SUSE Enterprise Linux

SUSE Enterprise Linux

Summary

Indiana University has signed a site license agreement with Novell. This agreement covers the use of SUSE Linux by Indiana University students, faculty and staff. The license agreement provides access to the following SUSE products: Novell Linux Desktop 9, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server(SLES) 9 and 10 for all supported platforms, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop(SLED) 10. Media will be available for checkout from the USSG, as well as in ISO format for download to university systems.

Installation

First you will need to install your system from media. You can checkout this media from the USSG media library, or you can download the ISO images to an IU workstation and burn your own discs. The ISO images are available on the internal ftp server here: ftp://iu-only.ussg.iu.edu/suse/

Note: At the end of the install process you will want to skip the Internet connetion test

Acivation(SLED/SLES 10)

After you have completed the install process and have verified that your network works you will need to activate your system using the activation code found at https://www.ussg.iu.edu/keys/suse(IU Network ID Required).

  1. Click on the Computer icon in the left hand corner of the desktop.
  2. Click on the Control Center icon.
  3. Click Open Administrator Settings. You may be prompted for root's password.
  4. Click Novell Customer Center Configuration
  5. Select Configure Now and click Next. You should leave the Hardware Profile and Optional Information boxes checked.
  6. Click continue on the Manual Intervention screen. This will open a web browser.
  7. Enter and confirm your IU email address along with the activation code. The activation code is not optional. If you do not enter an activation code your ability to receive updates will expire after 15 days. Click submit when you have all of the information entered.
  8. Click Continue Install. You will be prompted to Import Untrusted GPG Keys(usually 2 or 3 times). You must click Import for each of them or updates will not download correctly.
  9. Click Ok to complete the process. Your system is now activated and ready to receive updates.

Updates

SLED and SLES 10 place an icon in the lower right corner of your desktop(near the clock) changes from a globe to an exclamation point when updates are needed.

  1. Click on the ! icon.
  2. A window listing packages to be updated will appear. Unselect packages if needed.
  3. Click Update to download and install updates.

Note: If this is the first time you have updated your system you need to add your user as a privileged user by clicking the Add privileged user and following the on-screen prompts. After you have added yourself as a privileged user you will be returned to the list of packages where you can click Update again to continue the process.

Transferring SUSE Activatons

If you have previous purchase SUSE licenses from Novell you can transfer them to the IU site license using the following steps:

  1. Login to the Novell Customer Center at http://www.novell.com/center You will need to use the same Novell username that was used when you originally activated the product.
  2. In the Novell Customer Center click on Systems to display a list of system(s) registered to you.
  3. Click once on the system you wish to move to the IU license. Double clicking on a system will show full details for that system. A double arrow icon will appear at the bottom of the systems list. Click this icon to move the selected system.
  4. A window will appear prompting you for an activation code. Enter the code corresponding to your product in the box labeled "Enter activation code here" and click move to complete the process. The system will no longer appear in your list of systems. Activation codes can be found at https://www.ussg.iu.edu/keys/suse.

Troubleshooting

If you inadvertently left the activation code blank when you registered your system you will need to follow these steps to activate your system against the IU site license. These steps assume you have already ran the Novell Customer Center Configuration tool.

  1. Go to http://www.novell.com/center
  2. Click on create new account.
  3. Fill out the information on the form. You will want to check the box labeled "I am not associated with a company". It is very important that you use the same email address you used in the Customer Center Configuration tool.
  4. Create a username, password, and security question. DO NOT USE THE SAME PASSWORD AS YOUR IU NETWORK ID!
  5. Click Create Login when you have everything filled in. This should take you to a screen confirming that your account was successfully created. Click continue.
  6. You will be redirected to the Novell Customer Center.
  7. In the Systems column click on Needs Activation. There should be one system listed with an icon that looks like a computer with an exclamation point. Click on that icon once. A key icon should appear below the list. Click on the key. A window will pop up with a field labeled "Enter Activation code here". Click in that field and enter the IU provide activation code and click activate. After your activation is processed your list of systems should be blank since your system is linked to the IU activation code now.
  8. At this point you can log out of the Novell Customer Center. Your product is registered and you will be able to receive updates.


The Unix Systems Support Group (aka USSG) is a subunit of the Research Computing (RC) division of University Information Technology Services (UITS).
The USSG provides software, support, and resources to faculty, staff, and students at Indiana University who use or administer Unix/Linux workstations or servers.