Creating the SUSE Manager Tools Repository

A tools repository contains packages for installing Salt on clients, as well as the required packages for registering traditional clients during bootstrapping. You can create a tools repository on the SUSE Manager Server.

When you have created the tools repository, the packages in the repository will be installed during client registration.

Preparing to Create a Tools Repository

Before you create the tools repository, ensure client is fully synchronized with your vendor channel.

There are two ways to check if a channel has finished synchronizing:

  • In the SUSE ManagerWeb UI, navigate to Admin  Setup Wizard and select the SUSE Products tab. This dialog displays a completion bar for each product when they are being synchronized.

  • You can also check the synchronization log file at the command prompt. Use the cat or tail -f command to view the /var/log/rhn/reposync/channel-label.log file. If you use this method, remember that base channels can contain multiple child channels. Each of the child channels will generate its own log during the synchronization progress. You will need to check all the base and child channel log files to be sure that the synchronization is complete.

Generate a Tools Repository

Procedure: Generating the Tools Repository for SUSE Linux Enterprise

  1. At the command prompt on the SUSE Manager Server, as root, list the available bootstrap repositories:

    mgr-create-bootstrap-repo -l

  2. Create the bootstrap repository, using the appropriate repository name as the product label:

    mgr-create-bootstrap-repo -c SLE-version-x86_64

The client tools repository is located in /srv/www/htdocs/pub/repositories/.

Procedure: Specify a Bootstrap Repository

If you have mirrored more than one SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 Product (for example, SLES and SLES for SAP), you can specify the one you are actually interested in.

  1. Check what bootstrap repositories you have available:

    mgr-create-bootstrap-repo -c SLE-15-x86_64 --with-custom-channel
Multiple options for parent channel found. Please use option
--with-parent-channel <label> and choose one of:
- sle-product-sles15-pool-x86_64
- sle-product-sles_sap15-pool-x86_64
- sle-product-sled15-pool-x86_64

  2. Specify the appropriate repository:

    mgr-create-bootstrap-repo -c SLE-15-x86_64 --with-parent-channel sle-product-sled15-pool-x86_64