6 Finishing the upgrade #
After the upgrade, you need to perform some additional tasks. The following chapter guides you through these steps.
6.1 Check for old packages #
Use zypper packages
to check for orphaned and unneeded packages.
Orphaned Packages are no longer available in any of the configured package repositories. They can no longer get updated and become unsupported.
For a list of orphaned packages, run:
>
zypper packages --orphaned
Unneeded packages are dependencies of packages that have been installed either explicitly by the user or implicitly as part a pattern or product, and that have been removed in the meantime. They are usually no longer needed and should be removed, too.
For a list of unneeded packages, run:
>
zypper packages --unneeded
To avoid unneeded packages, use zypper rm
with the
--clean-deps
option or YaST with ›
enabled.
You can combine both lists into one:
>
zypper packages --orphaned --unneeded
Use these lists to determine which packages are still needed and which can be safely removed.
If packages get renamed, or removed from a pattern or product, zypper
may no
longer consider them explicitly installed and mark them as unneeded, even though they are still
crucial for your installation.
Carefully review the list of packages you are removing.
To remove all orphaned and unneeded packages with a single command, run:
>
sudo
zypper rm $(zypper --no-refresh packages --orphaned --unneeded | gawk '{print $5}' | tail -n +5)
Exclude a single package or pattern from being uninstalled:
>
sudo
zypper rm $(zypper --no-refresh packages --orphaned --unneeded | gawk '{print $5}' | tail -n +5 | grep -v PACKAGE_TO_EXCLUDE)
Exclude multiple packages defined in a text file, separated by a newline:
>
sudo
zypper rm $(zypper --no-refresh packages --orphaned --unneeded | gawk '{print $5}' | tail -n +5 | grep -v -f /PACKAGES/TO/KEEP.txt)
6.2 Review your configuration files #
Check for any *.rpmnew
and
*.rpmsave
files. When an upgrade includes changes to
a default configuration file that has been altered after package
installation, instead of overwriting the file, one of these file types is
created. While *.rpmnew
contains the new default
configuration and leaves your altered file untouched,
*.rpmsave
is a copy of your altered configuration that
has been replaced by the new default file.
If you find any of these files, examine their content and merge desirable
changes. You do not need to search the whole file system, only the
/etc
directory. Use the following command:
>
find /etc/ -name "*.rpmnew" -o -name "*.rpmsave"
6.3 Enable the Python 3
module #
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 uses Python 3.6 by default. Python 3.9 was added in
SLES 15 SP3 as a more recent alternative. This version is no
longer supported as of SLES 15 SP4. Instead, recent Python
versions with important updates and security fixes are available through the
Python 3
module.
If you installed Python 3.9 under SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3, enable the
Python 3
module with:
>
sudo
SUSEConnect -p sle-module-python3/15.5/x86_64
.
Alternatively, you can return to the default Python version by removing 3.9
with zypper remove -u python39
.
6.4 Reformat XFS v4 devices #
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports the “on-disk format” (v5) of the XFS file system. The main advantages of this format are automatic checksums of all XFS metadata, file type support, and support for a larger number of access control lists for a file.
Note that this format is not supported by SUSE Linux Enterprise kernels older than version
3.12, by xfsprogs
older than version 3.2.0, and GRUB 2
versions released before SUSE Linux Enterprise 12.
XFS is deprecating file systems with the V4 format. This file system format was created by the command:
>
sudo
mkfs.xfs -m crc=0 DEVICE
The format was used in SLE 11 and older releases, and it currently creates
a warning message by dmesg
:
Deprecated V4 format (crc=0) will not be supported after September 2030
If you see the message above in the output of the dmesg
command, it is recommended that you update your file system to the V5
format:
Back up your data to another device.
Create the file system on the device.
>
sudo
mkfs.xfs -m crc=1 DEVICERestore the data from the backup on the updated device.