Course SMGR201v4.3

SUSE Manager 4.x Basic Operations

Course SMGR201v4.3

This course focuses on the types of day-to-day administrative tasks that SUSE Manager makes easy to complete and monitor. Generally, the major topics that are discussed in detail are: 

  • Exploring the SUSE Manager (SUMA) Web UI Management Console 
  • Registering target servers as managed clients
  • Implementing Channel Management
  • Delegating Management Authority in SUMA
  • Managing Minions using Salt commands 
  • Performing common administrative activities

This course prepares students for the SUSE Certified Administrator (SCA) in SUSE Manager 4 certification exam. 

Downloadable course description

Course Information

Delivery Method: Classroom or Virtual Classroom
Course Duration: 3 days
Course Level: Beginner
Cost: 990.00 USD (including all local taxes in the jurisdiction of Hong Kong)

Key Objectives

Attendees will be taught the following concepts and skills:

  • Review the SUMA Architectural Components (SUMA Server, SUMA Proxy Server, Managed Clients and the Hub Server)
  • Understand the parts of the SUMA Web UI and how to access it
  • Using the SUMA Web UI to:
    • Get an overview of your entire SUMA system via the System Visualization feature
    • Locate desired managed clients by using the Web UI’s advanced search capabilities
    • View the system details of managed clients
  • Understand the Registration Process and what occurs during Registration. Learn how to register target servers using multiple methods 
  • Create, configure, and manage Registration related object such as Activation Keys, Channels, System Groups, and Salt Keys
  • Plan for, and implement Registration using the Web UI and bootstrap scripts
  • Implement Channel Management:
    • Learn Channel related terminology and channel types
    • Clone Channel content
    • Implement Configuration Channels
    • Understand and implement Content Lifecycle Management (CLM)
  • Learn how to delegate management authority in SUMA:
    • Understand how and why additional SUMA Organizations may need to be created
    • Establishing trust between SUMA Organizations
    • Learn about the Administrative Roles and Permission Roles that can be created and assigned to manage SUMA resources
    • Creating new Web UI administrative users
  • Manage client servers using Salt
    • Define Salt and understand its architecture
    • Understand Salt grains, pillars, and states
    • Learn how to leverage the salt, salt-run, salt-call, and salt-key commands
  • Perform common administrative tasks such as:
    • Using the Web UI to execute commands on remote client servers
    • Using the System Set Manager (SSM) to perform management activities on multiple client servers at one time
    • Creating and using Action Chains
    • Understand and use various methods for installing RPM packages on client servers
    • Create Recurring States and Highstates

Audience Summary

This course is designed for:

  • Server System Administrators who are tasked with day-to-day server management and support.
  • Senior System Administrators who are typically 2nd or 3rd level support within their company and act as “team leads” for Server System Administrators.
  • Consultants that need to understand how SUSE Manager can significantly lessen the administrative burden of managing hundreds or even thousands of servers.

Course Outline

  • Section 1: Course Overview
  • Section 2: Review SUSE Manager (SUMA) 4.x Architecture and Configuration
  • Review SUMA Architectural Components
  • Review the SUMA 4.x Initial Setup process
  • Section 3: Using the Web UI to Explore your SUSE Manager Environment
  • Introduction to the SUMA Web UI and its organization
  • Visualizing your entire SUMA System at a glance
  • Locating and viewing information about managed clients
  • Section 4: Understanding the Registration Process
  • Understanding the importance of Registration
  • Managing Registration-related Objects
  • Planning for Registration
  • Introduction to Registration Methods
  • Using the various Registration Methods to register target servers
  • Section 5: Implementing Channel Management
  • Understanding Channel Related Terminology
  • Cloning Channel Content using the Web UI and spacecmd
  • Implementing Custom Channels
  • Understanding Content Lifecycle Management
  • Section 6: Delegating Management Authority in SUSE Manager
  • Defining SUSE Manager “Organization”
  • Understanding the Administrative Roles in SUMA
  • Understanding Permission Roles and their capabilities
  • Using the Web UI to manage Users and Grant Permissions
  • Section 7: Managing Salt Minions in SUMA
  • Understanding Salt and its Architecture
  • Configuration Files used by Salt and SUMA
  • Understanding the types of Salt Commands
  • Using the salt command
  • Using the salt-run command
  • Using the salt-call command
  • Using the salt-key command
  • Section 8: Performing other Common Administrative Tasks in SUMA
  • Using the Web UI to execute Remote Commands
  • Leveraging the System Set Manager (SSM) to affect many managed servers at once
  • Implementing Action Chains
  • Using Configuration File Management in SUMA (both Configuration Channels and State Channels)
  • Scheduling the enforcement of the Highstate and Recurring Custom States
  • Understanding Subscription Matching

Course Prerequisites

Attendees should have the following experience and skills before attending this class:

  • Installing and configuring SUMA Servers and Proxy Servers is only reviewed in this training. The attendee is assumed to be responsible day-to-day management. However, detailed information on installation and initial configuration of SUMA is presented in course SMGR211v4: SUSE Manager 4 Deployment and Initial Configuration. But attendance in SMGR211v4 is helpful, not required to be successful in this class
  • Have at least one year’s experience managing Linux operating systems
  • Be able to work at the Linux command-line and use the vi editor
  • Understand how to manually install packages on SUSE Linux Enterprise servers.