Import patches for SUSE platforms

In SA, SUSE platforms can be customized and kept up-to-date by using RPM packages. These packages can be imported and applied to a set of SUSE-supported managed servers in SA. The import process uploads RPM patches into the SA Library and can be used in operations like software installation, software policy creation and remediation, software compliance, and so on.

Currently, there are three ways to import SUSE patches into SA:

• Upload the RPM packages into the SA Library using the SA Command Line Interface. For details on OCLI, see SA Command Line Interface (OCLI).
• Import the SUSE packages into SA through the SA Client built-in importer. This tool allows you to import multiple RPM packages simultaneously. If an RPM package that is being uploaded exists in the SA Library already , then you can:
  • Replace (overwrite) the content of the existing package
  • Skip the package import (useful when importing multiple packages)
  • Cancel the import in progress

  When you overwrite an existing software package, SA preserves any reboot options or flags previously set for the package. For a detailed instruction on how to import SUSE patches using the SA Client, see Import software packages.

• Import the official patches issued by SUSE using one of the following SA SUSE tools, which comes preinstalled with the slice component:
  • SUSE Manager Importer tool
  • Subscription Management Tool (SMT) Importer

  You can find the binaries for these tools in /opt/opsware/sles_import/bin.

Importing SUSE Errata and channels in SA using SA SUSE Importer tools

SUSE publishes Errata that contains information describing security patches, bug fixes, and package updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise. To install the packages in the Errata, you must download the Errata from the SUSE web-site and then import into SA. Using SA, you can automatically download the Errata released by SUSE, convert them to policies, and store the policy in a folder in the SA Library.

In addition, SUSE publishes repositories that contain packages from a particular repository. Using SA, you can automatically download the packages in a channel (SuSE Manager Importer) or content label (SMT), convert them to policies, and store the policies in a folder in the SA Library. The suse_manager_import and smt_import tools provided by SA enable you to create policies that correspond to the SUSE errata and channels/content labels. Using these tools, you can create the following types of policies:

• Channel-based software policy: A SUSE Network channel contains a list of packages. A channel allows you to group packages as per your organizational requirements. For example, a channel may contain packages for a particular SUSE operating system version or architecture. A channel may contain other child channels. When you run the importer, SA downloads the latest packages from the SUSE Network channel (SUSE Manager Importer), imports the packages to the SA Library and creates a channel-based or content-based software policy. Channels are equivalent to SMT content, the only difference being the source of the packages.
  Thus, a channel-based policy reflects a particular channel. In the SA Client, you can view the name, description, location, availability, and the version of the operating system of the channel-based policy in the SA Library.

• Errata-based software policy: SUSE Network Errata contains information on a particular problem and the associated packages to resolve the problem. An errata-based policy contains all the individual erratum-based policies for a given channel. SA downloads the latest packages from the SUSE Network Errata and then imports the packages to the SA Library and creates an errata-based software policy.

  There are three types of SUSE Network Errata, specific to SUSE Manager:

  • Bug Fix Advisories
  • Product Enhancement Advisories
  • Security Advisories

  The SMT Importer uses the following types of errata:

  • Security Advisories
  • Recommended Advisories
  • Optional Advisories

  In the SA Client, you can view the name, description, location, availability, and the operating system version of the errata-based policy in the SA Library.

• Erratum-based software policy: Erratum-based policies contain packages associated with a particular erratum. When you run the suse_manager_import or smt_import tool, SA downloads the latest packages from the SUSE Network erratum and then imports the packages to the SA Library and creates an Erratum-based software policy.

To create and maintain policies from the SUSE Linux errata, erratum, and channels, log into the core server running the Software Repository component (part of the Slice Component bundle) and run the suse_manager_import or smt_import tool located in the /opt/opsware/sles_import/bin directory.

The software policies created by suse_manager_import and smt_import will, by default, have an empty uninstall sequence. This setting prevents the inadvertent uninstall of the RPMs in the policy when it is detached.

Importing RPM packages from the SUSE Network to SA requires a large amount of disk space. Over a period of time, the amount of disk space required increases as new versions of packages are released by SUSE. HPE recommends having at least 5 GB of disk space available in Software Repository for every SUSE channel you enable using the importer.

To view the complete documentation, run one of the following commands:

• /opt/opsware/sles_import/bin/suse_manager_import --manual
• /opt/opsware/sles_import/bin/smt_import --manual

When you run the importer, you can specify the options listed in the documentation provided by the tools or use the sample configuration files provided by SA, located at /etc/opt/opsware/sles_import/suse_manager.conf-sample or /etc/opt/opsware/sles_import/smt_import.conf-sample.