SUSE Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 Proxy Deployment

This guide outlines the deployment process for the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 Proxy container on SL Micro 6.1 or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7. This guide presumes you have already successfully deployed a SUSE Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 Server.

SL Micro is only supported as regular minion (default contact method) for the time being. We are working on managing it as Salt SSH client (salt-ssh contact method), too.

To successfully deploy, you will perform the following actions:

Procedure: Deploying Proxy

  1. Review hardware requirements.

  2. Synchronize the SL Micro 6.1 or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 parent channel and the proxy extension child channel on the server.

  3. Install SL Micro or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on a bare-metal machine.

  4. During the installation, register SL Micro or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server along with the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy extension.

  5. Create a Salt activation key.

  6. Bootstrap the proxy as a client with the default connection method.

  7. Generate a proxy configuration.

  8. Transfer the proxy configuration from server to proxy.

  9. Use the proxy configuration to register the client as a proxy with SUSE Multi-Linux Manager.

Supported operating system for the Proxy Container Host

The supported operating system for the container host are SL Micro 6.1 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7.

Container host

A container host is a server equipped with a container engine like Podman, which lets it manage and deploy containers. These containers hold applications and their essential parts, such as libraries, but not a full operating system, making them lightweight. This setup ensures applications run the same way in different environments. The container host supplies the necessary resources such as CPU, memory, and storage for these containers.

1. Hardware Requirements for the Proxy

For more information about hardware requirements for deploying SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy, see installation-and-upgrade:hardware-requirements.adoc#proxy-hardware-requirements.

2. Synchronize the Parent and Proxy Extension Child Channels

This section presumes that you have already entered your organization credentials under the Admin  Setup Wizard  Organization Credentials in the server’s Web UI. Products are listed on the Admin  Setup Wizard  Products page. This channel must be fully synchronized on the server, with the child channel Proxy as an extension option selected.

Procedure: Synchronizing the Parent Channel and Proxy Extension

  1. In the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Web UI select Admin  Products.

  2. From the products page enter SL Micro or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server in the filter field.

  3. Next use the drop-down to select the required architecture. For this example x86-64.

  4. In the Product Description field select the SL Micro 6.1 or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 checkbox then use the drop-down to select the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy Extension 5.1 x86_64 extension.

  5. Click the Add products button.

  6. Wait for the synchronization to complete.

3. Prepare SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy Host

3.1. Install SL Micro 6.1 and Deploy Proxy

Procedure: Downloading the Installation Media

  1. Locate the SL Micro 6.1 installation media at https://www.suse.com/download/sl-micro/.

  2. You will need an account with SUSE Customer Center and must be logged in to download the ISO.

  3. Download SL-Micro-6.1-DVD-x86_64-GM-Media1.iso.

  4. Prepare a USB flash disk or DVD for installation.

  5. Insert a DVD or a bootable USB stick containing the installation image for SL Micro 6.1.

  6. Boot or reboot your system.

For detailed documentation on preparing your machines OS (virtual or physical), see Introduction to SL Micro 6.1 Deployment.

Procedure: Installing SL Micro 6.1

  1. Use the arrow keys to select Installation.

  2. Adjust Keyboard and language. Click the checkbox to accept the license agreement.

  3. Click Next to continue.

  4. Select your registration method. For this example, we will register the proxy with SUSE Customer Center.

  5. Enter your SUSE Customer Center Email address.

  6. Enter your registration code for SL Micro 6.1.

  7. Click Next to continue.

  8. Select the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 Proxy extension Checkbox.

  9. Click Next to continue.

  10. Enter your SUSE Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 Proxy extension registration code.

  11. Click Next to continue.

  12. On the NTP Configuration page click Next.

  13. On the Authentication for the System page enter a password for the root user. Click Next.

  14. On the Installation Settings page click Install.

This finalizes installation of SL Micro 6.1 and SUSE Multi-Linux Manager 5.1 Proxy as an extension.

3.1.1. Update the System

Procedure: Updating the System

  1. Log in as root.

  2. Run transactional-update:

    transactional-update

  3. Reboot the system.

  4. Log in as root.

  5. Install the container utilities (mgrpxy should already be installed automatically):

    transactional-update pkg install mgrpxy-bash-completion

    Alternatively you may install mgrpxy-zsh-completion or mgrpxy-fish-completion.

  6. Reboot the system.

SL Micro is designed to update itself automatically by default and will reboot after applying updates. However, this behavior is not desirable for the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager environment. To prevent automatic updates on your server, SUSE Multi-Linux Manager disables the transactional-update timer during the bootstrap process.

If you prefer the SL Micro default behavior, enable the timer by running the following command:

systemctl enable --now transactional-update.timer

To continue with deployment, see Configure Custom Persistent Storage.

3.2. Install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 and Deploy Proxy

Alternatively, you can install SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7. The following procedure describes the main steps of the installation process.

Procedure: Installing SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7

  1. Locate and download SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 .iso at https://www.suse.com/download/sles/.

  2. Make sure that the SCC code you plan to use has the Extensions enabled.

  3. Start the installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7.

    1. On the Language, keyboard and product selection select the product to install.

    2. On the License agreement read the agreement and check I Agree to the License Terms.

  4. Select the registration method.

    For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7, you are required to have a valid SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscription and corresponding regcode, which you must provide on this screen. You will be required to enter the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Extension regcode below.

  5. In the screen Extensions and Modules Selection check the following:

    • SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy Extension

    • Basesystem Module

    • Containers Module

      Enter the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Extension regcode.

  6. Complete the installation.

  7. When the installation completes, log in to the newly installed server as root.

  8. Update the System (optional, if the system was not set to download updates during install):

    zypper up

  9. Reboot.

  10. Log in as root and install podman plus mgrpxy and mgrpxy-bash-completion (if not already automatically installed):

    zypper install podman mgrpxy mgrpxy-bash-completion

  11. Start the Podman service by rebooting the system, or running a command:

    systemctl enable --now podman.service

To continue with deployment, see Configure Custom Persistent Storage.

4. Configure Custom Persistent Storage

Configuring persistent storage is optional, but it is the only way to avoid serious trouble with container full disk conditions. If custom persistent storage is required for your infrastructure, use the mgr-storage-proxy tool.

  • For more information, see mgr-storage-proxy --help. This tool simplifies creating the container storage and Squid cache volumes.

Use the command in the following manner:

mgr-storage-proxy <storage-disk-device>

For example:

mgr-storage-proxy /dev/nvme1n1

This command will create the persistent storage volumes at /var/lib/containers/storage/volumes.

For more information, see

5. Create an Activation Key for the Proxy

Procedure: Creating an Activation Key

  1. Navigate to Systems  Activation Keys , and click Create key.

  2. Create an activation key for the proxy host with SLE Micro 6.1 as the parent channel. This key should include all recommended channels and the proxy as an extension child channel.

  3. Proceed to boostrapping the proxy host as a default client.

6. Bootstrap the Proxy Host as a Client

Procedure: Bootstrapping the Proxy Host

  1. Select Systems  Bootstrapping.

  2. Fill in the fields for your proxy host.

  3. Select the activation key created in the previous step from the drop-down.

  4. Click Bootstrap.

  5. Wait for the bootstrap process to complete successfully. Check the Salt menu and confirm the Salt key is listed and accepted.

  6. Reboot the proxy host.

  7. Select the host from the System list and trigger a second reboot after all events are finished to conclude the onboarding.

Procedure: Updating the Proxy Host

  1. Select the host from the Systems list and apply all patches to update it.

  2. Reboot the proxy host.

7. Generate Proxy Configuration

The configuration archive of the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy is generated by the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Server. Each additional Proxy requires its own configuration archive.

For Podman deployment, the container host for the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy must be registered as a client to the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Server prior to generating this proxy configuration.

If a proxy FQDN is used to generate a proxy container configuration that is not a registered client (as in the Kubernetes use case), a new system entry will appear in system list. This new entry will be shown under previously entered Proxy FQDN value and will be of Foreign system type.

7.1. Generate the Proxy Configuration with Web UI

Procedure: Generating a Proxy Container Configuration Using Web UI

  1. In the Web UI, navigate to Systems  Proxy Configuration and fill the required data:

  2. In the Proxy FQDN field type fully qualified domain name for the proxy.

  3. In the Parent FQDN field type fully qualified domain name for the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Server or another SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy.

  4. In the Proxy SSH port field type SSH port on which SSH service is listening on SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy. Recommended is to keep default 8022.

  5. In the Max Squid cache size [MB] field type maximal allowed size for Squid cache. Recommended is to use at most 80% of available storage for the containers.

    2 GB represents the default proxy squid cache size. This will need to be adjusted for your environment.

  6. In the SSL certificate selection list choose if new server certificate should be generated for SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy or an existing one should be used. You can consider generated certificates as SUSE Multi-Linux Manager builtin (self signed) certificates.

    Depending on the choice then provide either path to signing CA certificate to generate a new certificate or path to an existing certificate and its key to be used as proxy certificate.

    The CA certificates generated by the server are stored in the /var/lib/containers/storage/volumes/root/_data/ssl-build directory.

    For more information about existing or custom certificates and the concept of corporate and intermediate certificates, see Import SSL Certificates.

  7. Click Generate to register a new proxy FQDN in the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Server and generate a configuration archive (config.tar.gz) containing details for the container host.

  8. After a few moments you are presented with file to download. Save this file locally.

7.2. Generate Proxy Configuration With spacecmd and Self-Signed Certificate

You can generate a Proxy configuration using spacecmd.

Procedure: Generating Proxy Configuration with spacecmd and Self-Signed Certificate

  1. SSH into your container host.

  2. Execute the following command replacing the Server and Proxy FQDN:

    mgrctl exec -ti 'spacecmd proxy_container_config_generate_cert -- dev-pxy.example.com dev-srv.example.com 2048 email@example.com -o /tmp/config.tar.gz'

  3. Copy the generated configuration from the server container:

    mgrctl cp server:/tmp/config.tar.gz .

7.3. Generate Proxy Configuration With spacecmd and Custom Certificate

You can generate a Proxy configuration using spacecmd for a custom certificates rather than the default self-signed certificates.

Procedure: Generating Proxy Configuration with spacecmd and Custom Certificate

  1. SSH into your Server container host.

  2. Execute the following command replacing the Server and Proxy FQDN:

    for f in ca.crt proxy.crt proxy.key; do
  mgrctl cp $f server:/tmp/$f
done
mgrctl exec -ti 'spacecmd proxy_container_config -- -p 8022 pxy.example.com srv.example.com 2048 email@example.com /tmp/ca.crt /tmp/proxy.crt /tmp/proxy.key -o /tmp/config.tar.gz'

  3. Copy the generated configuration from the server container:

    mgrctl cp server:/tmp/config.tar.gz .

8. Transfer the Proxy Configuration

The Web UI generates a configuration archive. This archive needs to be made available on the proxy container host.

Procedure: Copying the Proxy Configuration

  1. If not already done, copy the configuration archive (config.tar.gz) generated in the previous step from the server container to the server host:

    mgrctl cp server:/root/config.tar.gz .

  2. If not already done, copy the files from the server host to the proxy host:

    scp config.tar.gz <proxy-FQDN>:/root

  3. On the proxy host, install the Proxy with:

    mgrpxy install podman config.tar.gz

9. Start the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy

Container can now be started with the mgrpxy command:

Procedure: Starting and Checking Proxy Status

  1. Start the proxy by calling:

    mgrpxy start

  2. Check container status by calling:

    mgrpxy status

    Five SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy containers should be present and should be part of the proxy-pod container pod:

    • proxy-salt-broker

    • proxy-httpd

    • proxy-tftpd

    • proxy-squid

    • proxy-ssh

10. Use a Custom Container Image for a Service

By default, the SUSE Multi-Linux Manager Proxy suite is configured to use the same image version and registry path for each of its services. However, it is possible to override the default values for a specific service using the install parameters ending with -tag and -image.

For example:

mgrpxy install podman --httpd-tag 0.1.0 --httpd-image registry.opensuse.org/uyuni/proxy-httpd /path/to/config.tar.gz

It adjusts the configuration file for the httpd service, where registry.opensuse.org/uyuni/proxy-httpds is the image to use and 0.1.0 is the version tag, before restarting it.

To reset the values to defaults, run the install command again without those parameters:

mgrpxy install podman /path/to/config.tar.gz

This command first resets the configuration of all services to the global defaults and then reloads it.