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documentation.suse.com / SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation / Administration Guide / Common Tasks / YaST Online Update
Applies to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5

3 YaST Online Update

SUSE offers a continuous stream of software security updates for your product. By default, the update applet is used to keep your system up-to-date. Refer to Section 14.5, “Keeping the System Up-to-date” for further information on the update applet. This chapter covers the alternative tool for updating software packages: YaST Online Update.

The current patches for SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server are available from an update software repository. If you have registered your product during the installation, an update repository is already configured. If you have not registered SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, you can do so by starting the Product Registration in YaST. Alternatively, you can manually add an update repository from a source you trust. To add or remove repositories, start the Repository Manager with Software › Software Repositories in YaST. Learn more about the Repository Manager in Section 14.4, “Managing Software Repositories and Services”.

Note
Note: Error on Accessing the Update Catalog

If you are not able to access the update catalog, this might be because of an expired subscription. Normally, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server comes with a one-year or three-year subscription, during which you have access to the update catalog. This access will be denied after the subscription ends.

If an access to the update catalog is denied, you will see a warning message prompting you to visit the SUSE Customer Center and check your subscription. The SUSE Customer Center is available at https://scc.suse.com//.

SUSE provides updates with different relevance levels:

Security Updates

Fix severe security hazards and should always be installed.

Recommended Updates

Fix issues that could compromise your computer.

Optional Updates

Fix non-security relevant issues or provide enhancements.

3.1 The Online Update Dialog

To open the YaST Online Update dialog, start YaST and select Software  › Online Update. Alternatively, start it from the command line with yast2 online_update.

The Online Update window consists of four sections.

YaST Online Update
Figure 3.1: YaST Online Update

The Summary section on the left lists the available patches for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. The patches are sorted by security relevance: security, recommended, and optional. You can change the view of the Summary section by selecting one of the following options from Show Patch Category:

Needed Patches (default view)

Non-installed patches that apply to packages installed on your system.

Unneeded Patches

Patches that either apply to packages not installed on your system, or patches that have requirements which have already have been fulfilled (because the relevant packages have already been updated from another source).

All Patches

All patches available for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Each list entry in the Summary section consists of a symbol and the patch name. For an overview of the possible symbols and their meaning, press ShiftF1. Actions required by Security and Recommended patches are automatically preset. These actions are Autoinstall, Autoupdate and Autodelete.

If you install an up-to-date package from a repository other than the update repository, the requirements of a patch for this package may be fulfilled with this installation. In this case a check mark is displayed in front of the patch summary. The patch will be visible in the list until you mark it for installation. This will in fact not install the patch (because the package already is up-to-date), but mark the patch as having been installed.

Select an entry in the Summary section to view a short Patch Description at the bottom left corner of the dialog. The upper right section lists the packages included in the selected patch (a patch can consist of several packages). Click an entry in the upper right section to view details about the respective package that is included in the patch.

3.2 Installing Patches

The YaST Online Update dialog allows you to either install all available patches at once or manually select the desired patches. You may also revert patches that have been applied to the system.

By default, all new patches (except optional ones) that are currently available for your system are already marked for installation. They will be applied automatically once you click Accept or Apply. If one or multiple patches require a system reboot, you will be notified about this before the patch installation starts. You can then either decide to continue with the installation of the selected patches, skip the installation of all patches that need rebooting and install the rest, or go back to the manual patch selection.

Procedure 3.1: Applying Patches with YaST Online Update
  1. Start YaST and select Software › Online Update.

  2. To automatically apply all new patches (except optional ones) that are currently available for your system, press Apply or Accept.

  3. First modify the selection of patches that you want to apply:

    1. Use the respective filters and views that the interface provides. For details, refer to Section 3.1, “The Online Update Dialog”.

    2. Select or deselect patches according to your needs and wishes by right-clicking the patch and choosing the respective action from the context menu.

      Important
      Important: Always Apply Security Updates

      Do not deselect any security-related patches without a very good reason. These patches fix severe security hazards and prevent your system from being exploited.

    3. Most patches include updates for several packages. If you want to change actions for single packages, right-click a package in the package view and choose an action.

    4. To confirm your selection and apply the selected patches, proceed with Apply or Accept.

  4. After the installation is complete, click Finish to leave the YaST Online Update. Your system is now up-to-date.

3.3 Automatic Online Update

YaST also offers the possibility to set up an automatic update with daily, weekly or monthly schedule. To use the respective module, you need to install the yast2-online-update-configuration package first.

By default, updates are downloaded as delta RPMs. Since rebuilding RPM packages from delta RPMs is a memory- and processor-intensive task, certain setups or hardware configurations might require you to disable the use of delta RPMs for the sake of performance.

Some patches, such as kernel updates or packages requiring license agreements, require user interaction, which would cause the automatic update procedure to stop. You can configure to skip patches that require user interaction.

Procedure 3.2: Configuring the Automatic Online Update
  1. After installation, start YaST and select Software › Online Update Configuration.

    Alternatively, start the module with yast2 online_update_configuration from the command line.

  2. Activate Automatic Online Update.

  3. Choose the update interval: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.

  4. To automatically accept any license agreements, activate Agree with Licenses.

  5. Select if you want to Skip Interactive Patches in case you want the update procedure to proceed fully automatically.

    Important
    Important: Skipping Patches

    If you select to skip any packages that require interaction, run a manual Online Update occasionally to install those patches, too. Otherwise you might miss important patches.

  6. To automatically install all packages recommended by updated packages, activate Include Recommended Packages.

  7. To disable the use of delta RPMs (for performance reasons), deactivate Use Delta RPMs.

  8. To filter the patches by category (such as security or recommended), activate Filter by Category and add the appropriate patch categories from the list. Only patches of the selected categories will be installed. Others will be skipped.

  9. Confirm your configuration with OK.

The automatic online update does not automatically restart the system afterward. If there are package updates that require a system reboot, you need to do this manually.