Registering RHEL 8 or CentOS Linux 8 with RMT

Download the appropriate Minimal-VM image for your virtualization infrastructure from https://www.suse.com/download/sles/.

Use the Minimal-VM image to start the virtual machine.

The default disk size for SLES Minimal VM is 24 GB. If you can customize the configuration before the installation begins, increase the available storage so there is enough disk space for repository mirroring.

When the JeOS Firstboot screen appears, select Start.

Choose your keyboard layout and select OK.

Review the End User License Agreement and select EXIT. To agree with the terms of the license, select Yes.

Choose your time zone and select OK.

Enter a root password and select OK, then confirm the password and select OK again.

JeOS Firstboot shows the command to use to register this VM. You do not need to write this down; the command is explained in this procedure. Select OK.

When the VM is ready, log in as the root user with the password you entered during setup.

Register the VM using your SUSE Customer Center email address and the registration code for SUSE Multi-Linux Support:

# SUSEConnect -e EMAIL_ADDRESS -r REGISTRATION_CODE

This activates the Basesystem, Server Applications, and Python 3 modules.

If you did not already increase the VM's disk space before the installation began, increase it now. You might need to shut down the VM to do so. The VM must have enough space to mirror the SUSE Multi-Linux Support 8 repositories.

Install YaST and the YaST network module:

# zypper install yast2 yast2-network

Start the YaST network module:

# yast2 lan

In the Overview tab, select Edit to change the settings of the eth0 device. The Network Card Setup dialog opens.

In the Address tab, activate Statically Assigned IP Address.

Fill in the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Hostname fields.

Select Next.

Switch to the Hostname/DNS tab and fill in the Static Hostname field.

Change Set Hostname via DHCP to no.

Fill in at least one Name Server field.

Switch to the Routing tab and select Add. A new dialog opens.

Fill in the Gateway field. Make sure to remove the - character.

From the Device drop-down list, select eth0.

Select OK to close the dialog.

Select OK to complete the configuration and close YaST.

Check the network settings:

# ip addr

Check that the network interface can access external networks:

# ping www.suse.com

Cancel the ping with Ctrl–C.

On the SLES machine, install RMT:

# zypper in rmt-server

Install the following packages, which are not installed by default on a SLES Minimal VM:

# zypper install yast2-rmt mariadb nginx

Start the YaST rmt:

# yast2 rmt

Enter your Organization Credentials, then select Next.

To find your organization credentials, log in to SUSE Customer Center, select your organization from My Organizations, and click Proxies. Your organization's Mirroring credentials are in the top right corner.

Enter Database Credentials for a new MariaDB database user, then select Next. The new user is created.

When prompted, enter and confirm a new password for the MariaDB root user, then select OK.

Enter a Common Name for the SSL certificates. The common name is usually the host name of the server.

If the server has other domain names or IP addresses, enter these as Alternative common names. Select Add to add new names. When all common names are entered, select Next.

If prompted, enter and confirm a password for the CA private key, then select OK.

Activate the check box Open Ports for HTTP and HTTPS in Firewall, then select Next.

YaST displays the RMT Service Status. If there are no issues, select Next.

Review the Configuration Summary, then select Finish to close YaST.

On the RMT server, update the available product and repository metadata:

# rmt-cli sync

Synchronization is also performed automatically by rmt-server-sync.timer. You can check the status and the next scheduled synchronization time with the following command:

# systemctl status rmt-server-sync.timer

Enable SUSE Multi-Linux Support 8 using the product ID 1921:

# rmt-cli products enable 1921

This enables all the default repositories associated with the product.

If your subscription includes the High Availability extension, enable the extension using the product ID 1922:

# rmt-cli products enable 1922

To check whether the High Availability extension is available, run this command: rmt-cli products list --all --name=RES-HA

If you also need the Source or Debug repositories, enable them with the following commands:

Start package mirroring for the enabled repositories:

# rmt-cli mirror

Packages are downloaded to the RMT server once per day by rmt-server-mirror.timer. You can check the status and the next scheduled download time with the following command:

# systemctl status rmt-server-mirror.timer

Download the rmt-client-setup-res script:

# curl http://RMT_SERVER/tools/rmt-client-setup-res --output rmt-client-setup-res

Run the rmt-client-setup-res script with the URL of the RMT server as a parameter:

# sh rmt-client-setup-res https://RMT_SERVER

The script installs SUSEConnect and its dependencies, then downloads and runs the rmt-client-setup script, which performs the following tasks:

You should see Successfully registered system.

Verify the installed product:

# SUSEConnect --status-text

You should see the following output:

Installed Products:
------------------------------------------

  SUSE Liberty Linux release file
  (RES/8/x86_64)

  Registered

------------------------------------------

If your subscription includes the High Availability extension, activate it with the following command:

# SUSEConnect -p RES-HA/8/x86_64

To check whether the extension is available, run the SUSEConnect --list-extensions command.

Verify the available repositories:

# dnf repolist all

The default repositories RES-8-Updates, RES-AS-8-Updates and RES-CB-8-Updates should be enabled. If you activated the High Availability extension, RES-8-HA-Updates should also be enabled.

You will also see optional Source and Debug repositories with the status disabled. Be aware that these repositories are listed even if they are not mirrored on the RMT server. You can check the mirrored repositories by browsing the directory listing at https://RMT_SERVER/repo/SUSE/Updates/ or by logging in to the RMT server and running rmt-cli repos list.

If you need the Source or Debug repositories, enable them with the following command:

# dnf config-manager --enable REPO_ID

Run the update command to make sure there are no errors:

# dnf update