1 Planning for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server #

The implementation of an operating system either in an existing IT environment or as a completely new roll out must be carefully prepared. At the beginning of the planning process, you should try to define the project goals and necessary features. This must always be done individually for each project, but the questions to answer should include the following:

To make sure that your system will run flawlessly, always try to use certified hardware. The hardware certification process is an ongoing process and the database of certified hardware is updated regularly. Find the search form for certified hardware at https://www.suse.com/yessearch/Search.jsp.

Depending on the number of desired installations, it is beneficial to use installation servers or even completely automatic installations. When using Xen or KVM virtualization technologies, network root file systems or network storage solutions like iSCSI should be considered.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server provides you with a broad variety of services. Find an overview of the documentation in this book in Preface. Most of the needed configurations can be made with YaST, the SUSE configuration utility. In addition, many manual configurations are described in the corresponding chapters.

In addition to the plain software installation, you should consider training the end users of the systems and help desk staff.

Note: Terminology

In the following sections, the system to hold your new SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation is called target system or installation target. The term repository (previously called “installation source”) is used for all sources of installation data. This includes physical media, such as CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, and network servers distributing the installation data in your network.

The SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating system is a well-tested and stable system. Unfortunately, this does not prevent hardware failures or other causes for downtime or data loss. For any serious computing task where data loss could occur, a regular backup should be done.

For optimal security and data safety, you should make regular updates of all the operated machines. If you have a mission critical server, you should run a second identical (pre-production) machine that you can use to test all changes. This also gives you the possibility of switching machines in case of hardware failure.

To get technical support and product updates, you need to register and activate your SUSE product with the SUSE Customer Center. We recommend to register during the installation, since this will enable you to install the system with the latest updates and patches available. However, if you are offline or want to skip the registration step, you can complete registration from the running system.

In case your organization does not provide a local registration server, registering SUSE Linux Enterprise requires a SUSE Customer Center account. In case you do not have one yet, go to the SUSE Customer Center home page (https://scc.suse.com/) to create one.

During the installation you will be asked to enter your registration code. For details, see Section 8.7, “Registration”.

If you deploy your instances automatically using AutoYaST, you can register the system during the installation by providing the respective information in the AutoYaST control file. For details, see Section 4.3, “System registration and extension selection”.

For registering an already installed system, see Section 8.2, “Registering an installed system”.

Starting with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15, all SUSE Linux Enterprise-based products are installed using a Unified Installer from a single set of installation media for each supported architecture.

1.5.2 Installing with Internet access #

  

If you are installing onto a computer or VM that has access to the Internet, then to install any of the products listed above, it is only necessary to download the SLE-15-SP4-Online-ARCH-GM-media1.iso image for the desired architecture.

Note: Installing SUSE Manager

To install any SUSE Manager products, the target machine must have direct access to the SUSE Customer Center or to an RMT server.

1.5.3 Offline installation #

  

Except for SUSE Manager, you do not require access to the Internet, or to the SUSE Customer Center or to an RMT server, to install the other listed products.

For offline installation, additionally download the SLE-15-SP4-Full-ARCH-GM-media1.iso image for the desired architecture.

There is an additional, second Packages medium, but this contains only source code and is not required for installation.

Tip: Full media size

The size of the full installation media SLE-15-SP4-Online-ARCH-GM-media1.iso exceeds the capacity of a dual layer DVD. Therefore you can only boot it from a USB flash drive.