Running "zypper search-packages" on RMT/SMT clients leads to SUSE::Connect::UnsupportedOperation

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15

Situation

Since SLES 15, zypper search-packages is available for searching packages in both activated and non-activated SLES modules by contacting the SUSE Customer Center (SCC).

The release notes for SLES 15 mentions:
- https://www.suse.com/releasenotes/x86_64/SUSE-SLES/15/index.html#Intro.New

Extended package search: Use the new Zypper command zypper search-packages to search across all SUSE repositories available for your product even if they are not yet enabled. This functionality makes it easier for administrators and system architects to find the software packages needed. To do so, it leverages the SCC.

However, when using zypper search-packages <package_name> on a system that is not registered against the SCC, but rather against a local RMT/SMT server, the following output is shown:

Could not search for the package: SUSE::Connect::UnsupportedOperation: Package search is not supported by the registration proxy: Alternatively, use the web version at https://scc.suse.com/packages/

followed by (if the searched package is in a non-activated module):

No package found

or followed by an output similar to that of zypper search -s <package_name> (if the searched package is in an already activated module).

Resolution

Please use https://scc.suse.com/packages/ instead.

Cause

zypper search-packages requires access to the SCC, but for RMT/SMT clients, the SCC practically doesn't exist - the /etc/SUSEConnect file on such systems points to the local RMT/SMT server instead of https://scc.suse.com

Unfortunately, the functionality for RMT/SMT clients to be able to use zypper search-packages hasn't been implemented yet and it hasn't been decided whether to implement such functionality.

Disclaimer

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