Supported SUSE and Partner Products

The SUSE YES Certification program provides easily identifiable products that are certified with SUSE technologies. This lets end-users know that both SUSE and participating SUSE partners will work together to support them when deploying certified solutions in a SUSE environment. This document reviews the different partner product types and SUSE products available for YES Certified solutions.

SUSE Products Listed on a YES Bulletin

There are two categories of SUSE products recognized through YES Certification:

• Certified SUSE Products which are either server-based or client-based operating systems used during the YES Certification process. These are listed under Operating Systems on the YES Certified bulletin
• Supported SUSE Products which include both products that are used during certification (like SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions) and products that are not used during YES Certification (like SLE Micro) but are listed on the YES Certified bulletin

The non-tested (but supported) products sit above the kernel or use the same kernel / kernel modules or a subset of modules and features that are tested during certification. All supported products are listed under Other Products on the YES Certified bulletin

Certified SUSE Products

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (with Latest Service Pack)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) is an adaptable and easy-to-manage platform that allows developers and administrators to deploy business-critical workloads on-premises, in the cloud and at the edge. All SUSE YES Certifications are based on SUSE Linux Enterprise.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (with KVM / Xen)

KVM and Xen are complete virtualization solutions for systems with processors supporting hardware virtualization:

• Xen supports Intel VT and AMD-V architectures
• KVM supports Intel VT, AMD-V, ARMv8-A, IBM Z and LinuxONE architectures

KVM and Xen consist of two main components:

• A set of kernel modules providing the core virtualization infrastructure and processor specific drivers
• A user-space program that provides emulation for virtual devices and control mechanisms to manage VM (Virtual Machine) Guests

Because KVM and Xen require kernel modules that interact with the hardware and are not included in a base SUSE Linux Enterprise installation, additional certification beyond a SUSE Linux Enterprise base certification is required (reduced virtualization projects may be applicable if a full base certification has been completed)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (with Latest Service Packs)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is designed for mixed environments and includes a complete suite of required business applications to support employees’ productivity. SLE Desktop shares the core of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. The main differences between SLE Server and SLE Desktop are:

• SLED includes a suite of business apps such as email client and collaboration tools
• SLED uses Network Manager as the default network management utility, but can be configured to use the SLES default network management utility - Wicked
• SLED supports Wi-Fi by default. For SLES to support Wi-Fi, SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions may need to be installed
• SLED has a shorter support lifecycle than SLES as it does not include the option for a Long-Term Service Pack Support (LTSS) contract

Because the differences between SLES and SLED are minimal (both use the same kernel and modules), a YES Certification bulletin with SLED can be used to generate a 3C bulletin for SLES with the following exceptions:

• A system certified with SLED must meet the minimum hardware requirements for SLES (ex. Minimum of 2 network adapters)
• If the System certified with SLED has a Wi-Fi adapter, SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions must be listed on the Server bulletin

SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions

SUSE Linux Enterprise Worksta­tion Extension allows you to turn SUSE Linux Enterprise Server into a fully featured development or administrator workstation environment, improving productivity and code quality. SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions includes all productivity applications that are included in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions also enables support for Wi-Fi on some network servers.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extensions are not certified as a stand-alone product but can be added to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server when desktop capability is desired.

Supported SUSE Products

SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro (SLE Micro)

In March 2021 SUSE® released SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0, an operating system that targets the general Edge marketspace. SLE Micro is an ultra-reliable, lightweight operating system purpose built for containerized, virtualized or edge bare metal installed workloads. It leverages the enterprise hardened security and compliance components of SUSE Linux Enterprise and merges them with a modern, immutable, developer-friendly OS platform.

Current SLE Micro / SLES OS Pairings

SLE Micro 5.0 is based on SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP2 and is specifically designed for easy mass deployment. SLE Micro 5.1/5.2 (Released in October 2021/April 2022) are based on SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP3. See table below for full SLE Micro / SLES pairings:

SUSE Linux Enterprise Version	SLE Micro Version
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2	SLE Micro 5.0
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3	SLE Micro 5.1 / 5.2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4	SLE Micro 5.3 / 5.4

 

SLE Micro can be used in a variety of Cloud and Edge infrastructure solutions. Some of the targeted use environments for SLE Micro include edge, special projects and SUSE embedded.

It can be installed as a bare-metal system (manual or image based), a KVM host or a virtual machine, and will by default be installed as a container host. It will be delivered in both x86_64 (Intel® and AMD) and aarch64 (Arm) architectures.

SLE Micro is available to be added to new and existing SLE 15 SP2 and later YES Certification bulletins. As mentioned, the base configuration of SLE Micro 5.0 and 5.1/5.2 are built upon the SLE 15 SP2/SP3 default kernels. Because of this, SUSE has extended the option to leverage SLE 15 SP2 and later YES Certifications that are completed.

SUSE YES Certification partners can ask their assigned partner engineer to add SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro to the “Other Products” section on any successfully completed SLE 15 SP2 or later hardware certification, respectively.

Beginning with SUSE YES System Certification Kit (SCK) v8.7, SLE Micro will be added to all SLE 15 SP2 and later certifications (where applicable) unless deselected by the certification tester (check box on TestConsole).

If a SUSE YES Certification partner has previously released a SLE 15 SP2 bulletin, they can have SLE Micro 5.0 added to the targeted hardware bulletin by contacting their normal SUSE certification contact(s). Alternatively, a previously released SLE 15 SP3 bulletin can have SLE Micro 5.1 and 5.2 added to the targeted hardware bulletin using the same process.

SUSE LINUX Enterprise Point of Service Client (SLEPOS)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service is a secure and reliable Linux client optimized for enterprise retail organizations. Built on the solid foundation of SUSE Linux Enterprise, it is the only enterprise-class Linux operating system tailored specifically for retail Point of Service terminals, kiosks, self-service systems, and reverse-vending systems.

SLEPOS is now part of SUSE Manager for Retail and is installed as an add-on product and thus does not require additional certification. It is supported on SUSE Linux Enterprise 12, 15 and future versions. SLEPOS is listed on the bulletin under the Supported Products section.

Certified SUSE Hardware Bulletin Types

Network Server

Network servers can range in size and compute-power from workgroup to high-powered computer systems used as a central repository for data and various programs shared by users within a network. 

A network server can be a general-purpose system set up to enable sharing, storing, and management of network resources, or can be used in business-critical Linux, container, or virtualization environments, and are often designed for specific purposes and workloads. 

Workstation

Workstations are computer systems that range from small devices and desktops to powerful engineering workstations and are used on a local or wide area network that shares network resources with other workstations and network servers. Workstations can be a tablet, laptop, desktop, or tower.

Point of Service (POS) System

A POS system is the place where consumers make a payment for products or services. It is the hub where everything from sales, inventory management, payment processing, and customer management comes together. POS systems can be a tablet, AiO system or desktop.

Edge Device

Edge devices are specialized network components that are placed at the “edge” of a given network where data computation usually takes place. They are physically close to the input systems such as IoT (Internet of Things) devices that create the data being stored on or used by the network server.