Removing Channel

1. Use Case

This workflow shows how to manually remove SUSE provided channels from SUSE Manager and to clean up end-of-life products, to reclaim space or for other purposes.

2. Step-by-step Instructions

Manual channel removal consists of Preparing to Remove a Channel and Removing Channel.

2.1. Preparing to Remove a Channel

Before removing a channel, you must identify the label for the channel to be removed. It can be done with Web UI or on the command line.

  • Be careful not to remove channels that systems are currently subscribed to, or that you are planning on subscribing a system to.

  • If there are systems that are currently subscribed to a channel that you want to delete, do not remove the channel until those systems are upgraded or unsubscribed.

2.1.1. Identifying Channel labels

Procedure: Identifying Channel Labels Using Web UI

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, in the sidebar navigate to Software  Channel List  All.

  2. This page displays the Channel Name. If you select the link for a channel name, you will see the field for Channel Label.

  3. Identify the channel, and child channels, to be removed.

Procedure: Identifying Channel Labels Using the Command Line

  1. You can get a list of channels by running the following command:

    spacewalk-remove-channel -l

2.1.2. Verify Channel System Subscriptions

Procedure: Verifying Channel System Subscriptions Using Web UI

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, in the sidebar navigate to Software  Channel List  All.

  2. Locate Systems column on the right.

  3. Check the Systems column for the channel, or any child channels, that you want to remove.

Procedure: Verify Channel System Subscriptions Using the Command Line

  1. Run the following command:

    spacecmd -- softwarechannel_listsystems <Channel Label>

2.2. Removing Channel

A channel, with its metadata, can be removed in the SUMA command line by using the spacewalk-remove-channel command. This command does not remove the packages themselves from the filesystem.

Removing packages from the filesystem is described in [cleaning-up-channel-packages].

2.2.1. Removing an Individual Channel

Procedure: Removing an Individual Channel Using the Command Line

  1. To remove an individual channel run the following command:

    spacewalk-remove-channel -c channel-label

  2. To remove multiple channels at the same time, use -c flag for each channel, followed by the channel-label. For example:

    spacewalk-remove-channel -c channel-label1 -c channel-label2

2.2.2. Removing a Parent and All Its Child Channels

Procedure: Removing a Parent and All Its Child Channels

  1. It is also possible to remove a parent channel with all of its child channels, like this:

    spacewalk-remove-channel -a sles12-sp5-pool-x86_64

2.2.3. Remove Packages from the Database via the Web UI

Procedure: Remove Packages from the Database via the Web UI

  1. After removing the channel, you need to delete the packages from the database via the Web UI.

  2. In the SUSE Manager Web UI navigate to SUSEManager  Software  Manage  Packages.

  3. Select Package in no channel, and delete the packages.

2.2.4. Clean the Packages from the Filesystem

Procedure: Clean the Packages from the Filesystem

  1. The following command checks for anything that is still showing in the filesystem, but not in the SUMA database and then removes it.

    # spacewalk-data-fsck -r -S -C -O

    The final cleanup command can take several minutes, or even hours to complete.