SUSE Manager Server encounters zypper errors while Package Hub is enabled

This document (000021325) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Manager
SUSE Manager Proxy

Situation

On the SUSE Manager server, zypper errors are seen when attempting to install or update packages and while the Package Hub repositories are enabled. These errors may relate to package conflicts, file conflicts, or dependencies that can not be provided.

Resolution

This issue may be resolved by disabling the Package Hub repositories and ensuring that the packages used by SUSE Manager are provided by supported repositories and not from the Package Hub. If you need to access the Package Hub repositories in the future, these repositories can be enabled again while the necessary packages or updates are accessed, and then the repositories should be disabled again. While the Package Hub repositories are enabled, care should be taken to ensure that no supported packages are replaced by unsupported Package Hub versions.

The most efficient way to replace the unsupported packages with supported versions is to:

1. Disable the Package Hub repositories.

You can disable the Package Hub repositories by disabling the product with the SUSEConnect command. For example, to disable Package Hub on SUSE Manager 4.3:

SUSEConnect -d -p PackageHub/15.4/x86_64

For other versions of SUSE Manager, run this to find out the command that will disable Package Hub:

SUSEConnect --list-extensions

2. Ensure that only the supported repositories are enabled on the SUSE Manager server.

The supported repositories that should be enabled on the SUSE Manager server are the 'pool' and 'updates' repositories for the SUSE Manager product and for the modules SUSE Manager, Basesystem, Server Applications, and Web Scripting. These are the repositories that are enabled when the server is activated. If any third party repositories are enabled, these should be disabled during normal updates so that packages from these repositories don't replace any important supported packages.

Once the Package Hub repositories are disabled and only the supported repositories are enabled, the distribution upgrade can be run to replace the unsupported packages with supported versions. The distribution upgrade will upgrade, downgrade, and uninstall packages until all packages that are installed on the server are provided by the repositories that the server is currently subscribed to. This will cause packages that are not provided by supported repositories to be uninstalled, so if you need any packages that only come from the Package Hub these will need to be installed after this issue is resolved.

3. Perform a distribution upgrade.

You can perform the distribution upgrade with this command:

zypper dup

Cause

The packages that are available in Package Hub repositories are not supported by SUSE Support and are not designed to be compatible with SUSE Manager. Some packages that are available in repositories supported for SUSE Manager are also available in the Package Hub, and the Package Hub versions may have higher version numbers than the ones available in SUSE Manager channels. This is due to the way updates are backported to the packages used by SUSE Manager.

If the Package Hub repositories are enabled while the packages on the SUSE Manager server are updated, or while new packages are installed on the SUSE Manager server, this may cause supported packages to be replaced by the unsupported version coming from the Package Hub repositories. The Package Hub packages may be packaged in a way that is incompatible with the SUSE Manager product, or the packages may provide software that is not configured with SUSE Manager in mind, and this can lead to a variety of different issues impacting SUSE Manager functionality and ability to update.

Additional Information

Documentation on updating with Zypper: https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP5/html/SLES-all/cha-sw-cl.html#sec-zypper-softup

Documentation on using managing repositories with Zypper: https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP5/html/SLES-all/cha-sw-cl.html#sec-zypper-instrepo

Documentation on updating SUSE Manager: https://documentation.suse.com/suma/4.3/en/suse-manager/installation-and-upgrade/server-z.html

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.