Linux Distributions That Use Registration
This chapter describes setting up registered access for the NVIDIA Base Command Manager with the Red Hat and SUSE distributions.
The head node and regular node images can be set up with registered access to the enterprise Linux distributions of Red Hat and SUSE so that updates from their repositories can take place on the cluster correctly. This allows the distributions to continue to provide support and security updates. Registered access can also be set up in order to create an up-to-date custom software image (section 9.6 of the Administrator Manual) if using Red Hat or SUSE as the base distribution.
Registered access can be avoided for the head node and regular node images by moving the registration requirement to outside the cluster. This can be done by configuring registration to run from a local mirror to the enterprise Linux distributions. The head node and regular node images are then configured to access the local mirror repository. This configuration has the benefit of reducing the traffic between the local network and the internet. However it should be noted that the traffic from node updates scales according to the number of regular node images, rather than according to the number of nodes in the cluster. In most cases, therefore, the added complication of running a separate repository mirror, is unlikely to be worth implementing.
5.1 Registering A Red Hat Enterprise Linux Based Cluster
To register a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) system, Red Hat subscriptions are needed as described at https://www.redhat.com/. Registration with the Red Hat Network is needed to install new RHEL packages or receive RHEL package updates, as well as carry out some other tasks.
5.1.1 Registering A Head Node With RHEL
An RHEL head node can be registered from the command line with the subscription-manager command. This uses the Red Hat subscription service username and password as shown:
The --auto-attach option allows a system to update its subscription automatically, so that the system ends up with a valid subscription state.
If the head node has no direct connection to the internet, then an HTTP proxy can be configured as a command line option. The subscription-manager man pages give details on configuring the proxy from the command line.
After registration, the yum subscription-manager plugin is enabled. This means that yum can now be used to install and update from the Red Hat Network repositories.
The list of enabled and disabled repositories can be seen with:
5.1.2 Registering A Software Image With RHEL
The subscription-manager command can be used to register an RHEL software image. If the head node, on which the software image resides, has no direct connection to the internet, then an HTTP proxy can be configured as a command line option. The subscription-manager man pages give details on configuring the proxy from the command line.
The default software image, default-image, can be registered by mounting some parts of the filesystem image, and then carrying out the registration within the image by using the Red Hat subscription service username and password. This can be carried out on the head node, with the help of the BCM cm-chroot-sw-img tool (here) as follows:
After registration, the yum subscription-manager plugin is enabled within the software image. This means that yum can now be used to install and update the software image from the Red Hat Network repositories.
The list of enabled repositories in the image can be seen with:
5.2 Registering A SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Based Cluster
To register a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server system, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscriptions are needed as described at http://www.suse.com/. Registration with SUSE helps with installing new SLES packages or receiving SLES package updates, as well as to carry out some other tasks.
5.2.1 Registering A Head Node With SUSE
The suseconnect command can be used to register a SUSE 15 head node. If the head node has no direct connection to the internet, then the HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables can be set, to access the internet via a proxy. Running the registration command with the help option, “--help”, provides further information about the command and its options.
The head node can be registered as follows:
The e-mail address used is the address that was used to register the subscription with SUSE. When logged in on the SUSE site, the registration code can be found at the products overview page after selecting “SUSE Linux Enterprise Server”.
After registering, the SLES repositories are automatically added to the repository list and enabled.
The defined repositories can be listed with:
and the head node can be updated with:
5.2.2 Registering A Software Image With SUSE
The SUSEConnect command can be used to register a SUSE 15 software image. If the head node on which the software image resides has no direct connection to the internet, then the HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables can be set to access the internet via a proxy. Running the command with the help option, “--help”, provides further information about the command and its options.
The default software image default-image can be registered by running the following on the head node:
The e-mail address is the address used to register the subscription with SUSE. When logged in on the SUSE site, the activation code or registration code can be found at the products overview page after selecting “SUSE Linux Enterprise Server”.
When running the registration command, warnings about the /sys or /proc filesystems can be ignored. The command tries to query hardware information via these filesystems, but these are empty filesystems in a software image, and only fill up on the node itself after the image is provisioned to the node.
Instead of registering the software image, the SLES repositories can be enabled for the default-image software image with:
The copied files should be reviewed. Any unwanted repositories, unwanted service files, and unwanted credential files, must be removed.
The repository list of the default-image software image can be viewed with the chroot option, -R, as follows:
and the software image can be updated with: