How to assign Long Term Service Pack Support repositories to installed systems

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 (All versions with LTSS)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (All versions with LTSS)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (All versions with LTSS)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (All versions with LTSS)

Once a new service pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise based products has been released, SUSE starts a six months dual support phase for both the previous and new version. After these six months,  support for the previous  service pack will end and no further recommended or security related updates will be released.
If a requirement for a longer transition period persists or perhaps 3rd party applications prevent to upgrade to the next service pack, then a Long Term Service Pack Support (LTSS) contract may be an option to maintain a secure SUSE Linux Enterprise based setup.

This knowledgebase article will explain how LTSS repositories may be added to systems which fetch updates from SUSE directly or are connected to a SMT, SUSE Manager or SUSE Studio installation.

 

Direct connection

SLES 10 SPx / SLES 11 SPx

When the server is connected directly to the internet, the system needs to be registered using a LTSS activation code which can be located in the SUSE Customer Center account. Please note, LTSS  activation codes are product dependent. Registering a SLES11SP1 with an LTSS code for SLES10SP2 will not succeed. Make sure the correct activation code is selected when registering the system.

In this situation the usual procedures for registering a SLES server apply. Please see for details http://www.suse.com/products/register.html how to register a SLES server using YaST2. If a scripted approach is necessary, the command suse_register might be used to accomplish the registration: While adding the option "-d 3" to the command above, the following output should be seen when the repositories are added:

Adding repository 'SLE11-SDK-SP1-Updates' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLE11-SDK-SP1-Pool' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLES11-SP1-Updates' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLES11-SP1-Pool' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLE11-SP1-Debuginfo-Updates' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLE11-SP1-Debuginfo-Pool' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLES11-Extras' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLE11-WebYaST-SP1-Pool' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLE11-WebYaST-SP1-Updates' [......done]
Adding repository 'SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates' [......done]

Please adjust  EMAILADDR and LTSS-ACTIVATIONCODE accordingly. To change the registration on any SUSE Linux Enterprise based  system please follow here

Updates via Subscription Management Tool(SMT)

Environments using a SMT server to download and provide updates locally will have to enable the appropriate LTSS channels they are entitled to either by using the YaST2 smt module or the smt-catalogs command:

rizzo:~ # smt-catalogs -e SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates
.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Mirror? | ID | Type | Name                    | Target        | Description                               | Can be Mirrored | Staging |
+---------+----+------+-------------------------+---------------+-------------------------------------------+-----------------+---------+
| No      |  1 | nu   | SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates | sle-11-i586   | SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates for sle-11-i586   | Yes             | No      |
| No      |  2 | nu   | SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates | sle-11-s390x  | SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates for sle-11-s390x  | No              | No      |
| No      |  3 | nu   | SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates | sle-11-x86_64 | SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates for sle-11-x86_64 | Yes             | No      |
'---------+----+------+-------------------------+---------------+-------------------------------------------+-----------------+---------'
Select repository number (or all) to change,  (1-3,a) :3
1 Repo(s) enabled.

After finishing the repository sync, please re-run suse_register to have the machine fetch the new channels from the SMT server.

Systems maintained via SUSE Manager

For systems operating a SLES11SP1 patch level and connected to SUSE Manager verify first if the Channel sles11-sp1-ltss-updates-<arch> is available and can be mirrored.

Please run the following command :

mgr-sync list channels

or as below for the x86_64 architecture, or 32bit installations :

mgr-sync add channel sles11-sp1-ltss-updates-i586

A repository sync will be triggered automatically. When the sync is finished, create a new activation code specifically for SLES11SP1 or adjust any existing one  - just ensure the key that is about to get changed does not contain any SP2 repositories. The SP1 key needs to contain the following child channels:

SLES11-SP1-Updates-<arch>
SLES11-SP1-LTSS-Updates-<arch>

Save the key and generate a bootstrap file. Adjust this file to your needs and re-register the client using the bootstrap script to enable the LTSS repositories.

Please notice that SUSE Manager does not support the rather new product called "LTSS EXTREME CORE", introduced in 2023 for SLES 11 SP4, whose repository URL is as follows:
https://updates.suse.com/SUSE/Updates/SLE-SERVER/11-SP4-LTSS-EXTREME-CORE/x86_64/update

SUSE Studio Onsite

1.    Login to SUSE Studio as admin
2.    Click Admin user in the upper right corner
3.    Click Advanced
4.    Click the Repositories link
5.    Here you can enter a name and URL to access the LTSS repository

Once the settings are done, you can manually add the LTSS repositories to your appliances as follows:
Login to SUSE Studio with your user account, select an existing SLES 11 SP1 appliance, then go to the "Software Tab", then select "Add repositories". Here you can add the LTSS repository to your appliance. After that, you need to (re-)build the appliance.

SLES 12

Starting with SLES 12 (SP0) LTSS has been made an extension that must be installed on the system.
This is a two-step process :
1) Register the system against an update service (registration server).
2) Install the SLES 12 LTSS extension/add-on/module, which also sets up the repository.

The list of installable SLE 12 extensions is based on the active registrations of the system and what is available on the registration server, which can be either the SUSE Customer Center (SCC) or an SMT server.
This means that the system needs to be registered before the installation of the LTSS product can be performed.

Step 1 - Registering the system
Systems connected to the internet and not using an internal Subscription Management Tool (SMT) server
Like SLES 11 servers connected directly to the internet, the system needs to be registered using a LTSS activation code which can be located in the SUSE Customer Center account. Please note, LTSS  activation codes are product dependent. Registering a SLES 12 with an LTSS code for SLES 11 SP3 will not succeed. Make sure the correct activation code is selected when registering the system.

In SLE 12, the suse_register command has been replaced by the more feature-rich SUSEConnect command, but otherwise the usual procedures for registering a SLES server apply. Please see for details https://www.suse.com/products/register.html how to register a SLES server using YaST2. If a scripted approach is desired, the command SUSEConnect can be used to accomplish the registration:

 SUSEConnect --email EMAILADDR --regcode SLES-ACTIVATIONCODE

Please adjust EMAILADDR and SLES-ACTIVATIONCODE accordingly. To change the registration on any SUSE Linux Enterprise based system, please follow here

Systems using a local Subscription Management Tool (SMT) server
The systems must be registered against the SMT server as described in Configuring Clients to Use SMT.
It is a pre-requisite that the SLES12-LTSS-Updates (and optionally SLES12-LTSS-Debuginfo-Updates) repositories are enabled for mirroring on the SMT server.
Provided the credentials to to download and provide updates locally will have to enable the appropriate LTSS channels they are entitled to either by using the YaST smt module or an smt-catalogs command like this :

smt-repos -e SLES12-LTSS-Updates sle-12-x86_64

Step 2 - Installing the LTSS extension/add-on/module
Ensure that the system is patched to a level where at least the SUSEConnect package is capable of listing the available extensions (version 0.2.34 or higher).

The extension can either be installed with the YaST add-on module of from the command-line with the SUSEConnect command.
YaST
Launch the yast(2) add-on module and select
- Add
- Extensions and Modules from Registration Server...
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 LTSS 12
If the system is registered against SCC, the user is at this point prompted to enter the LTSS-activation code. Enter that and select Next.
Complete the installation and registration process

Command-line
Verify that the LTSS is available and get the command to installed returned for free by entering this command :

SUSEConnect --list-extensions | grep LTSS

For systems registered with SCC, the output it will include "-r REGCODE" :

The registration code not relevant for systems registered against an SMT server, so here the output will be limited to :
  SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 LTSS 12 x86_64
  Install with: SUSEConnect -p SLES-LTSS/12/x86_64

Now go ahead and install the extension with the applicable command depending on your environment (SMT or SCC), e.g. :

SUSEConnect -p SLES-LTSS/12/x86_64

which should return something like

Registered SLES-LTSS 12 x86_64
To server: https://<SCC/SMT-FQDN>

Finally verify that the SLES12-LTSS-Updates repository has been enabled for the client with\

zypper lr -E | grep LTSS

The output should be a line like the following :

2 | SMT-http_t440_nts_com:SLES12-LTSS-Updates | SLES12-LTSS-Updates | Yes     | (r ) Yes  | Yes

SLES 15

For all versions of SLES 15, please see the Upgrade Guide section 2.7 Enabling LTSS support. 

15 SP1:     https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP1/html/SLES-all/cha-upgrade-background.html#sec-upgrade-background-enable-ltss
15 SP2:     https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP2/html/SLES-all/cha-upgrade-background.html#sec-upgrade-background-enable-ltss
15 SP3:     https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP3/html/SLES-all/cha-upgrade-background.html#sec-upgrade-background-enable-ltss
15 SP4:     https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP4/html/SLES-all/cha-upgrade-background.html#sec-upgrade-background-enable-ltss

Update via Repository Mirroring Tool:
Environments using a RMT server to download and provide updates locally will have to enable the appropriate LTSS channels they are entitled to either by using the RMT command line tools.

Here is an example to enable SLES15-SP4 LTSS:

# rmt-cli sync
# rmt-cli products list --all|grep -i ltss|grep "15 SP4"
 2696 | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS   | 15 SP4     | x86_64  | Mirror   

# rmt-cli products enable 2696
# rmt-cli mirror product 2696

or

# rmt-cli sync
# rmt-cli repos list --all | grep -i LTSS|grep 15-SP4
 6717 | SLE-Product-SLES15-SP4-LTSS-Updates for sle-15-x86_64       | Mandatory     | Mirror

# rmt-cli repo enable 6717
# rmt-cli mirror repo 6717

 

SLES9SP4

In order  to patch a SLES9SP4 with LTSS packages, adjustments in /var/adm/YaST/ProdDB/prod_0000000* need to be made as these files define the directory on the update server where to check for new packages. Change the last line in any prod_* file from e.g.

=YouPath: i386/update/SUSE-SLES/9

to

=YouPath: i386/update/SUSE-SLES/9-LTSS

Please note: SLES9SP4 systems need to be fully patched to the latest patch level before changing the update source path.