Migrating a SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware system to SLES-11-SP3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1 (SLES 11 SP1)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2 (SLES 11 SP2)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 3 (SLES 11 SP3)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for VMware Service Pack 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for VMware Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for VMware Service Pack 3
SUSE Manager 2.1

A SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware system should be migrated into to a plain SLES-11-SP3 without reinstalling it. This TID explains the process.

There are two possibilities: either use an interactive script (section A) or perform the migration manually (section B).
 

A) Script based migration

Download the tar archive from TID-7015096-SLES-for-VMware-migration.tar.gz
Save the file in the /tmp/ directory and extract the files via the following command:

# tar xvzf TID-7007761-SLES-for-VMware-migration.tar.gz

Run the interactive script "Migrate_SLES-for-VMware_to_SLES.sh" as root:

# cd /tmp/SLES-for-VMware-migration

# ./Migrate_SLES-for-VMware_to_SLES.sh

ATTENTION: During the execution of the script, YaST2 will open the process to re-register the system against the regular SUSE update channels. 

This process needs to be finished successfully by providing a valid SLES activation code. Selecting "configure later" will result in an unusable system!

If SMT is being used, please make sure the appropriate SLES11-SP3-Pool and SLES11-SP3-Updates channel have been synced. So in order to
migrate a SLES for VMware 11 SP3 to SLES 11 SP3 via SMT, the following channels are required for the migration:

• SLES11-SP3-VMware-Pool & SLES11-SP3-VMware-Updates
• SLES11-SP3-Pool & SLES11-SP3-Updates

B) Manual migration

Perform the migration manually, all steps have to be performed as root.


1) Replace the product files

Download the tar archive from TID-7015096-SLES-for-VMware-migration.tar.gz
Save the file in the /tmp/ directory and extract the files via the following command:

# tar xvzf TID-7015096-SLES-for-VMware-migration.tar.gz

Replace the SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware product file with the SLES-11-SP3 product file. Backup the SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware product file first :

# mv /etc/products.d/SLES-for-VMware.prod /etc/products.d/SLES-for-VMware.prod.SLES-for-VMware

Remove the symlink :

# rm /etc/products.d/baseproduct

Copy the downloaded SLES-11-SP3 product file to "/etc/products.d/"

# cp /tmp/SLES-for-VMware-migration/SUSE_SLES.prod /etc/products.d/

Create the new 'baseproduct' symlink :

# ln -s /etc/products.d/SUSE_SLES.prod /etc/products.d/baseproduct

2) Re-register your product

Important: In case this system is connected to a SMT or SUSE Manager, please skip this point and follow to point 3!

To be able to re-register your product and get subscribed to the corresponding channels, a valid email address and a valid activation code for SLES-11-SP3 and all other installed Add-On products needs to be entered. Optionally, you can enter the hostname of your system. At first, you need to remove all current registrations and channels:

# /usr/bin/suse_register --erase-local-regdata

Start registration process:

# yast2 inst_suse_register

3) Exchange the release packages

Exchange SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware release packages by SLES-11-SP3 release packages:

# zypper in -f sles-release sles-release-DVD
# zypper rm SLES-for-VMware-release SLES-for-VMware-release-DVD

For SUSE Manager clients, you'll need to either manually change the channels (from VMWare to the "regular" ones) or copy the RPM's to the system and install them manually. For either case, you're encourage to re-run the correct bootstrap registration script (SLES in this case, not SLES for VMWare).
For SMT clients, you're recommended to fetch the RPM's from the SMT server and install them manually.

4) Remove obsolete SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware specific packages

The following SLES-11-SP3-for VMware specific packages need to be removed (if installed):

      - bootsplash-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - desktop-data-SLES-for-VMware
      - gconf2-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - gfxboot-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - gtk2-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - gtk2-theme-SLES-for-VMware
      - kdebase4-SLES-for-VMware
      - kdebase4-SLES-for-VMware-lang
      - kdebase4-workspace-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - kdm-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - MozillaFirefox-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - release-notes-SLES-for-VMware
      - sblim-gather-novirt
      - sblim-gather-novirt-provider
      - yast2-branding-SLES-for-VMware
      - yast2-theme-SLES-for-VMware
      - yast2-trans-vmware-install
      - yast2-vmware-warning

Remove those packages with:

# zypper rm [SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware specific packages]

5) Install missing SLES-11-SP3 packages

The following SLES-11-SP3 packages need to be installed:

      - bootsplash-branding-SLES
      - desktop-data-SLED
      - desktop-data-SLES-extra-gnome
      - gfxboot-branding-SLES
      - MozillaFirefox-branding-SLED
    - release-notes-sles
      - yast2-branding-SLES
      - yast2-theme-SLE

In case you're using the GNOME desktop, following additional packages need also to be installed:

      - desktop-data-SLES-extra-gnome
      - gconf2-branding-SLES
      - gtk2-branding-SLED
      - gtk2-theme-SLED

In case you're using the KDE desktop, following additional packages need also to be installed:

      - kdebase4-SLED
      - kdebase4-SLED-lang
      - kdebase4-workspace-branding-SLED
      - kdm-branding-SLED

If the packages 'sblim-gather-novirt' and 'sblim-gather-novirt-provider' were installed on SLES-11-SP3-for-VMware, one needs to install the following corresponding SLES-11-SP3 packages:

      - sblim-gather
      - sblim-gather-provider

Please install the needed SLES-11-SP3 packages by executing:

      # zypper in [SLES-11-SP3 packages]

6) Apply the SLES-11-SP3 bootsplash branding

Call 'mkinitrd' to apply the SLES-11-SP3 bootsplash branding:

# mkinitrd

7) Adjust /boot/grub/menu.lst

Alter the titles of the standard and failsafe sections to display
"SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3" instead of
"SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 for VMware":

# sed "s/SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 for VMware/SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3/" -i /boot/grub/menu.lst

8) Reboot system

Reboot the system to apply all changes.


9) Additional step for systems registered in a SUSE Manager

Please delete /etc/sysconfig/rhn/osad-auth.conf, restart SUSE Manager daemons and run a rhn_check

# rm /etc/sysconfig/rhn/osad-auth.conf
# rcosad restart
# rcrhnsd restart
# rhn_check

Otherwise your system might still not be recognized as a SLES System and you won't be able to (among others) perform SP Migrations (to SP4).

Note 1: As SLES-for-VMware 11 SP2 is out of general support it is best to use the regular SLES 11 SP2 media and run an upgrade on the system to change it that way.