Setting up

When you have installed the SUSE Manager for Retail Server and the SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server, 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 the required system group

These are the branch server setup steps:

  1. Assign and configure branch server formulas

  2. Synchronize images to the branch servers

Each procedure is detailed in this section.

Cobbler and SUSE Manager for Retail

Cobbler is not currently supported within SUSE Manager for Retail environments. If you intend to use your installation with SUSE Manager for Retail formulas, do not configure Cobbler.

Install the Build Host and Register It to SUSE Manager

Your build host must be a Salt client, running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 or SP4 for building SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 images (SP4 recommended). For instructions to install Salt clients, see .

The build host must be a Salt client. 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 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 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 Create System Group.

For more information about system groups, see reference:systems/system-groups.adoc.

Install the Branch Server and Register it to SUSE Manager

Your branch server must be a Salt client, running SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0. With a limited feature set, SUSE Manager Proxy 3.2 is also possible.

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

For instructions to install Salt-based proxy clients and register them to SUSE Manager, see installation:install-proxy-unified.adoc.

The activation key should have these channels, pools, and respective updates:

- SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 x86_64
  - Basesystem Module 15 SP1 x86_64
  - Server Applications Module 15 SP1 x86_64
    - SUSE Manager Proxy Module 4.0 x86_64
      - SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server Module 4.0 x86_64

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 .

Procedure: Configuring Branch Server Formulas With a 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 Server

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: Synchronizing Images to the 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.