13 Life Cycle and Support
Abstract#
If you are not familiar with SUSE Linux Enterprise updates, upgrades and service packs in general, this chapter will give you some background information on terminology, SUSE product lifecycles and Service Pack releases, and recommended upgrade policies.
13.1 Terminology #
This section uses several terms. To understand the information, read the definitions below:
- Backporting
Backporting is the act of adapting specific changes from a newer version of software and applying it to an older version. The most commonly used case is fixing security holes in older software components. Usually it is also part of a maintenance model to supply enhancements or (less commonly) new features.
- Delta RPM
A delta RPM consists only of the binary diff between two defined versions of a package, and therefore has the smallest download size. Before being installed, the full RPM package is rebuilt on the local machine.
- Downstream
A metaphor of how software is developed in the open source world (compare it with upstream). The term downstream refers to people or organizations like SUSE who integrate the source code from upstream with other software to build a distribution which is then used by end users. Thus, the software flows downstream from its developers via the integrators to the end users.
- Extensions, Add-On Products
Extensions and third party add-on products provide additional functionality of product value to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. They are provided by SUSE and by SUSE partners, and they are registered and installed on top of the base product SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.
- Major Release, General Availability (GA) Version
The Major Release of SUSE Linux Enterprise (or any software product) is a new version which brings new features and tools, decommissions previously deprecated components and comes with backward-incompatible changes.
- Migration
Updating to a Service Pack (SP) by using the online update tools or an installation medium to install the respective patches. It updates all packages of the installed system to the latest state.
- Migration Targets
Set of compatible products to which a system can be migrated, containing the version of the products/extensions and the URL of the repository. Migration targets can change over time and depend on installed extensions. Multiple migration targets can be selected, for example SLE 12 SP2 and SES2 or SLE 12 SP2 and SES3.
- Modules
Modules are fully supported parts of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop with a different life cycle. They have a clearly defined scope and are delivered via online channel only. Registering at the SUSE Customer Center, SMT (Subscription Management Tool), or SUSE Manager is a prerequisite for being able to subscribe to these channels.
- Package
A package is a compressed file in
rpmformat that contains all files for a particular program, including optional components like configuration, examples, and documentation.- Patch
A patch consists of one or more packages and may be applied by means of delta RPMs. It may also introduce dependencies to packages that are not installed yet.
- Service Packs (SP)
Combines several patches into a form that is easy to install or deploy. Service packs are numbered and usually contain security fixes, updates, upgrades, or enhancements of programs.
- Upstream
A metaphor of how software is developed in the open source world (compare it with downstream). The term upstream refers to the original project, author or maintainer of a software that is distributed as source code. Feedback, patches, feature enhancements, or other improvements flow from end users or contributors to upstream developers. They decide if the request will be integrated or rejected.
If the project members decide to integrate the request, it will show up in newer versions of the software. An accepted request will benefit all parties involved.
If a request is not accepted, it may be for different reasons. Either it is in a state that is not compliant with the project's guidelines, it is invalid, it is already integrated, or it is not in the interest or roadmap of the project. An unaccepted request makes it harder for upstream developers as they need to synchronize their patches with the upstream code. This practice is generally avoided, but sometimes it is still needed.
- Update
Installation of a newer minor version of a package, which usually contains security or bug fixes.
- Upgrade
Installation of a newer major version of a package or distribution, which brings new features.
13.2 Product Life Cycle #
SUSE has the following life cycle for products:
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server has a 13-year life-cycle: 10 years of general support and 3 years of extended support.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop has a 10-year life-cycle: 7 years of general support and 3 years of extended support.
Major releases are made every 4 years. Service packs are made every 12-14 months.
SUSE supports previous service packs for 6 months after the release of the new service pack. Figure 13.1, “Major Releases and Service Packs” depicts some mentioned aspects.
Figure 13.1: Major Releases and Service Packs #
If you need additional time to design, validate and test your upgrade plans, Long Term Service Pack Support can extend the support you get by an additional 12 to 36 months in 12-month increments, giving you a total of between 2 and 5 years of support on any service pack (see Figure 13.2, “Long Term Service Pack Support”).
Figure 13.2: Long Term Service Pack Support #
For more information refer to https://www.suse.com/products/long-term-service-pack-support/.
13.3 Support Levels #
The range for extended support levels starts from year 10 and ends in year 13. These contain continued L3 engineering level diagnosis and reactive critical bug fixes. These support levels proactively update trivial local root exploits in Kernel or other root exploits directly executable without user interaction. Furthermore they support existing workloads, software stacks, and hardware with limited package exclusion list. Find an overview in Table 13.1, “Security Updates and Bug Fixes”.
Table 13.1: Security Updates and Bug Fixes #
|
General Support for Most Recent Service Pack (SP) |
General Support for Previous SP, with LTSS |
Extended Support with LTSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Feature |
Year 1-5 |
Year 6-7 |
Year 8-10 |
Year 4-10 |
Year 10-13 |
|
Technical Services |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Access to Patches and Fixes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Access to Documentation and Knowledge Base |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Support for Existing Stacks and Workloads |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Support for New Deployments |
Yes |
Yes |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
No |
|
Enhancement Requests |
Yes |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
No |
No |
|
Hardware Enablement and Optimization |
Yes |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
No |
No |
|
Driver updates via SUSE SolidDriver Program (formerly PLDP) |
Yes |
Yes |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
No |
|
Backport of Fixes from recent SP |
Yes |
Yes |
Limited (Based on partner and customer requests) |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Critical Security Updates |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Defect Resolution |
Yes |
Yes |
Limited (Severity Level 1 and 2 defects only) |
Limited (Severity Level 1 and 2 defects only) |
Limited (Severity Level 1 and 2 defects only) |
13.4 Repository Model #
The repository layout corresponds to the product lifecycles. Table 13.2, “Repository Layout for SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 SP3/SP4 and for SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP1” contains a list of all relevant repositories.
Table 13.2: Repository Layout for SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 SP3/SP4 and for SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP1 #
|
Type |
SLES |
SLED | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Required Repositories |
11 SP3
11 SP4
12
12 SP1
12 SP2
|
11 SP3
11 SP4
12
12 SP1
12 SP2
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Optional Repositories |
11 SP3
12
12 SP1
12 SP2
|
11 SP3
12
12 SP1
12 SP2
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Module Specific Repositories |
12/12 SP1/12 SP2
|
12/12 SP1/12 SP2 Currently, there are no modules for SLED. |
Description of Required Repositories #
- Updates
Maintenance updates to packages in the corresponding
CoreorPoolrepository.- Pool
Containing all binary RPMs from the installation media, plus pattern information and support status metadata.
Description of Optional Repositories #
- Debuginfo-Pool, Debuginfo-Updates
These repositories contain static content. Of these two, only the
Debuginfo-Updatesrepository receives updates. Enable these repositories if you need to install libraries with debug information in case of an issue.
13.4.1 Origin of Packages #
SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 SP3/SP4.
With the update to SP3 there are only two repositories available:
SLED11-SP3-Pool
and
SLED11-SP3-Updates.
Since SP4, any previous repositories are not visible anymore.
SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 and SP1/SP2.
With the update to SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 there are only two repositories available:
SLED12-GA-Pool
and
SLED12-GA-Updates.
Any previous repositories from SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 are disabled.
13.4.2 Register and Unregister Repositories with SUSEConnect #
On registration, the system receives repositories from the SUSE Customer Center (see
https://scc.suse.com/) or a local registration proxy like SMT.
The repository names map to specific URIs in the customer center. To list
all available repositories on your system, use zypper as
follows:
root #zypperrepos -u
This gives you a list of all available repositories on your system. Each
repository is listed by its alias, name and whether it is enabled and will
be refreshed. The option -u gives you also the URI from
where it originated.
To register your machine, run SUSEConnect, for example:
root #SUSEConnect-r REGCODE
If you want to unregister your machine, from SP1 and above you can use SUSEConnect too:
root #SUSEConnect--de-register
To check your locally installed products and their status, use the following command:
root #SUSEConnect-s
13.4.3 IBM POWER: Starting an X-Server #
On SLES 12 for IBM POWER the display manager is configured not to start a local X-Server by default. This setting was reversed on SLES 12 SP1—the display manager now starts an X-Server.
To avoid problems during upgrade, the SLE-12 setting is not changed
automatically. If you want the display manager to start an X-Server after
the upgrade, change the setting of
DISPLAYMANAGER_STARTS_XSERVER in
/etc/sysconfig/displaymanager as follows:
DISPLAYMANAGER_STARTS_XSERVER="yes"