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Patching Open Enterprise Server Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

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Open Enterprise Server rug Red Carpet

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Should I use rug or Red Carpet to manage updates? Why don't I see a service listed for OES? When I open Red Carpet, most commands are disabled. Why? How do I activate and subscribe to the oes channel? Are activation codes reusable? What if I reinstall my system? Does it matter what email address I use? What is the difference between a patch and an update? What is the proper way to install patches on the system?

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Q: Should I use rug or Red Carpet to manage updates?

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A: Red Carpet has issues that currently give unreliable behavior on OES. Use rug to manage updates until Red Carpet is updated. Visit the OES documentation for more information at http://www.novell.com/documentation/oes/install_linux/data/bu6x2k7.html.

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Q: Why don't I see a service listed for OES?

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A: In certain situations, the OES update URL doesn't get added as a service during installation---usually when the internet connection isn't active during the install. The URL for OES updates is https://update.novell.com/data. To see if the OES service is already added, enter rug service-list at the terminal. If the OES service isn't present, add it with rug sa https://update.novell.com/data

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Q: When I open Red Carpet, most commands are disabled. Why?

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A: This problem is usually caused by the OES service is not present in the services list. Rarely the problem is caused by Red Carpet needing to be run as root. To run Red Carpet as root, sux to root and then run /opt/gnome/libexec/red-carpet. Using the Red Carpet menu in SuSE | System | Configuration | Red Carpet. Alternately, from the desktop use Alt+F2 to bring up a "Run Command" window and enter kdesu red-carpet.  You should then be prompted for the root password. To add the OES service in Red Carpet, select Edit | Services and then add https://update.novell.com/data to the service list.

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Q: How do I activate and subscribe to the oes channel?

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A: To activate the OES service, do the following: 1.Verify the OES service has been added by entering rug service-list. If https://update.novell.com/data is not in the returned list, add it with rug sa https://update.novell.com/data. 2.Using the number of the OES service in the service list, activate the service by entering rug act -s service-list-number [activation_code] [email_address]. For example rug act -s 1 1234567890 xxx@myemail.com. To subscribe to the oes channel, do the following: 1.List available channels by entering rug ch. 2.Subscribe to the oes channel by entering rug sub oes

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Q: Are activation codes reusable? What if I reinstall my system?

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A: Most activation codes are multi-use codes. Unsubscribe the old system from the oes channel and deactivate the OES service is possible, and then activate the new system.

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Q: Does it matter what email address I use?

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A: The activation code is not tied to a specific email address. Use an address that will allow Novell to contact you if needed.

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Q: What is the difference between a patch and an update?

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A: An update usually refers to a package RPM. A patch is the way SUSE traditionally updates its products and includes a patch-xxxx file and one or many RPMs. It is what YaST Online Update uses. OES should only be updated with the rug pin command. Do not install updates that show up in the channel. The updates showing up in the channel is a side effect of how the patches are implemented on the server. Again, never install updates, only patches.

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Q: What is the proper way to install patches on the system?

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A: To see the patches available for installation, use the command rug pl To see information about a patch in the channel, enter rug pi patch_name To install a patch from the list, enter rug pin patch_name To install all of the patches in the list, enter rug pin oes:* Please note that using rug pin oes:* will install all of the patches in the channel, though the patches' status will not be updated to i (installed). This is a bug with rug, and will be fixed in a future release.