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documentation.suse.com / SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Documentation / Deployment Guide / Installation procedure / Installation steps
Applies to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5

4 Installation steps

This chapter describes the procedure in which the data for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is copied to the target device. Some basic configuration parameters for the newly installed system are set during the procedure. A graphical user interface will guide you through the installation. The procedure described in the following also applies to remote installation procedures as described in Chapter 7, Remote installation. The text mode installation has the same steps and only looks different.

If you are a first-time user of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, you should follow the default YaST proposals in most parts, but you can also adjust the settings as described here to fine-tune your system according to your preferences. Help for each installation step is provided by clicking Help.

Tip
Tip: Installation without a mouse

If the installer does not detect your mouse correctly, use →| for navigation, arrow keys to scroll, and Enter to confirm a selection. Various buttons or selection fields contain a letter with an underscore. Use AltLetter to select a button or a selection directly instead of navigating there with →|.

4.1 Overview

This section provides an overview of all installation steps. Each step contains a link to a more detailed description.

  1. Before the installation starts, the installer may update itself. For details, see Section 4.2, “Installer self-update”.

  2. The actual installation starts with choosing the language and the product. For details, see Section 4.3, “ Language, keyboard, and product selection.

  3. Accept the license agreement. For details, see Section 4.4, “License agreement”.

  4. Configure the network. This is only required when you need network access during the installation, and automatic network configuration via DHCP fails. If the automatic network configuration succeeds, this step is skipped. For details, see Section 4.5, “Network settings”.

  5. With a working network connection you can register the machine at the SUSE Customer Center or an RMT server. For details, see Section 4.6, “Registration”.

  6. Select the modules you want to enable for the machine. This impacts the availability of system roles in the next step and packages later on. For details, see Section 4.7, “Extension and module selection”.

  7. You can manually add repositories. For details, see Section 4.8, “Add-on product”.

  8. Select a role for your system. This defines the default list of packages to install and makes a suggestion for partitioning the hard disks. For details, see Section 4.9, “System roles”.

  9. Partition the hard disks of your system. For details, see Section 4.10, “Partitioning”.

  10. Choose a time zone. For details, see Section 4.11, “Clock and time zone”.

  11. Optionally, set a different password for the system administrator root. For details, see Section 4.13, “Authentication for the system administrator root.

  12. In a final step, the installer presents an overview of all settings. If required, you can change them. For details, see Section 4.14, “Installation settings”.

  13. The installer copies all required data and informs you about the progress. For details, see Section 4.15, “Performing the installation”.

4.2 Installer self-update

During the installation and upgrade process, YaST may update itself to solve bugs in the installer that were discovered after the release. This functionality is enabled by default; to disable it, set the boot parameter self_update to 0. For more information, see Section 3.4.6, “Enabling the installer self-update”.

Important
Important: Quarterly media update: self-update disabled

The installer self-update is only available if you use the GM images of the Unified Installer and Packages ISOs. If you install from the ISOs published as quarterly update (they can be identified by the string QU in the name), the installer cannot update itself, because this feature is disabled in the update media.

Important
Important: Networking during self-update

To download installer updates, YaST needs network access. By default, it tries to use DHCP on all network interfaces. If there is a DHCP server in the network, it will work automatically.

If you need a static IP setup, you can use the ifcfg boot argument. For more details, see the linuxrc documentation at https://en.opensuse.org/Linuxrc.

Tip
Tip: Language selection

The installer self-update runs before the language selection step. This means that progress and errors which happen during this process are displayed in English by default.

To use another language for this part of the installer, use the language boot parameter if available for your architecture, for example, language=de_DE. On machines equipped with a traditional BIOS, alternatively, press F2 in the boot menu and select the language from the list.

Although this feature was designed to run without user intervention, it is worth knowing how it works. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Section 4.3, “ Language, keyboard, and product selection and skip the rest of this section.

4.2.1 Self-update process

The process can be broken down into two different parts:

  1. Determine the update repository location.

  2. Download and apply the updates to the installation system.

4.2.1.1 Determining the update repository location

Installer Self-Updates are distributed as regular RPM packages via a dedicated repository, so the first step is to find the repository URL.

Important
Important: Installer self-update repository only

No matter which of the following options you use, only the installer self-update repository URL is expected, for example:

self_update=https://www.example.com/my_installer_updates/

Do not supply any other repository URL—for example the URL of the software update repository.

YaST will try the following sources of information:

  1. The self_update boot parameter. (For more details, see Section 3.4.6, “Enabling the installer self-update”.) If you specify a URL, it will take precedence over any other method.

  2. The /general/self_update_url profile element in case you are using AutoYaST.

  3. A registration server. YaST will query the registration server for the URL. The server to be used is determined in the following order:

    1. By evaluating the regurl boot parameter (Section 3.4.1, “Providing data to access a Repository Mirroring Tool server”).

    2. By evaluating the /suse_register/reg_server profile element if you are using AutoYaST.

    3. By performing an SLP lookup. If an SLP server is found, YaST will ask you whether it should be used because there is no authentication involved and anybody on the local network can broadcast a registration server.

    4. By querying the SUSE Customer Center.

  4. If none of the previous attempts work, the fallback URL (defined in the installation media) will be used.

4.2.1.2 Downloading and applying the updates

When the update repository is determined, YaST checks whether an update is available. If it is, all the updates are downloaded and applied.

Finally, YaST restarts and displays the welcome screen. If no updates are available, the installation continues without restarting YaST.

Note
Note: Update integrity

Update signatures will be checked to ensure integrity and authorship. If a signature is missing or invalid, you will be asked whether you want to apply the update.

4.2.1.3 Temporary self-update add-on repository

Some packages distributed in the self-update repository provide additional data for the installer, like installation defaults, system role definitions and similar. If the installer finds such packages in the self-update repository, a local temporary repository is created, to which those packages are copied. They are used during the installation. The temporary local repository is removed at the end of the installation. Its packages are not installed on the target system.

This additional repository is not displayed in the list of add-on products, but during installation it may still be visible as SelfUpdate0 repository in the package management.

4.2.2 Custom self-update repositories

YaST can use a user-defined repository instead of the official repository by specifying a URL through the self_update boot parameter.

  • HTTP/HTTPS and FTP repositories are supported.

  • Starting with yast2-installation-4.4.30, the relurl:// schema is supported, as a boot parameter or in an AutoYaST profile. The URL is relative to the main installation repository, and you may navigate the file tree with the usual ../ notation, for example relurl://../self_update. This is useful when serving the packages via a local installation server, or when building a custom installation medium which includes a self-update repository.

    The following examples assume the installation repository is at the medium root (/), and the self-update repository in the self_update subdirectory. This structure makes the relurl:// portable, and it will work anywhere without changes as a boot parameter, copied to a USB stick, hard disk, network server, or in an AutoYaST profile.

    Custom DVD/USB medium

    Add the self_update=relurl://self_update boot option directly to the default boot parameters, and it will work properly even if the medium is copied to an USB stick, hard disk, or a network server.

    Installation server

    Assume that the installation packages are available via http://example.com/repo and a self-update repository is available at http://example.com/self_update.

    Then you can use the http://example.com/repo and http://example.com/self_update boot parameters, without having to change the self_update parameter when the repositories are moved to a different location.

  • Only RPM-MD repositories are supported (required by RMT).

  • Packages are not installed in the usual way: They are uncompressed only and no scripts are executed.

  • No dependency checks are performed. Packages are installed in alphabetical order.

  • Files from the packages override the files from the original installation media. This means that the update packages might not need to contain all files, only files that have changed. Unchanged files are omitted to save memory and download bandwidth.

Note
Note: Only one repository

Currently, it is not possible to use more than one repository as source for installer self-updates.

4.3 Language, keyboard, and product selection

Language, keyboard, and product selection
Figure 4.1: Language, keyboard, and product selection

The Language and Keyboard Layout settings are initialized with the language you chose on the boot screen. If you did not change the default, it will be English (US). Change the settings here, if necessary.

Changing the language automatically selects a corresponding keyboard layout. You can override this proposal by selecting a different keyboard layout from the drop-down box. Use the Keyboard Test text box to test the layout. The selected language also determines a time zone for the system clock.

With the Unified Installer, you can install all SUSE Linux Enterprise base products:

Select a product for installation. You need to have a registration code for the respective product. In this document it is assumed you have chosen SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Proceed with Next.

Tip
Tip: Light and high-contrast themes

If you have difficulties reading the labels in the installer, you can change the widget colors and theme.

Click the Change the widget theme button or press ShiftF3 to open a theme selection dialog. Select a theme from the list and Close the dialog.

ShiftF4 switches to the color scheme for vision-impaired users. Press the buttons again to switch back to the default scheme.

4.4 License agreement

License Agreement
Figure 4.2: License agreement

Read the License Agreement. It is presented in the language you have chosen on the boot screen. Translations are available via the License Language drop-down box. If you agree to the terms, check I Agree to the License Terms and click Next to proceed with the installation. If you do not agree to the license agreement, you cannot install SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop; click Abort to terminate the installation.

4.5 Network settings

After booting into the installation, the installation routine is set up. During this setup, an attempt to configure at least one network interface with DHCP is made. In case this attempt has failed, the Network Settings dialog launches now.

Network Settings
Figure 4.3: Network settings

Choose a network interface from the list and click Edit to change its settings. Use the tabs to configure DNS and routing. See Section 23.4, “Configuring a network connection with YaST” for more details.

In case DHCP was successfully configured during installation setup, you can also access this dialog by clicking Network Configuration at the SUSE Customer Center Registration and the Installation Settings step. It lets you change the automatically provided settings.

Note
Note: Network configuration with boot parameters

If at least one network interface has been configured via boot parameters (see Section 3.3.2, “Configuring the network interface”), automatic DHCP configuration is disabled and the boot parameter configuration is imported and used.

Tip
Tip: Accessing network storage or local RAID

To access a SAN or a local RAID during the installation, you can use the libstorage command line client for this purpose:

  1. Switch to a console with CtrlAltF2.

  2. Install the libstoragemgmt extension by running extend libstoragemgmt.

  3. Now you have access to the lsmcli command. For more information, run lsmcli --help.

  4. To return to the installer, press AltF7

Supported are Netapp Ontap, all SMI-S compatible SAN providers, and LSI MegaRAID.

4.6 Registration

To get technical support and product updates, you need to register and activate SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop with the SUSE Customer Center or a local registration server. Registering your product at this stage also grants you immediate access to the update repository. This enables you to install the system with the latest updates and patches available.

When registering, repositories and dependencies for modules and extensions are loaded from the registration server.

From this dialog, you can switch to the YaST Network Settings module by clicking Network Configuration. For details, see Section 23.4, “Configuring a network connection with YaST”.

If you are offline or want to skip registration, activate Skip Registration. See Section 4.6.3, “Installing without registration” for instructions.

4.6.1 Manual registration

To register with the SUSE Customer Center, provide the E-mail Address associated with your SCC account and the Registration Code for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.

If your organization offers a local registration server, you may register there. Activate Register System via local SMT Server and either choose a URL from the drop-down box or type in an address. Proceed with Next.

To register with the SUSE Customer Center, enter your Registration Code for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. If your organization provides a local registration server, you may register there. Activate Register System via local RMT Server and either choose a URL from the drop-down box or type in an address.

Start the registration process with Next.

SUSE Customer Center Registration
Figure 4.4: SUSE Customer Center registration
Note
Note: Trusting repositories

Depending on your hardware, additional repositories containing hardware drivers may be added during the registration. If so, you will be asked to Trust each of these repositories.

Tip
Tip: Installing product patches at installation time

After SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop has been successfully registered, you are asked whether to install the latest available online updates during the installation. If you choose Yes, the system will be installed with the most current packages without having to apply updates after installation. It is recommended to enable this option.

Note
Note: Firewall settings for receiving updates

By default, the firewall on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop only blocks incoming connections. If your system is behind another firewall that blocks outgoing traffic, make sure to allow connections to https://scc.suse.com/ and https://updates.suse.com on ports 80 and 443 in order to receive updates.

If the system is successfully registered during installation, YaST disables repositories from local installation media such as CD/DVD or flash disks when the installation completes. This prevents problems caused by the missing installation source and ensures that you always get the latest updates from the online repositories.

4.6.2 Loading registration codes from USB storage

To make the registration more convenient, you can also store your registration codes on a USB storage device such as a flash disk. YaST will automatically pre-fill the corresponding text box. This is particularly useful when testing the installation or if you need to register many systems or extensions.

Create a file named regcodes.txt or regcodes.xml on the USB disk. If both are present, the XML takes precedence.

In that file, identify the product with the name returned by zypper search --type product and assign it a registration code as follows:

Example 4.1: regcodes.txt
SLES    cc36aae1
SLED    309105d4

sle-we  5eedd26a
sle-live-patching 8c541494
Example 4.2: regcodes.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<profile xmlns="http://www.suse.com/1.0/yast2ns"
 xmlns:config="http://www.suse.com/1.0/configns">
  <suse_register>
    <addons config:type="list">
      <addon>
<name>SLES</name>
<reg_code>cc36aae1</reg_code>
      </addon>
      <addon>
<name>SLED</name>
<reg_code>309105d4</reg_code>
      </addon>
      <addon>
<name>sle-we</name>
<reg_code>5eedd26a</reg_code>
      </addon>
      <addon>
<name>sle-live-patching</name>
<reg_code>8c541494</reg_code>
      </addon>
    </addons>
  </suse_register>
</profile>

Note that SLES and SLED are not extensions, but listing them as add-ons allows for combining several base product registration codes in a single file.

Note
Note: Limitations

Currently flash disks are only scanned during installation or upgrade, but not when registering a running system.

4.6.3 Installing without registration

If you are offline or want to skip registration, activate Skip Registration. Accept the warning with OK and proceed with Next.

Important
Important: Skipping the registration

Your system and extensions need to be registered to retrieve updates and to be eligible for support. Skipping the registration is only possible when installing from the SLE-15-SP5-Full-ARCH-GM-media1.iso image.

Installing without Registration
Figure 4.5: Installing without registration
Note
Note: Registering SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop

Your system and extensions need to be registered to retrieve updates and to be eligible for support. If you do not register during the installation, you can do so at any time later from the running system. To do so, run YaST › Product Registration.

Tip
Tip: Copying the installation media image to a removable flash disk

Use the following command to copy the contents of the installation image to a removable flash disk.

> sudo dd if=IMAGE of=FLASH_DISK bs=4M && sync

IMAGE needs to be replaced with the path to the SLE-15-SP5-Online-ARCH-GM-media1.iso or SLE-15-SP5-Full-ARCH-GM-media1.iso image file. FLASH_DISK needs to be replaced with the flash device. To identify the device, insert it and run:

# grep -Ff <(hwinfo --disk --short) <(hwinfo --usb --short)
     disk:
     /dev/sdc             General USB Flash Disk

Make sure the size of the device is sufficient for the desired image. You can check the size of the device with:

# fdisk -l /dev/sdc | grep -e "^/dev"
     /dev/sdc1  *     2048 31490047 31488000  15G 83 Linux

In this example, the device has a capacity of 15 GB. The command to use for the SLE-15-SP5-Full-ARCH-GM-media1.iso would be:

dd if=SLE-15-SP5-Full-ARCH-GM-media1.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=4M && sync

The device must not be mounted when running the dd command. Note that all data on the partition will be erased!

4.7 Extension and module selection

In this dialog the installer lists modules and extensions that are available for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Modules are components that allow you to customize the product according to your needs. They are included in your SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop subscription. Extensions add functionality to your product. They must be purchased separately.

The availability of certain modules or extensions depends on the product you chose in the first step of this installation. For a description of the modules and their lifecycles, select a module to see the accompanying text. More detailed information is available in the Modules and Extensions Quick Start.

The selection of modules indirectly affects the scope of the installation, because it defines which software sources (repositories) are available for installation and in the running system.

Extension and Module Selection
Figure 4.6: Extension and module selection

The following modules and extensions are available for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop:

Basesystem Module

This module adds a basic system on top of the Unified Installer. It is required by all other modules and extensions. The scope of an installation that only contains the base system is comparable to the installation pattern minimal system of previous SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop versions. This module is selected for installation by default and should not be deselected.

Dependencies: None

Certifications Module

Contains the FIPS certification packages.

Dependencies: Basesystem

Desktop Applications Module

Adds a graphical user interface and essential desktop applications to the system. This module is selected for installation by default; deselecting it is not recommended.

Dependencies: Basesystem

Development Tools Module

Contains compilers (including gcc) and libraries required for compiling and debugging applications. Replaces the former Software Development Kit (SDK).

Dependencies: Basesystem, Desktop Applications

Python 3 Module

This module contains the most recent version of the selected Python 3 packages.

Dependencies: Basesystem

SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension

Contains additional desktop tools such as an office suite or multimedia software such as music and video players. This extension is included in the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop subscription and is selected for installation by default; deselecting it is not recommended.

Dependencies: Basesystem, Desktop Applications

SUSE Package Hub

Provides access to packages for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop maintained by the openSUSE community. These packages are delivered without L3 support and do not interfere with the supportability of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. For more information refer to https://packagehub.suse.com/.

Dependencies: Basesystem

Some modules depend on the installation of other modules. Therefore, when selecting a module, other modules may be selected automatically to fulfill dependencies.

Depending on the product, the registration server can mark modules and extensions as recommended. Recommended modules and extensions are preselected for registration and installation. To avoid installing these recommendations, deselect them manually.

Select the modules and extension you want to install and proceed with Next. In case you have chosen one or more extensions, you will be prompted to provide the respective registration codes. Depending on your choice, it may also be necessary to accept additional license agreements.

Important
Important: Default modules for offline installation

When performing an offline installation from the SLE-15-SP5-Full-ARCH-GM-media1.iso, only the Basesystem Module is selected by default. To install the complete default package set of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, additionally select the Desktop Applications Module, the SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension, and the Python 2 Module.

4.8 Add-on product

The Add On Product dialog allows you to add additional software sources (so-called repositories) to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, that are not provided by the SUSE Customer Center. Such add-on products may include third-party products and drivers or additional software for your system.

Add-On Product
Figure 4.7: Add-on product

From this dialog, you can switch to the YaST Network Settings module by clicking Network Configuration. For details, see Section 23.4, “Configuring a network connection with YaST”.

Tip
Tip: Adding drivers during the installation

You can also add driver update repositories via the Add On Product dialog. Driver updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise are provided at https://drivers.suse.com/. These drivers have been created via the SUSE SolidDriver Program.

If you do not want to install add-ons, proceed with Next. Otherwise activate I would like to install an additional Add On Product. Specify the Media Type by choosing from CD, DVD, Hard Disk, USB Mass Storage, a Local Directory or a Local ISO Image. If network access has been configured you can choose from additional remote sources such as HTTP, SLP, FTP, etc. Alternatively you may directly specify a URL. Check Download repository description files to download the files describing the repository now. If deactivated, they will be downloaded after the installation starts. Proceed with Next and insert a CD or DVD if required.

Depending on the add-on's content, it may be necessary to accept additional license agreements.

4.9 System roles

To simplify the installation, the installer offers predefined use cases that tailor the system for the selected scenario.

System Role
Figure 4.8: System role

Choose the System Role that meets your requirements best. The availability of system roles depends on your selection of modules and extensions. The dialog is omitted under the following conditions:

  • The combination of base product and modules does not allow roles to be chosen.

  • The combination of base product and modules only allows a single role.

With the default selection, the following system roles are available:

GNOME Desktop (Wayland)

Installs a fully featured GNOME desktop environment, including office suite, e-mail client, Web browser, and file manager. It is optimized for installation on physical systems, using the Wayland technology. Does not support accessing the desktop from a remote machine.

Dependencies: Basesystem, Desktop Applications, SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension

GNOME Desktop (X11)

Installs a fully featured GNOME desktop environment, including office suite, e-mail client, Web browser, and file manager. Comes with support for accessing the desktop from a remote machine.

Dependencies: Basesystem, Desktop Applications, SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension

GNOME Desktop (Basic)

Installs a GNOME desktop environment with only essential graphical applications (for example file manager, Web browser). It is using the X11 technology.

Dependencies: Basesystem, Desktop Applications

IceWM Desktop (Minimal)

Installs a lightweight IceWM desktop environment with only a bare minimum of graphical applications (for example xterm). It is using the X11 technology.

Dependencies: Basesystem

4.10 Partitioning

4.10.1 Important information

Warning
Warning: Read this section carefully

Read this section carefully before continuing with Section 4.10.2, “Suggested partitioning”.

Custom partitioning on UEFI machines

A UEFI machine requires an EFI system partition that must be mounted to /boot/efi. This partition must be formatted with the FAT32 file system.

If an EFI system partition is already present on your system (for example from a previous Windows installation) use it by mounting it to /boot/efi without formatting it.

If no EFI system partition is present on your UEFI machine, make sure to create it. The EFI system partition must be a physical partition or RAID 1. Other RAID levels, LVM and other technologies are not supported. It needs to be formatted with the FAT32 file system.

Custom partitioning and Snapper

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop can be configured to use snapshots which provide the ability to do rollbacks of system changes.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop uses Snapper together with Btrfs for this feature. Btrfs needs to be set up with snapshots enabled for the root partition.

If the disk is smaller than 16 GB, all Snapper features and automatic snapshots are disabled to prevent the system partition / from running out of space.

Being able to create system snapshots that enable rollbacks requires important system directories to be mounted on a single partition, for example /usr and /var. Only directories that are excluded from snapshots may reside on separate partitions, for example /usr/local, /var/log, and /tmp.

If snapshots are enabled, the installer will automatically create single snapshots during and immediately after the installation.

For details, see Chapter 10, System recovery and snapshot management with Snapper.

Important
Important: Btrfs snapshots and root partition size

Snapshots may take considerable storage space. Generally, the older a snapshot is or the larger the changeset it covers, the more storage space the snapshot takes. And the more snapshots you keep, the more disk space you need.

To prevent the root partition running full with snapshot data, you need to make sure it is big enough. In case you do frequent updates or other installations, consider at least 30 GB for the root partition. If you plan to keep snapshots activated for a system upgrade or a service pack migration (to be able to roll back), you should consider 40 GB or more.

Btrfs data volumes

Using Btrfs for data volumes is supported on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5. For applications that require Btrfs as a data volume, consider creating a separate file system with quota groups disabled. This is already the default for non-root file systems.

Btrfs on an encrypted root partition

The default partitioning setup suggests the root partition as Btrfs. To encrypt the root partition, make sure to use the GPT partition table type instead of the MSDOS type. Otherwise the GRUB2 boot loader may not have enough space for the second stage loader.

Supported software RAID volumes

Installing to and booting from existing software RAID volumes is supported for Disk Data Format (DDF) volumes and Intel Matrix Storage Manager (IMSM) volumes. IMSM is also known by the following names:

Mount points for FCoE and iSCSI devices

FCoE and iSCSI devices will appear asynchronously during the boot process. While the initrd guarantees that those devices are set up correctly for the root file system, there are no such guarantees for any other file systems or mount points like /usr. Hence any system mount points like /usr or /var are not supported. To use those devices, ensure correct synchronization of the respective services and devices.

Handling of Windows partitions in proposals

In case the disk selected for the suggested partitioning proposal contains a large Windows FAT or NTFS partition, it will automatically be resized to make room for the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop installation. To avoid data loss it is strongly recommended to

  • make sure the partition is not fragmented (run a defragmentation program from Windows prior to the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop installation)

  • double-check the suggested size for the Windows partition is big enough

  • back up your data prior to the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop installation

To adjust the proposed size of the Windows partition, use the Expert Partitioner.

4.10.2 Suggested partitioning

Define a partition setup for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop in this step.

Suggested Partitioning
Figure 4.9: Suggested partitioning

The installer creates a proposal for one of the available disks containing a root partition formatted with Btrfs and a swap partition. If one or more swap partitions have been detected on the available hard disks, these partitions will be used. You have several options to proceed:

Next

To accept the proposal without any changes, click Next to proceed with the installation workflow.

Guided setup

To adjust the proposal, choose Guided Setup. First, choose which hard disks and partitions to use. In the Partitioning Scheme screen, you can enable Logical Volume Management (LVM) and activate disk encryption. Afterward specify the Filesystem Options. You can adjust the file system for the root partition and create a separate home and swap partitions. If you plan to suspend your machine, make sure to create a separate swap partition and check Enlarge to RAM Size for Suspend. If the root file system format is Btrfs, you can also enable or disable Btrfs snapshots here.

Expert Partitioner

To create a custom partition setup click Expert Partitioner. Select either Start with Current Proposal if you want start with the suggested disk layout, or Start with Existing Partitions to ignore the suggested layout and start with the existing layout on the disk. You can Add, Edit, Resize, or Delete partitions.

You can also set up logical volume management (LVM), configure software RAID and device mapping (DM), encrypt partitions, mount NFS shares and manage tmpfs volumes with the Expert Partitioner. To fine-tune settings such as the subvolume and snapshot handling for each Btrfs partition, choose Btrfs. For more information about custom partitioning and configuring advanced features, refer to Section 6.1, “Using the Expert Partitioner.

Warning
Warning: Disk space units

Note that for partitioning purposes, disk space is measured in binary units, rather than in decimal units. For example, if you enter sizes of 1GB, 1GiB or 1G, they all signify 1 GiB (Gibibyte), as opposed to 1 GB (Gigabyte).

Binary

1 GiB = 1 073 741 824 bytes.

Decimal

1 GB = 1 000 000 000 bytes.

Difference

1 GiB ≈ 1.07 GB.

4.11 Clock and time zone

In this dialog, select your region and time zone. Both are preselected according to the installation language.

Clock and Time Zone
Figure 4.10: Clock and time zone

To change the preselected values, either use the map or the drop-down boxes for Region and Time Zone. When using the map, point the cursor at the rough direction of your region and left-click to zoom. Now choose your country or region by left-clicking. Right-click to return to the world map.

To set up the clock, choose whether the Hardware Clock is Set to UTC. If you run another operating system on your machine, such as Microsoft Windows, it is likely your system uses local time instead. If you run Linux on your machine, set the hardware clock to UTC and have the switch from standard time to daylight saving time performed automatically.

Important
Important: Set the hardware clock to UTC

The switch from standard time to daylight saving time (and vice versa) can only be performed automatically when the hardware clock (CMOS clock) is set to UTC. This also applies if you use automatic time synchronization with NTP, because automatic synchronization will only be performed if the time difference between the hardware and system clock is less than 15 minutes.

Since a wrong system time can cause serious problems (missed backups, dropped mail messages, mount failures on remote file systems, etc.), it is strongly recommended to always set the hardware clock to UTC.

If a network is already configured, you can configure time synchronization with an NTP server. Click Other Settings to either alter the NTP settings or to Manually set the time. See Chapter 39, Time synchronization with NTP for more information on configuring the NTP service. When finished, click Accept to continue the installation.

If running without NTP configured, consider setting SYSTOHC=no (sysconfig variable) to avoid saving unsynchronized time into the hardware clock.

4.12 Create new user

Create a local user in this step.

Create New User
Figure 4.11: Create new user

After entering the first name and last name, either accept the proposal or specify a new User name that will be used to log in. Only use lowercase letters (a-z), digits (0-9) and the characters . (dot), - (hyphen) and _ (underscore). Special characters, umlauts and accented characters are not allowed.

Finally, enter a password for the user. Re-enter it for confirmation (to ensure that you did not type something else by mistake). To provide effective security, a password should be at least six characters long and consist of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (7-bit ASCII). Umlauts or accented characters are not allowed. Passwords you enter are checked for weakness. When entering a password that is easy to guess (such as a dictionary word or a name) you will see a warning. It is a good security practice to use strong passwords.

Important
Important: User name and password

Remember both your user name and the password because they are needed each time you log in to the system.

If you install SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on a machine with one or more existing Linux installations, YaST allows you to import user data such as user names and passwords. Select Import User Data from a Previous Installation and then Choose Users for import.

If you do not want to configure any local users (for example when setting up a client on a network with centralized user authentication), skip this step by choosing Next and confirming the warning. Network user authentication can be configured at any time later in the installed system; refer to Chapter 6, Managing users with YaST for instructions.

Two additional options are available:

Use this password for system administrator

If checked, the same password you have entered for the user will be used for the system administrator root. This option is suitable for stand-alone workstations or machines in a home network that are administrated by a single user. When not checked, you are prompted for a system administrator password in the next step of the installation workflow (see Section 4.13, “Authentication for the system administrator root).

Automatic login

This option automatically logs the current user in to the system when it starts. This is mainly useful if the computer is operated by only one user.

Warning
Warning: Automatic login

With the automatic login enabled, the system boots straight into your desktop with no authentication. If you store sensitive data on your system, you should not enable this option if the computer can also be accessed by others.

In an environment where users are centrally managed (for example by NIS or LDAP) you should skip the creation of local users. Select Skip User Creation in this case.

4.13 Authentication for the system administrator root

If you have not chosen Use this Password for System Administrator in the previous step, you will be prompted to enter a password for the system administrator root or provide a public SSH key. Otherwise, this configuration step is skipped.

Authentication for the System Administrator root
Figure 4.12: Authentication for the system administrator root

Enter the password for the system administrator root. For verification purposes, the password for root must be entered twice. Do not forget the password as it cannot be retrieved later.

Tip
Tip: Passwords and keyboard layout

It is recommended to only use US ASCII characters. In case of a system error or when you need to start your system in rescue mode, the keyboard may not be localized.

To change the root password later in the installed system, run YaST and start Security and Users › User and Group Management.

Important
Important: The root user

root is the name of the system administrator or superuser. Its user ID (uid) is 0. Unlike regular users, root account has unlimited privileges.

Do not forget the root password

Only root has the privileges to change the system configuration, install programs, manage users and set up new hardware. To carry out such tasks, the root password is required. Do not forget the password as it cannot be retrieved later.

Do not use the root user for daily work

Logging in as root for daily work is rather risky: Commands from root are usually executed without additional confirmation, so a single mistake can lead to an irretrievable loss of system files. Only use the root account for system administration, maintenance and repair.

Do not rename the root user account

YaST will always name the system administrator root. While it is technically possible to rename the root account, certain applications, scripts or third-party products may rely on the existence of a user called root. While such a configuration always targets individual environments, necessary adjustments could be overwritten by vendor updates, so this becomes an ongoing task, not a one-time setting. This is especially true in very complex setups involving third-party applications, where it needs to be verified with every involved vendor whether a rename of the root account is supported.

As the implications for renaming the root account cannot be foreseen, SUSE does not support renaming the root account.

Usually, the idea behind renaming the root account is to hide it or make it unpredictable. However, /etc/passwd requires 644 permissions for regular users, so any user of the system can retrieve the login name for the user ID 0. For better ways to secure the root account, refer to Section 14.5, “Restricting root logins” and Section 14.5.3, “Restricting SSH logins”.

If you want to access the system remotely via SSH using a public key, import a key from a removable storage device or an existing partition. After the installation is finished, you can log in through SSH using the provided SSH key.

Procedure 4.1: Adding a public SSH key for user root

To import a public SSH key from a medium partition, perform the following steps:

  1. The public SSH key is located in your ~/.ssh directory and has the file extension .pub. Copy it to a removable storage device or an existing partition that is not formatted during installation.

  2. If your key is on a removable storage device, insert it into your computer and click Refresh. You should see the device in the drop-down box under Import Public Key.

  3. Click Browse, select the public SSH key and confirm with Open.

  4. Proceed with Next.

If you have both set a password and added a public SSH key, and need remote access right after the installation, do not forget to open the SSH port in the Security section of the Installation Settings summary. If you set no password but only add a key, the port will be opened automatically to prevent you from being locked out of the newly installed system.

4.14 Installation settings

On the last step before the real installation takes place, you can alter installation settings suggested by the installer. To modify the suggestions, click the respective headline. After having made changes to a particular setting, you are always returned to the Installation Settings window, which is updated accordingly.

If you have added an SSH key for your root as mentioned in Procedure 4.1, make sure to open the SSH port in the Security settings.

Installation Settings
Figure 4.13: Installation settings

4.14.1 Software

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop contains several software patterns for various application purposes. The available choice of patterns and packages depends on your selection of modules and extensions.

Click Software to open the Software Selection and System Tasks screen where you can modify the pattern selection according to your needs. Select a pattern from the list and see a description in the right-hand part of the window.

Each pattern contains several software packages needed for specific functions (for example Multimedia or Office software). For a more detailed selection based on software packages to install, select Details to switch to the YaST Software Manager.

Software Selection and System Tasks
Figure 4.14: Software selection and system tasks

You can also install additional software packages or remove software packages from your system at any later time with the YaST Software Manager. For more information, refer to Chapter 8, Installing or removing software.

By default, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop uses the Wayland display server protocol.

Tip
Tip: Adding secondary languages

The language you selected with the first step of the installation will be used as the primary (default) language for the system. You can add secondary languages from within the Software dialog by choosing Details › View › Languages.

4.14.2 Booting

The installer proposes a boot configuration for your system. Other operating systems found on your computer, such as Microsoft Windows or other Linux installations, will automatically be detected and added to the boot loader. However, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop will be booted by default. Normally, you can leave these settings unchanged. If you need a custom setup, modify the proposal according to your needs. For information, see Section 18.3, “Configuring the boot loader with YaST”.

Important
Important: Software RAID 1

Booting a configuration where /boot resides on a software RAID 1 device is supported, but it requires to install the boot loader into the MBR (Boot Loader Location › Boot from Master Boot Record). Having /boot on software RAID devices with a level other than RAID 1 is not supported.

4.14.3 Security

The CPU Mitigations refer to kernel boot command line parameters for software mitigations that have been deployed to prevent CPU side-channel attacks. Click the selected entry to choose a different option. For details, see CPU Mitigations.

By default, the Firewall is enabled on all configured network interfaces. To completely disable firewalld, click disable (not recommended).

Note
Note: Firewall settings

When the firewall is activated, all interfaces are assigned to the public zone, where all ports are closed by default, ensuring maximum security. The only port you can open during the installation is port 22 (SSH), to allow remote access. Other services requiring network access (such as FTP, Samba, Web server, etc.) will only work after having adjusted the firewall settings. Refer to Chapter 23, Masquerading and firewalls for configuration details.

Note
Note: Firewall settings for receiving updates

By default, the firewall on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop only blocks incoming connections. If your system is behind another firewall that blocks outgoing traffic, make sure to allow connections to https://scc.suse.com/ and https://updates.suse.com on ports 80 and 443 in order to receive updates.

The SSH service is enabled by default, but its port (22) is closed in the firewall. Click open to open the port or disable to disable the service. Note that if SSH is disabled, remote logins will not be possible. Refer to Chapter 22, Securing network operations with OpenSSH for more information.

Tip
Tip: Existing SSH host keys

If you install SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on a machine with existing Linux installations, the installation routine imports an SSH host key. It chooses the host key with the most recent access time by default. See also Section 4.14.7, “Import SSH host keys and configuration.

If you are performing a remote administration over VNC, you can also specify whether the machine should be accessible via VNC after the installation. Note that enabling VNC also requires you to set the Default systemd Target to graphical.

The default Major Linux Security Module is AppAmpor. To disable it, select None as module in the Security settings. This allows you to deselect the AppAmor pattern in the Software settings (Section 4.14.1, “Software).

4.14.4 Security Profiles

Important
Important: Availability in SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP4

This feature is available for SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP4 GM via installer self-update or using the QU2 media.

This category allows hardening your system with OpenSCAP security policies. The first policy that was implemented is the Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

Click to enable the security policy. Non-compliant installation settings will be listed with the rule they violate. Some settings can be adjusted automatically by clicking fix rule. For settings that require user input, click modify settings to open the respective settings screen.

Tip
Tip: Checking policy compliance during installation

If you do not want to wait for the Installation Settings screen, but want the installer to check the settings from the beginning of the installation process, boot the system with the boot parameter YAST_SECURITY_POLICY=POLICY. To check for compliance with the DISA STIG, use YAST_SECURITY_POLICY=stig. For more information about boot parameters, refer to Chapter 3, Boot parameters.

The installer does not check all rules of the profile, only those necessary for the installation or that are hard to fix afterward. To apply the remaining rules, a full SCAP remediation is performed on first boot. You can also perform a scan only or do nothing and manually remediate the system later with OpenSCAP. For more information, refer to the articles Hardening SUSE Linux Enterprise with STIG and Hardening SUSE Linux Enterprise with OpenSCAP.

4.14.5 Network configuration

This category displays the current network settings, as automatically configured after booting into the installation (see Section 4.5) or as manually configured during the installation process. By default, wicked is used for server installations and NetworkManager for desktop workloads.

If you want to check or adjust the network settings, click Network Configuration. This takes you to the YaST Network Settings module. For details, see Section 23.4, “Configuring a network connection with YaST”.

Important
Important: Support for NetworkManager

SUSE only supports NetworkManager for desktop workloads with SLED or the Workstation extension. All server certifications are done with wicked as the network configuration tool, and using NetworkManager may invalidate them. NetworkManager is not supported by SUSE for server workloads.

4.14.6 Default systemd target

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop can boot into two different targets (formerly known as runlevels). The graphical target starts a display manager, whereas the multi-user target starts the command line interface.

The default target is graphical. In case you have not installed the X Window System patterns, you need to change it to multi-user. If the system should be accessible via VNC, you need to choose graphical.

4.14.7 Import SSH host keys and configuration

If an existing Linux installation on your computer was detected, YaST will import the most recent SSH host key found in /etc/ssh by default, optionally including other files in the directory as well. This makes it possible to reuse the SSH identity of the existing installation, avoiding the REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED warning on the first connection. Note that this item is not shown in the installation summary if YaST has not discovered any other installations. You have the following choices:

I would like to import SSH keys from a previous install:

Select this option to import the SSH host key and optionally the configuration of an installed system. You can select the installation to import from in the option list below.

Import SSH Configuration

Enable this to copy other files in /etc/ssh to the installed system in addition to the host keys.

4.14.8 System

This screen lists all the hardware information the installer could obtain about your computer. When opened for the first time, the hardware detection is started. Depending on your system, this may take some time. Select any item in the list and click Details to see detailed information about the selected item. Use Save to File to save a detailed list to either the local file system or a removable device.

Advanced users can also change the PCI ID Setup and kernel settings by choosing Kernel Settings. A screen with two tabs opens:

PCI ID setup

Each kernel driver contains a list of device IDs of all devices it supports. If a new device is not in any driver's database, the device is treated as unsupported, even if it can be used with an existing driver. You can add PCI IDs to a device driver here. Only advanced users should attempt to do so.

To add an ID, click Add and select whether to Manually enter the data, or whether to choose from a list. Enter the required data. The SysFS Dir is the directory name from /sys/bus/pci/drivers—if empty, the driver name is used as the directory name. Existing entries can be managed with Edit and Delete.

Kernel settings

Change the Global I/O Scheduler here. If Not Configured is chosen, the default setting for the respective architecture will be used. This setting can also be changed at any time later from the installed system. Refer to Chapter 13, Tuning I/O performance for details on I/O tuning.

Also activate the Enable SysRq Keys here. These keys will let you issue basic commands (such as rebooting the system or writing kernel dumps) in case the system crashes. Enabling these keys is recommended when doing kernel development. Refer to https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/sysrq.html for details.

4.15 Performing the installation

After configuring all installation settings, click Install in the Installation Settings window to start the installation. Some software may require a license confirmation. If your software selection includes such software, license confirmation dialogs are displayed. Click Accept to install the software package. When not agreeing to the license, click I Disagree and the software package will not be installed. In the dialog that follows, confirm with Install again.

The installation usually takes between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the system performance and the selected software scope. After having prepared the hard disk and having saved and restored the user settings, the software installation starts. Choose Details to switch to the installation log or Release Notes to read important up-to-date information that was not available when the manuals were printed.

After the software installation has completed, the system reboots into the new installation where you can log in. To customize the system configuration or to install additional software packages, start YaST.