## Chapter 4. Installation¶

SUSE Manager is a management server application combined with an operating system (appliance). It can be deployed on industry hardware or in a virtual environment and used in conjunction with an embedded or a stand-alone database.

If your future SUSE Manager server is connected to the Internet, it will receive any updates directly from the Novell Customer Center. For a disconnected setup scenario, configure SUSE Manager to receive any updates from an internal update server (like SMT) instead.

Installation and basic configuration of SUSE Manager is covered in Quick Start (↑Quick Start). It is task-based and guides you through all required steps, from basic installation and setup through basic configuration.

## 4.1. Summary of Steps¶

The following overview lists the installation and setup scenarios covered in the Quick Start. The overview includes all required steps for basic installation, setup and configuration of SUSE Manager. Additionally, it covers a list of common administration tasks that you might need afterward.

### 4.1.1. Installation and Setup¶

Setup From Scratch—With Internet Connection

  For installation and initial setup, you need to execute the following basic steps:

  1. If using a stand-alone database: Preparing your database instance according to the formula provided in Chapter 3, Requirements.

  2. Procedure “Installing the Appliance” (↑Quick Start)

  3. Procedure “Setting Up SUSE Manager” (↑Quick Start)

Setup From Scratch—Without Internet Connection

  For installation and initial setup, execute the same basic steps as listed above, but skip the registration of the product at NCC. For details, see Step 10 (↑Quick Start) in Procedure “Installing the Appliance” (↑Quick Start).

  During basic configuration, the setup of Novell channels differs from the standard procedure: Instead of importing channels from NCC, you need to create custom channels, and add repositories to be synchronized with the custom channel. For details, refer to Section “Channels” (↑Reference Guide) and Section “Manage Software Channels+Manage Repositories” (↑Reference Guide), respectively.

Migration from a Satellite Server

  Instead of setting up a SUSE Manager server from scratch, you can also migrate from an existing Satellite server. For details, refer to Section “Server Migration” (, ↑Quick Start).

### 4.1.2. Basic Configuration¶

To complete the basic SUSE Manager configuration, you need to execute the following steps:

1. Procedure “Creating the SUSE Manager Administrator Account” (↑Quick Start)

2. Procedure “Importing Novell Channels from NCC” (↑Quick Start)

   In case of disconnected setup with an internal update server like SMT, you need to create custom channels, and add repositories to be synchronized with the custom channels.

3. Procedure “Creating Activation Keys” (↑Quick Start)

4. Procedure “Generating the Bootstrap Script” (↑Quick Start)

5. Procedure “Editing the Bootstrap Script and Registering Clients” (↑Quick Start)

The following tasks are not part of the initial installation, setup, and configuration but they represent common tasks for basic administration and further configuration:

- Section “Organization Management” (, ↑Quick Start)

- Section “Management of System and Software Entitlements” (, ↑Quick Start)

- Section “User Management” (, ↑Quick Start)

After SUSE Manager is populated with standard channels and packages and all clients are connected to it, you may begin creating and serving custom channels and packages. Once the custom RPMs are developed, you can import them into SUSE Manager using mgrpush. In the SUSE Manager Web interface, add custom channels in which to store them.

As can be seen from the overview above, implementing a fully functional SUSE Manager requires more than installing software and a database. Many tasks extending beyond the basic installation and setup are covered in detail in other guides. For a full list of available documentation for this product, refer to About This Guide.