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Patch catalog - SUSE Linux Catalog

The SUSE Linux Catalog tab defines a number of options including locations (such as location of the source files, the repository, the signature file) as well as filters and whether local copies of the files are created on the target server or downloaded directly during deployment.

Note

After a catalog option update, ensure you update the patch catalog for the catalog option update to take effect.

The following sections provide more information about the SUSE Linux Catalog tab:

Catalog Mode

Select one of two options:

  • Source from Vendor (Online Mode): Use this mode if the BMC Server Automation Application Server is installed on a server with Internet access.
  • Source from Disk Repository (Offline Mode): Use this mode in a secured environment where download occurs on a server, with Internet access, outside of the environment.

SUSE Linux Network Credentials

If you selected Source from Vendor (Online Mode), enter the user name and password used to access the vendor website. Select one or both of the following options:

  • Novell Credentials: Set these credentials to connect to SUSE Linux Enterprise 9 URLs.

  • Novell Mirror Credentials: Set these credentials to connect to SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 and SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 mirror URLs.

    Notes

    • If you want to specify the filters for SUSE Linux Enterprise 9 and for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 and SUSE Linux Enterprise 11, as described in the Filters for Online mode section, set both the Novell Credentials and the Novell Mirror Credentials.
    • You can also specify the Novell Credentials and the Novell Mirror Credentials via the Patch Global Configuration tab. In this case, the credentials you specify are automatically populated in the SuSE Linux Catalog tab when you are creating a new SUSE catalog in online mode. You can override the credentials specified via the Patch Global Configuration tab by specifying a different set of credentials in the SuSE Linux Catalog tab.

Repository Options

Enter the following information:

Field

Description

Payload Source Location (NSH Path)

(Offline Only) Location of the XML files generated by the downloader and the corresponding payload files
Metadata files stored in this location are copied to the catalog automatically. Payload files are not copied to the catalog.
To support sourcing of vendor-supplied media, run the BMC Patch Downloader utility using the -createRepo option. This option creates the repository with the necessary metadata file. Then identify the source location here.

Repository Location (NSH Path)

NSH path to the patch repository. This location can be on a Linux platform (Red Hat, SUSE or Oracle Enterprise Linux). However BMC strongly recommends that this location be on a SUSE platform, because some SUSE-specific patches need to be stored only on a SUSE repository server.

Also, ensure that the repository server has ample free space. Repositories typically contain many files, usually totaling gigabytes of data.

(For Online mode only) Novell Networks provides the following repositories per Service Pack release: Updates, Online, and Pool. For details about the repositories, see the following link:
http://www.novell.com/support/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=7005899&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_TID_1_1&dialogID=104000207&stateId=0%200%20207543595.

Depot Object Options

Enter the following information:

Field

Description

Network URL Type for Payload Deployment

  • (default) Copy to agent at staging: During the Deploy Job staging phase, the BMC Server Automation Application Server copies patch payloads to a staging directory on the target server.
  • Agent mounts source for direct use at deployment (no local copy): A Deploy Job instructs the agent on a target server to mount the device specified in the URL and deploy patch payloads directly to the agent. Selecting this option means the Deploy Job does not copy patch payloads to a staging area on the agent, so the job does not create any local copies of the patches on target servers.

Network URL for payload deployment

The value entered here depends on your selection in the Network URL Type for Payload Deployment box.

  • If you chose Copy to agent at staging, do not enter a value here. The value is autopopulated based on the repository location.
  • if you chose Agent mounts source for direct use at deployment (no local copy), enter the NFS-accessible path to the location of the payload.

RBAC Policy

Browse to select a predefined ACL Policy. Permissions defined by the ACL Policy are assigned to all Depot Objects created in the catalog.

Filters

Filters limit the amount of information brought into the catalog. Use this procedure to re-create the same filters defined in the configuration file used by the Patch Downloader utility. You can define a filter during catalog creation or later, when editing the catalog.There is no upper limit to the number of filter combinations you can create, but you must create at least one. Only those RPMs that match the combinations that you define (and their dependent RPMs) are added to the catalog.
 To begin, you click Add Filter (as shown in the following figure), and then you provide values for the following options:

  • OS Flavor: Select the combination operating system and architecture from the list provided.
  • OS: The operating system, based on your selection in the OS Flavor box, is supplied automatically in a read-only box.
  • Architecture: The architecture, based on your selected in the OS Flavor box, is supplied automatically in a read-only box. 
  • OS Level: The operating system level of the files to be downloaded.

(Online Only) In Online mode, the SUSE filter XML file contains the following URLs for a combination of OS and Architecture: Online, Updates, and Pool. Depending on which updates need to be downloaded, select one or more of the following options:

  • Updates: The latest updates for the specified OS level. If you select the Updates option, you must ensure that your target is at the OS level for which you require the updates. For example, if you select the Update option for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP1, you must upgrade your target to SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP1 before applying the updates.
  • Online: Updates from the previous OS level to the specified OS level. You must use the Online option only when you want to bring your target from the existing OS level to the next OS level. For example, you must use the Online option if you want to bring your target from SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP2 to SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP3.

  • Pool: All the updates until the specified OS level. For an OS-Architecture combination, if you require the updates from an OS level to the next or the latest OS level, you must use the Pool option. For example, you must use the Pool option if you want to bring your target from SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP1 to SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4.

    Note

    The Pool option includes the updates provided in the Online option, so selecting the Online option and the Pool option together is not required.

Note

On the Patch Global Configuration tab, you may also specify the SUSE override filters list file by performing the following steps:

  • Import the file into the Depot workspace
  • Point to this Depot path on the Patch Global Configuration tab.
     The drop-down list for Service Packs in the SUSE Linux Catalog tab displays only the service packs specified in the SUSE filters list file.
    g_v95_SUSE_onlineFilters.gif

 

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