Applying Patches in SLES

News	Recommended Links	Configuring the Software Updater	Patching problems	SLES Service Packs	Using rug	SLES Documentation	SLES Registration
SPident	suse_register	System information	Startup and shutdown			Humor	Etc

Patches usually are applied via YAST. automatically they can be applied via rug. YAST has both GUI and regular text interface which si very convenient.

YaST Software Updater and rug are front-ends for the ZENworks Management Daemon (zmd).

The command line tool rug permit automatic application of updates without the dialogs that the user need to navigate in YAST. This is both advantage and disadvantage, as not all patches are useful for a particular server and some might be even harmful. Still "everything goes" mode has its uses and run provides this functionality. In addition to this, an example of how to use rug is available online at http://en.opensuse.org/Examples_using_rug .

YaST Online Update has been integrated into the YaST Software Management module.

Software → Online Update opens the Software Management with the Patches filter applied, so you only see packages that should be updated.

Online Update Setup can configure automatic updates and Installation Source. See Start-Up, chapter System Configuration with YaST for more information.

Novell offers a continuous stream of software security updates for SUSE Linux and makes them available on an FTP server and its mirrors. These servers are called YUM services. If you have configured the update settings during installation, Software Updater gets one of these servers assigned and is ready for use immediately after installation. If you have skipped the update configuration, you need to set it up.

Getting Permissions

Installing packages requires root privileges. Software Updater and rug have their own user management system that allows regular users to install software updates. When a user first invokes an action that requires special privileges in Software Updater, a prompt for the root password appears. When the password has been verified, Software Updater automatically adds the user's account to the user management system with update permissions. To review or change these settings, use the rug user management commands (this requires root privileges).

Obtaining and Installing Software Updates

Once a day, Software Updater automatically checks whether updates for your system are available (right-click the application icon and choose Refresh to force an immediate check). The Software Updater resides in the notification area (GNOME) or the system tray (KDE) of your panel as an icon depicting a globe, which changes to an exclamation mark on an orange background when there are new updates available. Left-click the panel icon to open the updater window. It displays a list of patches available. Each patch has a short description and, if applicable, a category icon: Security patches are marked with a yellow shield. Optional patches are marked with a light blue circle. Recommended patches are not marked with an icon. Security patches are listed first, then recommended patches, and finally optional patches. To get details about a certain patch, mark it with the mouse and click the Details link under the list window. To select a patch for installation, mark the patch's check box. Use the links All and None to select or deselect all patches. Clicking Update installs the selected patches.

Configuring the Software Updater

To configure Software Updater, right-click the application icon and choose Configure. A window with three tabs opens:

Services,
Catalogs
Preferences

Services

Services are basically sources that provide software packages and information about these packages. The service tab lists all services available together with type and status information (if you cannot see the latter two, adjust the window size). Use Remove Service or Add Service to add or remove services. The following service types are available:

YUM

An HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP server using the RPM-MD format for the package data.

Novell provides updates for SUSE Linux exclusively as YUM services. If you configured update during installation, either the official Novell YUM server or one of its mirrors is already present in the list.

If you have skipped the update configuration during installation, run the command suse_register on the command line or call the YaST module Software → Product Registration as user root. A YUM server is automatically added to Software Updater.

To add a YUM service manually, you need to know its URI. See http://en .opensuse.org/YUM_servers for a list of official Novell YUM mirrors. It is also possible to use http://download.suse.com/update/10.1. This link always redirects to a mirror in your vicinity.You can freely choose a name for the service—it is recommended to use a unique, descriptive name.


ZYPP

ZYPP services are the YaST installation sources added with Software → Installation

Source in YaST. Use the Software Updater or YaST to add installation sources. The source from which you initially installed (DVD or CD-ROM in most cases) is preconfigured. If you change or delete this source, replace it with another valid installation source (ZYPP service), because otherwise you cannot install new software. Terminology The terms YaST installation source, YaST package repository, and ZYPP service are the same name for a source from which you can install software.

Mount

With Mount, embed a directory mounted on your machine. This is useful if you are, for example, in a network that regularly mirrors the Novell YUM server and exports its content to the local network. To add the directory, provide the full path to the directory in Service URI. NU NU stands for Novell Update. This service is not available for SUSE Linux. RCE and ZENworks Opencarpet, Red Carpet Enterprise, or ZENworks services are only available if your company or organization has set up these services within your internal network. This may, for example, be the case if your organization is using third-party software for which updates are deployed on a single server.

Summary

After SUSE Linux is installed, two services are preconfigured: your installation source (DVD, CD-ROM, or network resource) as a ZYPP service and a SUSE Linux update server as YUM service, which was added during product registration. See Figure 2, “Preconfigured Services” (page 6). Normally there is no need to change these settings. If you do not see a YUM service, open a root shell and execute the command suse_register. A service is added automatically.

Catalogs

Services are able to provide packages for different pieces of software or for different software versions (typically RCE or ZENworks services do so). These are organized in different categories called catalogs. Subscribe or unsubscribe from a catalog by marking or unmarking the check box in front of it. At the moment, the SUSE Linux services (YUM and ZYPP) do not provide different catalogs. Each service only has one catalog. If the Software Updater was configured during installation or with suse_register, it subscribes to the YUM and ZYPP catalogs automatically. If you manually add a service, you must subscribe to its catalogs. Unsubscribing from Catalogs To be able to install packages from a catalog, you need to be subscribed to this catalog. If you unsubscribe, the packages from this catalog are still listed in the update window, but you can not install them.

Preferences

On the Preferences tab, specify whether Software Updater should be launched at startup or not. As user root, you can also modify the Software Updater settings. As a nonprivileged user, you can only view the settings. Refer to the rug man page for an explanation of the settings.

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Last modified: September 29, 2009