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Administration Guide

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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2

Administration Guide

Covers system administration tasks like maintaining, monitoring and customizing an initially installed system.

Publication Date: October 19, 2016

About This Guide

Available Documentation
Feedback
Documentation Conventions
About the Making of This Documentation

I Common Tasks

1 Bash and Bash Scripts

1.1 What is “The Shell”?
1.2 Writing Shell Scripts
1.3 Redirecting Command Events
1.4 Using Aliases
1.5 Using Variables in Bash
1.6 Grouping and Combining Commands
1.7 Working with Common Flow Constructs
1.8 For More Information

2.1 Basic sudo Usage
2.2 Configuring sudo
2.3 Common Use Cases
2.4 More Information

3 YaST Online Update

3.1 The Online Update Dialog
3.2 Installing Patches
3.3 Automatic Online Update

4 YaST in Text Mode

4.1 Navigation in Modules
4.2 Restriction of Key Combinations
4.3 YaST Command Line Options

5 Managing Software with Command Line Tools

5.1 Using Zypper
5.2 RPM—the Package Manager

6 System Recovery and Snapshot Management with Snapper

6.1 Default Setup
6.2 Using Snapper to Undo Changes
6.3 System Rollback by Booting from Snapshots
6.4 Creating and Modifying Snapper Configurations
6.5 Manually Creating and Managing Snapshots
6.6 Automatic Snapshot Clean-Up
6.7 Frequently Asked Questions

7 Remote Access with VNC

7.1 The vncviewer Client
7.2 One-time VNC Sessions
7.3 Persistent VNC Sessions

8 File Synchronization

8.1 Available Data Synchronization Software
8.2 Determining Factors for Selecting a Program
8.3 Introduction to CVS
8.4 Introduction to rsync
8.5 For More Information

9 32-Bit and 64-Bit Applications in a 64-Bit System Environment

9.1 Runtime Support
9.2 Software Development
9.3 Software Compilation on Biarch Platforms
9.4 Kernel Specifications

10 Booting a Linux System

10.1 The Linux Boot Process
10.2 initramfs
10.3 Init on initramfs

11 The Boot Loader GRUB 2

11.1 Main Differences between GRUB Legacy and GRUB 2
11.2 Configuration File Structure
11.3 Configuring the Boot Loader with YaST
11.4 Differences in Terminal Usage on z Systems
11.5 Helpful GRUB 2 Commands
11.6 More Information

12 UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)

12.1 Secure Boot
12.2 For More Information

13 The systemd Daemon

13.1 The systemd Concept
13.2 Basic Usage
13.3 System Start and Target Management
13.4 Managing Services with YaST
13.5 Customization of systemd
13.6 Advanced Usage
13.7 More Information

14 journalctl: Query the systemd Journal

14.1 Making the Journal Persistent
14.2 journalctl Useful Switches
14.3 Filtering the Journal Output
14.4 Investigating systemd Errors
14.5 Journald Configuration
14.6 Using YaST to Filter the systemd Journal

15 Basic Networking

15.1 IP Addresses and Routing
15.2 IPv6—The Next Generation Internet
15.3 Name Resolution
15.4 Configuring a Network Connection with YaST
15.5 Configuring a Network Connection Manually
15.6 Basic Router Setup
15.7 Setting Up Bonding Devices
15.8 Setting Up Team Devices for Network Teaming
15.9 Software-Defined Networking with Open vSwitch

16 Printer Operation

16.1 The CUPS Workflow
16.2 Methods and Protocols for Connecting Printers
16.3 Installing the Software
16.4 Network Printers
16.5 Configuring CUPS with Command Line Tools
16.6 Printing from the Command Line
16.7 Special Features in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
16.8 Troubleshooting

17 The X Window System

17.1 Installing and Configuring Fonts
17.2 For More Information

18 Accessing File Systems with FUSE

18.1 Configuring FUSE
18.2 Mounting an NTFS Partition
18.3 For More Information

19 Dynamic Kernel Device Management with udev

19.1 The /dev Directory
19.2 Kernel uevents and udev
19.3 Drivers, Kernel Modules and Devices
19.4 Booting and Initial Device Setup
19.5 Monitoring the Running udev Daemon
19.6 Influencing Kernel Device Event Handling with udev Rules
19.7 Persistent Device Naming
19.8 Files used by udev
19.9 For More Information

20 Live Patching the Linux Kernel Using kGraft

20.1 Advantages of kGraft
20.2 Low-level Function of kGraft
20.3 Installing kGraft Patches
20.4 Removing a kGraft Patch
20.5 Stuck Kernel Execution Threads
20.6 The kgr Tool
20.7 Scope of kGraft Technology
20.8 Scope of SLE Live Patching
20.9 Interaction with the Support Processes

21 Special System Features

21.1 Information about Special Software Packages
21.2 Virtual Consoles
21.3 Keyboard Mapping
21.4 Language and Country-Specific Settings

III Services

22 Time Synchronization with NTP

22.1 Configuring an NTP Client with YaST
22.2 Manually Configuring NTP in the Network
22.3 Dynamic Time Synchronization at Runtime
22.4 Setting Up a Local Reference Clock
22.5 Clock Synchronization to an External Time Reference (ETR)

23 The Domain Name System

23.1 DNS Terminology
23.2 Installation
23.3 Configuration with YaST
23.4 Starting the BIND Name Server
23.5 The /etc/named.conf Configuration File
23.6 Zone Files
23.7 Dynamic Update of Zone Data
23.8 Secure Transactions
23.9 DNS Security
23.10 For More Information

24.1 Configuring a DHCP Server with YaST
24.2 DHCP Software Packages
24.3 The DHCP Server dhcpd
24.4 For More Information

25 Sharing File Systems with NFS

25.1 Terminology
25.2 Installing NFS Server
25.3 Configuring NFS Server
25.4 Configuring Clients
25.5 For More Information

26.1 Terminology
26.2 Installing a Samba Server
26.3 Starting and Stopping Samba
26.4 Configuring a Samba Server
26.5 Configuring Clients
26.6 Samba as Login Server
26.7 Samba Server in the Network with Active Directory
26.8 Advanced Topics
26.9 For More Information

27 On-Demand Mounting with Autofs

27.1 Installation
27.2 Configuration
27.3 Operation and Debugging
27.4 Auto-Mounting an NFS Share
27.5 Advanced Topics

28.1 The SLP Front-End slptool
28.2 Providing Services via SLP
28.3 For More Information

29 The Apache HTTP Server

29.1 Quick Start
29.2 Configuring Apache
29.3 Starting and Stopping Apache
29.4 Installing, Activating, and Configuring Modules
29.5 Enabling CGI Scripts
29.6 Setting Up a Secure Web Server with SSL
29.7 Running Multiple Apache Instances on the Same Server
29.8 Avoiding Security Problems
29.9 Troubleshooting
29.10 For More Information

30 Setting Up an FTP Server with YaST

30.1 Starting the FTP Server
30.2 FTP General Settings
30.3 FTP Performance Settings
30.4 Authentication
30.5 Expert Settings
30.6 For More Information

31 The Proxy Server Squid

31.1 Some Facts about Proxy Caches
31.2 System Requirements
31.3 Basic Usage of Squid
31.4 The /etc/squid/squid.conf Configuration File
31.5 Configuring a Transparent Proxy
31.6 Using the Squid Cache Manager CGI Interface (cachemgr.cgi)
31.7 squidGuard
31.8 Cache Report Generation with Calamaris
31.9 For More Information

32 Web Based Enterprise Management Using SFCB

32.1 Introduction and Basic Concept
32.2 Setting Up SFCB
32.3 SFCB CIMOM Configuration
32.4 Advanced SFCB Tasks
32.5 For More Information

IV Mobile Computers

33 Mobile Computing with Linux

33.1 Laptops
33.2 Mobile Hardware
33.3 Cellular Phones and PDAs
33.4 For More Information

34 Using NetworkManager

34.1 Use Cases for NetworkManager
34.2 Enabling or Disabling NetworkManager
34.3 Configuring Network Connections
34.4 NetworkManager and Security
34.5 Frequently Asked Questions
34.6 Troubleshooting
34.7 For More Information

35 Power Management

35.1 Power Saving Functions
35.2 Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)
35.3 Rest for the Hard Disk
35.4 Troubleshooting
35.5 For More Information

V Troubleshooting

36 Help and Documentation

36.1 Documentation Directory
36.2 Man Pages
36.3 Info Pages
36.4 Online Resources

37 Gathering System Information for Support

37.1 Displaying Current System Information
37.2 Collecting System Information with Supportconfig
37.3 Submitting Information to Global Technical Support
37.4 Analyzing System Information
37.5 Gathering Information During the Installation
37.6 Support of Kernel Modules
37.7 For More Information

38 Common Problems and Their Solutions

38.1 Finding and Gathering Information
38.2 Installation Problems
38.3 Boot Problems
38.4 Login Problems
38.5 Network Problems
38.6 Data Problems
38.7 IBM z Systems: Using initrd as a Rescue System

A Documentation Updates

A.1 November 2016 (Initial Release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2)
A.2 March 2016 (Maintenance Release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1)
A.3 December 2015 (Initial Release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1)
A.4 February 2015 (Documentation Maintenance Update)
A.5 October 2014 (Initial Release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12)

B An Example Network

C GNU Licenses

C.1 GNU Free Documentation License

List of Figures

3.1 YaST Online Update
4.1 Main Window of YaST in Text Mode
4.2 The Software Installation Module
6.1 Boot Loader: Snapshots
7.1 vncviewer
11.1 GRUB 2 Boot Editor
11.2 Boot Code Options
11.3 Boot loader Options
11.4 Kernel Parameters
11.5 Code Options
12.1 Secure Boot Support
12.2 UEFI: Secure Boot Process
13.1 Services Manager
14.1 YaST systemd Journal
15.1 Simplified Layer Model for TCP/IP
15.2 TCP/IP Ethernet Packet
15.3 Configuring Network Settings
15.4 wicked architecture
22.1 YaST: NTP Server
22.2 Advanced NTP Configuration: Security Settings
23.1 DNS Server Installation: Forwarder Settings
23.2 DNS Server Installation: DNS Zones
23.3 DNS Server Installation: Finish Wizard
23.4 DNS Server: Logging
23.5 DNS Server: Zone Editor (Basics)
23.6 DNS Server: Zone Editor (NS Records)
23.7 DNS Server: Zone Editor (MX Records)
23.8 DNS Server: Zone Editor (SOA)
23.9 Adding a Record for a Master Zone
23.10 Adding a Reverse Zone
23.11 Adding a Reverse Record
24.1 DHCP Server: Card Selection
24.2 DHCP Server: Global Settings
24.3 DHCP Server: Dynamic DHCP
24.4 DHCP Server: Start-Up
24.5 DHCP Server: Host Management
24.6 DHCP Server: Chroot Jail and Declarations
24.7 DHCP Server: Selecting a Declaration Type
24.8 DHCP Server: Configuring Subnets
24.9 DHCP Server: TSIG Configuration
24.10 DHCP Server: Interface Configuration for Dynamic DNS
24.11 DHCP Server: Network Interface and Firewall
25.1 NFS Server Configuration Tool
26.1 Determining Windows Domain Membership
26.2 Windows Explorer Advanced Attributes Dialog
26.3 Windows Explorer Directory Listing with Compressed Files
26.4 Adding a New Samba Share with Snapshotting Enabled
26.5 The Previous Versions tab in Windows Explorer
29.1 HTTP Server Wizard: Default Host
29.2 HTTP Server Wizard: Summary
29.3 HTTP Server Configuration: Listen Ports and Addresses
29.4 HTTP Server Configuration: Server Modules
30.1 FTP Server Configuration — Start-Up
32.1 Package Selection for Web-Based Enterprise Management Pattern
32.2 Package selection of additional CIM providers
33.1 Integrating a Mobile Computer in an Existing Environment
34.1 GNOME Network Connections Dialog
37.1 HTML Report Generated by SCA Tool
37.2 HTML Report Generated by SCA Appliance
38.1 Checking Media
38.2 US Keyboard Layout

List of Tables

1.1 Bash Configuration Files for Login Shells
1.2 Bash Configuration Files for Non-Login Shells
1.3 Special Files for Bash
1.4 Overview of a Standard Directory Tree
1.5 Useful Environment Variables
2.1 Useful Flags and Options
5.1 The Most Important RPM Query Options
5.2 RPM Verify Options
8.1 Features of the File Synchronization Tools: -- = very poor, - = poor or not available, o = medium, + = good, ++ = excellent, x = available
13.1 Service Management Commands
13.2 Commands for Enabling and Disabling Services
13.3 System V Runlevels and systemd Target Units
15.1 Private IP Address Domains
15.2 Parameters for /etc/host.conf
15.3 Databases Available via /etc/nsswitch.conf
15.4 Configuration Options for NSS “Databases”
17.1 Generating PFL from Fontconfig rules
17.2 Results from Generating PFL from Fontconfig Rules with Changed Order
17.3 Results from Generating PFL from Fontconfig Rules
21.1 ulimit: Setting Resources for the User
32.1 Commands for Managing sfcbd
33.1 Use Cases for NetworkManager
33.2 Overview of Various Wi-Fi Standards
36.1 Man Pages—Categories and Descriptions
38.1 Log Files
38.2 System Information With the /proc File System
38.3 System Information With the /sys File System

List of Examples

1.1 A Shell Script Printing a Text
5.1 Zypper—List of Known Repositories
5.2 rpm -q -i wget
5.3 Script to Search for Packages
6.1 Keep the Last 10 Important and Regular Snapshots Regardless of Age
6.2 Only Keep Snapshots Younger Than Ten Days
6.3 Example timeline configuration
11.1 Usage of grub2-mkconfig
11.2 Usage of grub2-mkrescue
11.3 Usage of grub2-script-check
11.4 Usage of grub2-once
13.1 List Active Services
13.2 List Failed Services
13.3 List all Processes Belonging to a Service
15.1 Writing IP Addresses
15.2 Linking IP Addresses to the Netmask
15.3 Sample IPv6 Address
15.4 IPv6 Address Specifying the Prefix Length
15.5 Common Network Interfaces and Some Static Routes
15.6 /etc/resolv.conf
15.7 /etc/hosts
15.8 /etc/networks
15.9 /etc/host.conf
15.10 /etc/nsswitch.conf
15.11 Output of the Command ping
15.12 Configuration for Loadbalancing with Network Teaming
15.13 Configuration for DHCP Network Teaming Device
16.1 Error Message from lpd
16.2 Broadcast from the CUPS Network Server
17.1 Specifying Rendering Algorithms
17.2 Aliases and Family Name Substitutions
17.3 Aliases and Family Name Substitutions
17.4 Aliases and Family Names Substitutions
19.1 Example udev Rules
21.1 Entry in /etc/crontab
21.2 /etc/crontab: Remove Time Stamp Files
21.3 Example for /etc/logrotate.conf
21.4 ulimit: Settings in ~/.bashrc
23.1 Forwarding Options in named.conf
23.2 A Basic /etc/named.conf
23.3 Entry to Disable Logging
23.4 Zone Entry for example.com
23.5 Zone Entry for example.net
23.6 The /var/lib/named/example.com.zone File
23.7 Reverse Lookup
24.1 The Configuration File /etc/dhcpd.conf
24.2 Additions to the Configuration File
26.1 A CD-ROM Share
26.2 [homes] Share
26.3 Global Section in smb.conf
26.4 Using rpcclient to Request a Windows Server 2012 Share Snapshot
29.1 Basic Examples of Name-Based VirtualHost Entries
29.2 Name-Based VirtualHost Directives
29.3 IP-Based VirtualHost Directives
29.4 Basic VirtualHost Configuration
29.5 VirtualHost CGI Configuration
31.1 A Request With squidclient
31.2 Defining ACL Rules
37.1 Output of hostinfo When Logging In as root

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