Migrating from SLES11 SP3/SP4 SMT to SLES 12 SP1 SMT

This document (7017405) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

Subscription Management Tool (SMT) for SUSE Linux Enterprise 11
Subscription Management Tool (SMT) for SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 1 (SLES 12 SP1)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 4 (SLES 11 SP4)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 3 (SLES 11 SP3)

Situation

The following describes the process to migrate from SLES 11 SP3/SP4 / SMT 11 SP3 to SLES 12 SP1 SMT.  The following documentation should also be referenced:

https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles-12/pdfdoc/book_smt/book_smt.pdf
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles-12/book_smt/data/smt_installation_upgrade.html
https://www.suse.com/releasenotes/x86_64/SUSE-SLES/12-SP1/ - section 2.2.5

Resolution

Prerequisites:

1. Fully patched SLES 11 SP3 / SMT 11 SP3 server
2. SMT server migrated to use the SCC. 

To verify that the SMT server has been migrated to the SCC run the following command:

cat /etc/smt.conf | grep -i api

it should return:

ApiType=SCC

If ApiType=NCC the SMT server needs to be migrated to the SCC.  See TID # 7015836 for more information on migrating SMT to the SCC (https://www.suse.com/support/kb/doc.php?id=7015836)

If the command returns nothing check the /etc/smt.conf file for the ApiType= parameter, if it is missing the server is not fully patched.

Once the prerequisites are met the SLES 11 SP3/SMT 11 SP3 server can be upgraded.

It should be noted that the process will also work with a SLES 11 SP4/SMT 11 SP3 server.

The migration process.

1. Backup the existing MySQL database:

mysqldump -u root -p --all-databases > /<path/to/backup  (ie /root/mysql_backup.sql)

NOTE: By default, mysqldump does not dump the INFORMATION_SCHEMA or performance_schema database. For more details refer to https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/mysqldump.html.

2. Copy the /etc/my.cnf and /etc/mysql/ directory contents to a safe location

3. Upgrade the system to SLES 12 SP1

Instructions for upgrading can be found here:

https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles-12/book_sle_deployment/data/sec_update_sle12.html

4. After the upgrade copy the /etc/my.cnf.rpmnew over to /etc/my.cnf. 

Check to ensure that the following parameters are not commented out:

They are under the [mysqld] section:

port = 3306
socket = /var/run/mysql/mysql.sock

If they are uncomment them and save the my.cnf file

5. Test to ensure that the database is working:

systemctl start mysql
mysql -u root -p

after entering the root password for the database it should return something like the following:

Welcome to the MariaDB monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 5
Server version: 10.0.21-MariaDB-log openSUSE package

Copyright (c) 2000, 2015, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

MariaDB [(none)]>

Type 'exit' to return to the command line.

enter the following to enable the mysql service so that it starts at boot time:

systemctl enable mysql


If mysql -u root -p returns something like the following:

ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysql/mysql.sock' (2 "No such file or directory")

Ensure the /etc/my.cnf.rpmnew has been coppied to /etc/my.cnf and the port and socket lines in step 4 are uncommented

6. start the smt service:

systemctl start smt.service

also enable the service so it starts at boot:

systemctl enable smt.service

# systemctl status smt.service

Should return something similar to the following:

smt.service - SMT Maintenance tasks
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/smt.service; enabled)
   Active: inactive (dead) since Wed 2016-03-23 09:04:29 MDT; 12s ago
 Main PID: 3666 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

Mar 23 09:04:29 smt11sp3-test1 su[3667]: (to smt) root on none
Mar 23 09:04:29 smt11sp3-test1 logger[3706]: The SMT certificate is ok


7. SMT should now be running the following commands can be used to also confirm that the SMT server is running properly:

smt-sync

should return something like:

Downloading Product and Repository information
Download  (100%)
Update DB (100%)
Downloading Subscription information
Download  (100%)
Update DB (100%)
Flagging repositories which can be mirrored
Download  (100%)

smt-repos -m (shows a listing of all repos that can be mirrored)
smt-repos -o (shows a listing of all repos that are flagged to be mirrored)

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:7017405
  • Creation Date: 24-Mar-2016
  • Modified Date:03-Mar-2020
    • Subscription Management Tool
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

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