How to upgrade to SLES/SLED 10 SP3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8
Novell Linux Desktop 9

A system running one of the product versions listed above should be updated to SLES10 Service Pack 3 or SLED10 Service Pack 3.

Like SLE 10 Service Pack 1 and 2, Service Pack 3 is a full product; a variety of methods for updating a system exist.

Don't panic:  This document is quite long and detailed, but don't be afraid. In fact the update procedure is very simple, straight-forward and (in most cases) self-explaining. Just pick the method that suits your needs best and start with it.

Important note:  After completing any form of update, look at the contents of the file /var/adm/rpmconfigcheck. This file contains a list of configuration files that could not be updated automatically. These files must be checked and the configurations adjusted manually.

Updating OES2

Please note that when upgrading OES2 SP1 via online update, only select the move-to-oes2-sp2 patch. Do NOT select the move-to-sles10sp3 patch! For further information please have a look at TID 7004963 - move-to-oes2-sp2, a guide through the process.

Procedure for updating from SLES 8

There is no supported direct upgrade path from SLES8. To update a SLES8 installation, first update to SLES9. Refer to the SLES9 documentation for details.

Procedure for updating from SLES 9

A supported way to update a SLES 9 system (SLES9 version GA, SP3 and SP4) is by booting from a SLE 10 SP3 media. See the respective section below.

Procedure for updating from NLD 9

A supported scenario to update an NLD 9 system is by updating it to NLD9 SP4 first, followed by updating to SLED 10 SP3 by booting from the SLE 10 SP3 installation media. This is the only way it has been tested.

Procedure for updating from SLES 10 and SLED 10 (GA version)

There is no supported direct migration path from SLES/SLED 10 GA to Service Pack 3. You have to perform an update to Service Pack 1 and then to Service pack 2 by using the respective boot media. This is the only way it has been tested. 

Procedure for updating from SLES 10 and SLED 10 Service Pack 1

Again, there is no supported direct migration path from SLES/SLED 10 SP1 to Service Pack 3. You have to perform an update to Service Pack 2 by using the SP2 boot media. This is the only way it has been tested. 

Procedure for updating from SLES 10 Service Pack 2 and SLED 10 Service Pack 2

There are different supported ways for updating a SuSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2 system to SP3 level. You can either update to SP3 by using the online update tools to download patches or update via using an SP3 installation media.

For installing SP3 via downloading patches, the following tools are supported:

• 1) YaST Online Update (YOU)
• 2) zen-updater
• 3) rug

Alternatively, you can download the full SP3 media (CD or DVD ISO image) and use one of the following procedures, especially in case of environments without network access:

• 4) by booting from SLES/SLED 10 SP3 media
• 5) by using "Patch CD update"

Update to SP3 via patches

Attention: The update process has to be done completely from beginning to reboot. There is no automatic way to revert changes. Furthermore, the server has to be connected online during the whole update process. Prerequisites: You have to make sure to have your system registered. If you have not done this already, you can either do so by using the "Novell Customer Center Configuration" module in YaST or use the suse_register commandline tool. This will add an update source to your system.

1) Update by using YaST Online Update

• Start the Online-Update module (YOU) from the YaST control center.
• Press 'Accept' to apply updates with 'package management' flag set. Among others, this will install a libzypp maintenance stack update (Patch 'slesp2-libzypp' / 'sledp2-libzypp'). After installing those, YOU will restart itself.
  
• Press 'Accept' to apply all available updates that are available for SP2. This may also install a new kernel, so you should reboot the system after applying this one.
  
• Start the Online-Update module from the YaST control center again.
• Select the optional "Update to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop Service Pack 3" ('move-to-sles10-sp3' / 'move-to-sled10-sp3') patch. Do not select any other patch at the same time - except for for additional migration patches for add-on products. If an add-on product (e.g. the SDK) is installed, the respective migration patch will be selected automatically. The migration of the add-on product should be done at the same time as the base product, otherwise there would be rpm dependency conflicts.
• After the patch is installed, YOU will close.
  
• Start the Online-Update module from the YaST control center again.
• Amongst others patches, 'slesp3o-sp3_online' and 'product-sles10-sp3' (or 'sledp3o-sp3_online' and 'product-sled10-sp3' accordingly) are preselected. Apply these patches to bring the system to SP3 level.
  
• Reboot the system.

2) Update by using zen-updater

• Start zen-updater from the system tray.
• Apply updates with 'package management' flag ('slesp2-libzypp' / 'sledp2-libzypp', amongst others).
• Apply all maintenance updates that are available up to this point. This may also install a new kernel (a subsequent reboot is recommended).
• Select the 'move-to-sles10-sp3' patch (or 'move-to-sled10-sp3'  accordingly). If add-on products are installed, migration patches for these will be selected automatically.
  
• Select "Refresh" from the zen-updater context menu might be necessary.
  
• After that, amongst other patches 'slesp3o-sp3_online' and 'product-sles10-sp3' (or 'sledp3o-sp3_online' and 'product-sled10-sp3' accordingly) are preselected in zen-updater. Apply these patches to bring the system to SP3 level.
• Reboot the system.
  

3) Update by using rug

• Open a root shell.
• It is recommended to quit zen-updater. Do not only close it's window! If unsure, run 'killall zen-updater'.
• Run 'rug in -t patch slesp2-libzypp slesp2-yast2-online-update-pkg-bindings' (or 'rug in -t patch sledp2-libzypp sledp2-yast2-online-update-pkg-bindings' accordingly). This will update the maintenance stack.
• Run 'rug ping -a' to ensure that zmd is responsive again.
• Run 'rug up -t patch' to apply all maintenance updates provided for SP2 before starting the migration.
• Run 'rug ping -a'.
• Run 'rug in -t patch move-to-sles10-sp3' (or 'rug in -t patch move-to-sled10-sp3' accordingly).
• Run 'sleep 40 && rug ping -a'.
• Run 'rug up -t patch' to bring the system to SP3 level.
• Run 'rug unsub SLES10-SP3-Online'.
• Run 'sleep 240 && rug ping -a' in order to wait for ZMD to become responsive again.
• Run 'rug up -t patch' again. This will install post-SP3 updates.
• Reboot the system.

• The following script can be used as a base for a complete unattended update from SP2 to SP3:

#!/bin/bash
set -x
# update the package management stack first:
rug in -y -t patch slesp2-libzypp slesp2-yast2-online-update-pkg-bindings          # For SLED use sledp1-...
sleep 40 && rug ping -a
# install all updates available for SP2:
rug up -y --agree-to-third-party-licences -t patch <<EOF
n
EOF
sleep 240 && rug ping -a
# install the move-to-sles10-sp3 patch:
rug in -y --agree-to-third-party-licences -t patch move-to-sles10-sp3 # For SLED use move-to-sled10-sp3
sleep 40 && rug ping -a
# bring the system to SP3 level:
rug up -y --agree-to-third-party-licences -t patch <<EOF
n
EOF
sleep 240 && rug ping -a
rug unsub SLES10-SP3-Online          # For SLED use SLED10-SP3-Online
# install post-SP3 updates:
rug up -y --agree-to-third-party-licences -t patch <<EOF
n                                                          # For an automatic reboot after the migration, you may change 'n' to 'y'
EOF

Technical background

As a general technical background, these are the steps involved when updating by using YaST online update, zen-updater, or rug.

• The packagemanagement software itself is updated first (patches slesp2-libzypp, and slesp2-yast2-online-update-pkg-bindings / on SLED: sledp2-libzypp, and sledp2-yast2-online-update-pkg-bindings).
• The patch to enable migration to SP3 needs to be applied explicitly. This patch is called 'move-to-sles10-sp3' or 'move-to-sled10-sp3', depending on the product. It is an optional patch and therefore it is not preselected.
• The patch installs the SP3-migration product marker (it can be checked by calling 'rug products' or '/usr/lib/zypp/zypp-query-pool products @system').
• A log of the operation of this patch is kept as  /var/log/YaST2/move-to-sles10-sp3-script.log.
• Furtheron 'suse_register' is called to add the SLES10-SP3-Online or SLED10-SP3-Online catalog. Additionally for SLED, third-party vendor catalogs (ATI, NVIDIA, ...) are updated. If SuSE Linux add-on products are installed (e.g. the SDK), the rescpective catalogs are updated as well.
• At this point, the installation source may need to be adapted if add-on products, repositories of other vendors or other third party repositories were configured.
• The online tools now offer three patches to move the system to SP3:
• 'slesp3o-sp3_online'/'sledp3o-sp3_online' is a meta patch which contains all packages to bring the system to SP3 level.
• 'product-sles10-sp3' ('product-sled10-sp3' on SLED respectively) replaces the SP3-migration product marker with the SP3 product marker. It furtheron calls 'suse_register' again to unsubscribe the SLES10-SP2-Online or SLED10-SP2-Online catalog and to add the SLES10-SP3-Update or SLED10-SP3-Update catalog.
• 'slesp3o-SPident'/'sledp3o-SPident' is an update for the SPident package.
• A log of the operation of this patch is stored as /var/log/YaST2/product-sles10-sp3-script.log.
• As a result, there are now three catalogs listed:
  
  • The SLE 10 SP2 installation source
  • The SLES10-SP3-Online/SLED10-SP3-Online catalog, which contains the software which was necessary to perform the actual update to SP3.
  • The SLES10-SP3-Updates/SLED10-SP3-Updates catalog, which contains software updates published after the release of SP3.
  
  Both, the SLE 10 SP2 catalog and the SP3-Online catalog now act as the installation source.
  
  In order to simplify the setup you can substitute certain catalogs by the SLES10-SP3-Pool/SLED10-SP3-Pool catalog. SP3-Pool is a rpm-md repository containing all packages from the SP3 media (It does not contain the patches for migration). By default, the catalog is returned as unsubscribed and not added to YaST. Please have a look at TID 7001199 - Which software catalogs to mirror with Subscription Management Tool which explains the different catalogs and which ones that are needed in the various scenarios of installation sources and update paths in more detail.

Update to SP3 via patches by using Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise

As an alternative to downloading the updates for each single client system from the Novell update server, it is possible to use Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise to mirror the updates to a local server.
This tool acts as Novell Customer Center proxy both for client registrations and as software update repository. It runs on a SLES 10 SP3 server and the Novell Appnote Keep your SUSE Linux Desktops, Servers and OES Servers Updated with Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise gives an overview of its features as well as instructions on how to implement it.

Update via using an SP3 installation media

Please obtain the ISO images from http://download.novell.com.

4) Update by booting from a SLES/SLED 10 SP3 media

To start the standard update from CD-ROM or DVD, reboot your computer with this medium in your CD-ROM or DVD drive. Perform a system update instead of a fresh installation. To achive this, select"Installation" -> Select the language -> Agree to the License ->  Select "Update" instead of "New Installation".

4.1) Providing the SP3 media as a network installation source

It is also possible to provide the installation media via network. SLE 10 Service-Pack 3 is a complete product. So it can be added to an Installation Server in the same way as every other SUSE LINUX Enterprise Product.

The procedure on how to setup an installation server and to add the service pack is described in the Installation Notes for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop 10 SP3. You will find this document in the file README on the first DVD. For SLES see chapter "3.1 Setting Up an Installation Server" of this document. For SLED, see chapter 6.2 of the README.

You will find a more detailled guide in the documentation of your SLES9/SLES10 GA version. For SLES10 have a look at chapter 4.2.1 "Setting Up an Installation Server Using YaST" in the file sles-admin.pdf, which you can find on the first CD/DVD in the directory /docu/en. This document is also available online under http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles10/. For SLES9 you find this chapter in the file docu/en/manual.pdf (online available under http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles9/).

4.1.1) To start the update, go ahead as follows:

• You need a bootable medium to initialize the process. Booting via network/PXE is also possible. For ready-to-apply configuration examples for PXE boot, see chapter 4.3 in the SLES10 documentation mentioned above (online available at http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles10/).
• Boot the machine and choose "Installation".
• If your installation source is announced via SLP, enter "install=slp" in the "Boot Options" field (or change the installation source via "F3", if this is available on your platform).
• After the machine boots, it shows a selection of install options it has found via SLP.
• If SLP is not configured on your installation server, you have to enter the IP and path to your installation source and the protocol via the "F4" key.
• Select "System Update" instead of performing a fresh installation.

4.2) Providing the SP3 media as a network installation source for YaST Online Update (only supported for SLES, not for SLED)

It is also possible to provide the installation media in a way that you can use YaST Online Update for updating. The advantage is, that you don't have to boot from an Installation media. Instead you update from a running system. This minimizes downtime. (The procedure is also described in  chapter 5.4 of the SLES README mentioned above). Please note: This procedure is not supported for SLES 10 version GA/SP1. Your system has to be on SP2 level in order to use this method.

You have to create an installation source as described in the chapter above. After this, you have to do an additional  modification.  Go into the directory named "patches"  and create a symlink to "../suse":


Further, make sure that the system is on the latest patch level. At least the latest SPident patch for SLES10-SP2 has to be installed prior to the upgrade to SP3. For further information see TID 7004955 - Dependency problem when upgrading to SLES10-SP3 via Patch-CD.

4.2.1) To start the update, go ahead as follows:

• Add the new repository. In case you have released the repository as an NFS share, go ahead as follows:
• You have to create an additional symlink on the installation server. Assuming that the SLES10-SP3 installation source is stored under /instserver/SLES10-SP3-i586/CD1, change into above directory and execute the following command: "ln -s patches/repodata .".
• Start YaST2, select "Software" -> "Change Source of Installation Source".
• Disable the SLES10 SP2 source and SLES10-SP2 update catalog.
• Add the new repository by selecting "Add" -> "NFS". For "Path to Directory" enter "/instserver/SLES10-SP3-i586/CD1".
• Update the system by starting "YaST" ->"Online Update".
• For background information see TID 7001502 - Yast2 online update to SLES10 SP2 / SP3 via NFS fails.
• The procedure for FTP and HTTP repositories is similar:
• Disable the SLES10 SP2 source and SLES10-SP2 update catalog in the YaST Installation Source Menu, as described above.
• Add the new repository by selecting "Add" -> "HTTP" or"FTP", depending on your installation server configuration. Attention: you have to specifiy the path to the patches subdirectory, otherwise YaST Online Update would not work. The path would be for example::

  http://server/instsource/SLES10-SP3-i586/patches

• Update the system by starting "YaST" ->"Online Update".

5) Update by using "Patch CD update" (supported only for SLES, not for SLED!)

A physical CD/DVD drive is required to use this update method. On systems without CD/DVD drives (e.g. System Z) please use a different update method.

The procedure is described in the Installation Notes for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP3. You will find this document in the file README on the first CD. In here, see chapter 5.3. Also make sure that the system is on the latest patch level. At least the latest SPident patch for SLES10-SP2 has to be installed prior to the upgrade to SP3. For further information see TID 7004955.

Please note: The update process should not be executed via remote connection, e.g. via ssh. The reason is the following: while YaST installs the the update packages the network connection is interrupted for a short time. Therefore YaST would be interrrupted.

Also note, that due to a bug in YaST the new SP3 installation- and update sources are not refreshed. For a solution see TID 7000493.

Relationship to Open Enterprise Server 1 (Linux based)

SLES10 itself is not an upgrade from Open Enterprise Server 1 (Linux based) (OES1/Linux). The successor product to OES1/Linux is Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES2), which is an add-on product to SLES10. Refer to the OES2 product documentation for details on upgrading from OES1/Linux to OES2.