule Verifications button.

Use this subtab to distribute configuration files from your central repository on SUSE Manager to each of the selected systems.

The table lists the configuration files associated with any of the selected systems. Clicking its system count displays the systems already subscribed to the file.

To subscribe the selected systems to the available configuration files, select the check box for each wanted file. When done, click Deploy Configuration and schedule the action. Note that the latest versions of the files, at the time of scheduling, are deployed. Newer versions created after scheduling are disregarded.

Use this subtab to validate configuration files on the selected systems against copies in your central repository on SUSE Manager .

The table lists the configuration files associated with any of the selected systems. Clicking a file’s system count displays the systems already subscribed to the file.

To compare the configuration files deployed on the systems with those in SUSE Manager , select the check box for each file to be validated. Then click Analyze Differences › Schedule File Comparison . The comparisons for each system will not complete until each system checks in to SUSE Manager . When each comparison is complete, any differences between the files will be accessible from each system’s events page.

Note that the latest versions of the files, at the time of scheduling, are compared. Newer versions created after scheduling are disregarded. Find the results in the main Schedule category or within the System Details › Events tab.

Subscribe systems to configuration channels, and in a second step rank these channels according to the order of preference. This tab is available only to SUSE Manager Administrators and Configuration Administrators.

Channels are accessed in the order of their rank. Your local configuration channel always overrides all other channels.

Administrators may unsubscribe systems from configuration channels by clicking the check box next to the channel name and clicking the Unsubscribe Systems button.

Registered systems without configuration management preparation will appear here in a list.

Administrators may enable configuration management by clicking the Enable SUSE Manager Configuration Management button. You can also schedule the action by adjusting the Schedule no sooner than date and time setting using the drop-down box, then clicking Enable SUSE Manager Configuration Management .

Then the systems will get subscribed to the required SUSE Manager tools channel and required rhncfg* packages will get installed.

Use this subtab to reinstall clients.

To schedule autoinstallations for these systems, select a distribution. The autoinstallation profile used for each system in the set is determined via the Autoinstallable Type radio buttons.

Choose Select autoinstallation profile to apply the same profile to all systems in the set. This is the default option. You will see a list of available profiles to select from when you click Continue .

Choose Autoinstall by IP Address to apply different autoinstallation profiles to different systems in the set, by IP address. To do so, at least two autoinstallation profiles must be configured with associated IP ranges.

If you use Autoinstall by IP Address , SUSE Manager will automatically pick a profile for each system so that the system’s IP address will be in one of the IP ranges specified in the profile itself. If such a profile cannot be found, SUSE Manager will look for an organization default profile and apply that instead. If no matching IP ranges nor organization default profiles can be found, no autoinstallation will be performed on the system. You will be notified on the next page if that happens.

To use Cobbler system records for autoinstallation, select Create PXE Installation Configuration . With PXE boot, you cannot only reinstall clients, but automatically install machines that do not have an operating system installed yet. SUSE Manager and its network must be properly configured to enable boot using PXE. For more information on Cobbler and Kickstart templates, refer to Chapter 10, Cobbler.

Note

If a system set contains bare-metal systems and installed clients, only features working for systems without an operating system installed will be available. Full features will be enabled again when all bare-metal systems are removed from the set.

If any of the systems connect to SUSE Manager via a proxy server, choose either the Preserve Existing Configuration radio button or the Use Proxy radio button. If you choose to autoinstall through a proxy server, select from the available proxies listed in the drop-down box beside the Use Proxy radio button. All of the selected systems will autoinstall via the selected proxy. Click the Schedule Autoinstall button to confirm your selections. When the autoinstallations for the selected systems are successfully scheduled, you will return to the System Set Manager page.

Use this subtab to add meaningful descriptions to the most recent snapshots of your selected systems.

To tag the most recent system snapshots, enter a descriptive term in the Tag name field and click the Tag Current Snapshots button.

Use this subtab to rollback selected systems to previous snapshots marked with a tag.

Click the tag name, verify the systems to be reverted, and click the Rollback Systems button.

Use this subtab to issue remote commands.

First create a run file on the client systems to allow this function to operate. Refer to Section 7.3.1.3, “System Details > Details > Remote Command” for instructions. Then identify a specific user, group, timeout period, and the script to run. Select a date and time to execute the command and click Schedule .

Click the Hardware subtab to schedule a hardware profile refresh. Click Confirm Refresh .

Click the Software subtab, then the Confirm Refresh button to schedule a package profile update of the selected systems.

Click the Migrate subtab to move selected systems to a selected organization.

Select the Lock/Unlock subtab to select systems to be excluded from package updates.

Enter a Lock reason in the text box and click the Lock button. Already locked systems can be unlocked on this page. Select them and click Unlock .

Click the Delete subtab, to remove systems by deleting their system profiles. Click the Confirm Deletion button to remove the selected profiles permanently.

Select the appropriate systems, then click the Reboot Systems link to select these systems for reboot.

To cancel a reboot action, see Section 16.1, “Pending Actions”.