Setting up

When you have installed the SUSE Manager for Retail packages, you need to set up your environment by following these steps:

  1. Install the build host and register it to SUSE Manager

  2. Configure the build host

  3. Create required system group

Branch server installation steps:

  1. Install the branch server and register it to SUSE Manager

  2. Assign and configure branch server formulas

  3. Synchronize images to the branch servers

Each procedure is detailed in this section.

Install the build host and register it to SUSE Manager

Your build host should be a Salt minion, running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3. For instructions to install Salt minion see https://www.suse.com/documentation/suse-manager-3/3.2/susemanager-getting-started/html/book.suma.getting-started/preparing.and.registering.clients.html

The build host must be a Salt minion. Do not install the build host as a traditionally managed client.

Configure the build host

The build host must be set as an OS Image build host in the SUSE Manager Web UI, and highstate applied.

Procedure: Configuring the build host
  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Systems  Overview. Locate the system to be made a build host, and click on its name.

  2. In the System Properties window, click Edit These Properties.

  3. In the Edit System Details window, ensure the OS Image Build Host option is checked, and click Update Properties to save your changes.

  4. Select the States tab, and navigate to the Highstate window.

  5. In the States tab, click Apply Highstate.

Check that the build host has these packages installed after you have run Highstate:

  • kiwi

  • kiwi-desc-saltboot

If any package is missing, make sure the SUSE Manager 3.2 Tools repository is available on the build host and install any missing packages manually using zypper install.

Create required system groups

SUSE Manager for Retail requires system groups for terminals and servers. Manually create these system groups during installation:

  • TERMINALS

  • SERVERS

Additionally, you will need to create a system group for each branch server, and each terminal hardware type in your environment.

You can create system groups using the SUSE Manager Web UI. Navigate to Systems  System Groups and click on Create System Group.

Install the branch server and register it to SUSE Manager

Your branch server should be installed as a default Salt-based client ("minion"), running SUSE Manager Proxy 3.2.

Do not install the branch server as a traditionally managed client.

The activation key should have the following channels:

- SLES 12 SP3 (SP4 in the future) as a base
  - SLES Pool
    - SLES Update
- SUSE Manager 3.2 Tools
  - SUSE Manager 3.2 Tools Pool
    - SUSE Manager 3.2 Tools Update
- SUSE Manager 3.2 Proxy
  - SUSE Manager 3.2 Proxy Pool
    - SUSE Manager 3.2 Proxy Update
- SUSE Manager 3.2 Proxy for Retail
  - SUSE Manager 3.2 Proxy for Retail Pool
    - SUSE Manager 3.2 Proxy for Retail Update

For mass deployments, see retail:retail-mass-config.adoc.

When you are installing the branch server with a dedicated internal network, check that you are using the same fully qualified domain name (FQDN) on both the external and internal branch networks. If the FQDN does not match on both networks, the branch server will not be recognized as a proxy server.

Assign and configure branch server formulas

Before you configure the branch server, ensure you have decided on networking topology, and know the Salt ID of the branch server.

The branch server can be configured automatically using the retail_branch_init command, as shown in this section. If you prefer to manually configure the branch server, you can do so using formulas. For more information about formulas, see retail:retail-formulas.adoc.

Procedure: Configuring branch server formulas using helper script
  1. Branch server configuration is performed using the retail_branch_init command:

    retail_branch_init <branch_server_salt_id>

    This command will configure branch server formulas with recommended values. You can use the retail_branch_init --help command for additional options.

  2. Verify that your changes have been configured correctly by checking the SUSE Manager Web UI branch server system formulas.

  3. Apply highstate on the branch server. You can do this through the Web UI, or by running this command:

    salt <branch_server_salt_id> state.apply

Synchronize images to the branch servers

The OS image you use on the SUSE Manager server must be synchronized for use on the branch server. You can do this with the Salt image-sync tool.

Procedure: Synchronize images with branch server
  1. On the SUSE Manager server, run this command:

    salt <branch_server_salt_id> state.apply image-sync
  2. The image details will be transferred to /srv/saltboot on the branch server.

Terminals based on SLES 11 SP 3

POS Terminals based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP 3 can be deployed in much the same way as other terminals, with a few differences.

  • You must use the SLES 11 template

  • SLES 11 images need to be activated with the SLES11 SP3 i586 and SLEPOS 11 SP3 i586 channels

Ensure that SLES 11 images are built on the SLES 11 build host, and SLES 12 images are built on the SLES 12 build host. Building on the incorrect build host will cause your build to fail.

If you are building images for SLES 11 using profiles from an HTTPS git repository that uses TLS 1.0 or greater, it will fail. SLES 11 does not support later versions of TLS. You will need to clone the repository locally in order to use it for building.