SMT repositories with "Data too long for column 'TITLE'" errors

This document (000020638) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
Subscription Management Tool (SMT)

Situation

SMT Repositories with errors:

Example:

2022-04-12 23:09:36 main - [info]  Repositories with errors  :
2022-04-12 23:09:36 main - [info]    * SLE-Product-SLES15-LTSS-Updates for sle-15-x86_64 (https://updates.suse.com/SUSE/Updates/SLE-Product-SLES/15-LTSS/x86_64/update/)
2022-04-12 23:09:36 main - [info]    * SLE-Product-SLES15-SP1-LTSS-Updates for sle-15-x86_64 (https://updates.suse.com/SUSE/Updates/SLE-Product-SLES/15-SP1-LTSS/x86_64/update/)
2022-04-12 23:09:36 main - [info]    * SUSE-CAASP-4.0-Updates for sle-15-x86_64 (https://updates.suse.com/SUSE/Updates/SUSE-CAASP/4.0/x86_64/update/)
2022-04-12 23:09:36 main - [info]    * SUSE-Enterprise-Storage-6-Updates for sle-15-x86_64 (https://updates.suse.com/SUSE/Updates/Storage/6/x86_64/update/)

The smt-mirror.log log shows:

SMT::Mirror::RpmMd - [info]  Updating patch data in the database (503 patches)
SMT::Mirror::RpmMd - [error]  Error getting patch data from repository: DBD::mysql::st execute failed: Data too long for column 'TITLE' at row 1 at /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.18.2/SMT/PatchRef.pm line 150.

Resolution

The current workaround:

1. log into the SMT database:

mysql -h localhost -u smt -p smt

(the credentials are in /etc/smt.conf )

2. fix the column with these 2 mysql commands:

ALTER TABLE PatchRefs MODIFY COLUMN TITLE MEDIUMTEXT;
DESCRIBE PatchRefs;

By doing so, the table will be extended to store the longer patch titles.

Cause

Some new patches have titles that are longer than the existing 256 character limit on the SMT database column.
This causes errors while adding those patch titles to the SMT database.
This does not affect downloading RPM packages.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.