How to change the Base Product in SLES 15 system

This document (000021665) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 all Service Packs

Situation

After an OS upgrade, there are cases where the base product is not changed and OS updates and patches are not performed properly.

In such cases, registering the base product as the correct version allows OS updates and patches to work normally.

For example, there was a case where the OS was upgraded from SLES 15 SP3 to SLES 15 SP5, but the base product was not updated properly, resulting in OS updates and patches not being performed.

1. After upgrading the OS from SLES 15 SP3 to SLES 15 SP5, the current OS release and kernel show SLES 15 SP5.

# /etc/os-release
NAME="SLES"
VERSION="15-SP5"
VERSION_ID="15.5"
PRETTY_NAME="SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5"
ID="sles"
ID_LIKE="suse"
ANSI_COLOR="0;32"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:suse:sles:15:sp5"
DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://documentation.suse.com/"

# /bin/uname -a
Linux testlab 5.14.21-150500.55.80-default #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Sep 13 11:29:56 UTC 2024 (12b6dd4) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

2. Installed OS release files are still SLES 15 SP3.

#rpm -qa|grep release
...
release-notes-sles                  SUSE Linux Enterprise 15            15.3.20220930-150300.3.29.1
sle-module-basesystem-release       SUSE Linux Enterprise 15            15.3-47.1
sle-module-server-applications-release SUSE Linux Enterprise 15            15.3-47.1
sles-release                        SUSE Linux Enterprise 15            15.3-55.4.1
...

3. Checking the contents of the /etc/products.d/SLES.prod file shows that the current system is still SLES 15 SP3.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<product schemeversion="0">
  <vendor>SUSE</vendor>
  <name>SLES</name>
  <version>15.3</version>
  <baseversion>15</baseversion>
  <patchlevel>3</patchlevel>
  <release>0</release>
  <endoflife></endoflife>
  <arch>x86_64</arch>
  <cpeid>cpe:/o:suse:sles:15:sp3</cpeid>
...

4. Running the zypper update command refers to the SLES 15 SP3 repositories.

# zypper update -y
Refreshing service 'Basesystem_Module_15_SP3_x86_64'.
Refreshing service 'SUSE_Linux_Enterprise_Server_15_SP3_x86_64'.
Refreshing service 'Server_Applications_Module_15_SP3_x86_64'.
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Nothing to do.

5.Even after de-registering and re-registering the system, it is still registered as SLES 15 SP3.

Resolution

Remove all product files in the /etc/products.d directory and install new base product.

1. remove all unnecessary product files from the /etc/products.d directory, especially SLES.prod file.

2. install new product (ex: SLES 15 SP5)

 SUSEConnect -p SLES/15.3/x86_64 -r <ActivationCode> -e <EmailAddress>

3. reregister OS again

 SUSEConnect  -r <ActivationCode> -e <EmailAddress>

Cause

Correct OS product information is required for OS registration.

This information is in /etc/products.d.

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.