Package Management

Clients use packages to install, uninstall, and upgrade software.

When packages are installed or upgraded, licenses or EULAs are automatically accepted.

To manage packages on a client, navigate to Systems, click the client to manage, and navigate to the Systems  Software  Packages subtab. The options available in this section vary depending on the type of client you have selected, and its current channel subscriptions.

Most package management actions can be added to action chains. For more about action chains, see Action Chains.

1. Verify Packages

You can check that packages you have installed on a client match the current state of the database they were installed from. The metadata of the installed package is compared to information in the database, including the file checksum, file size, permissions, owner, group, and type.

Procedure: Verifying Installed Packages

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Systems, click the client the package is installed on, and navigate to the Systems  Software  Packages  Verify subtab.

  2. Select the packages you want to verify and click Verify Selected Packages.

  3. When the verification is complete, navigate to Systems  Events  History to see the results.

2. Compare Packages

You can compare the packages installed on a client with a stored profile, or with packages installed on another client. When the comparison is made, you can choose to modify the selected client to match.

To compare packages against a profile, you need to have stored a profile. Profiles are created from the packages on a currently installed client. When the profile has been created, you can use it to install more clients with the same packages installed.

Procedure: Creating a Stored Profile

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Systems, click the client to base your profile off, and navigate to the Systems  Software  Packages  Profiles subtab.

  2. Click Create System Profile.

  3. Type a name and description for your profile and click Create Profile.

Procedure: Comparing Client Packages

  1. In the SUSE Manager Web UI, navigate to Systems, click the client to compare, and navigate to the Systems  Software  Packages  Profiles subtab. To compare with a stored profile, select the profile and click Compare.

  2. To compare with another client, select the client name and click Compare to see a list of differences between the two clients.