This section provides an overview of all installation steps. Each step contains a link to a more detailed description.

During the installation and upgrade process, YaST may update itself to solve bugs in the installer that were discovered after the release. This functionality is enabled by default; to disable it, set the boot parameter self_update to 0. For more information, see Section 2.4.4, “Enabling the installer self-update”.

Important: Networking during self-update

To download installer updates, YaST needs network access. By default, it tries to use DHCP on all network interfaces. If there is a DHCP server in the network, it will work automatically.

If you need a static IP setup, you can use the ifcfg boot argument. For more details, see the linuxrc documentation at https://en.opensuse.org/Linuxrc.

Tip: Language selection

The installer self-update runs before the language selection step. This means that progress and errors which happen during this process are displayed in English by default.

To use another language for this part of the installer, use the language boot parameter if available for your architecture, for example, language=de_DE. On machines equipped with a traditional BIOS, alternatively, press F2 in the boot menu and select the language from the list.

Although this feature was designed to run without user intervention, it is worth knowing how it works. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Section 3.3, “ Language, keyboard and license agreement ” and skip the rest of this section.

3.2.1 Self-update process #Edit source

The process can be broken down into two different parts:

1. Determine the update repository location.

2. Download and apply the updates to the installation system.

3.2.1.1 Determining the update repository location #Edit source

Installer Self-Updates are distributed as regular RPM packages via a dedicated repository, so the first step is to find the repository URL.

Important: Installer self-update repository only

No matter which of the following options you use, only the installer self-update repository URL is expected, for example:

self_update=https://www.example.com/my_installer_updates/

Do not supply any other repository URL—for example the URL of the software update repository.

YaST will try the following sources of information:

1. The self_update boot parameter. (For more details, see Section 2.4.4, “Enabling the installer self-update”.) If you specify a URL, it will take precedence over any other method.

2. The /general/self_update_url profile element in case you are using AutoYaST.

3. If none of the previous attempts work, the fallback URL (defined in the installation media) will be used.

3.2.1.2 Downloading and applying the updates #Edit source

When the update repository is determined, YaST checks whether an update is available. If it is, all the updates are downloaded and applied.

Finally, YaST restarts and displays the welcome screen. If no updates are available, the installation continues without restarting YaST.

Note: Update integrity

Update signatures will be checked to ensure integrity and authorship. If a signature is missing or invalid, you will be asked whether you want to apply the update.

3.2.1.3 Temporary self-update add-on repository #Edit source

Some packages distributed in the self-update repository provide additional data for the installer, like installation defaults, system role definitions and similar. If the installer finds such packages in the self-update repository, a local temporary repository is created, to which those packages are copied. They are used during the installation. The temporary local repository is removed at the end of the installation. Its packages are not installed on the target system.

This additional repository is not displayed in the list of add-on products, but during installation it may still be visible as SelfUpdate0 repository in the package management.

3.2.2 Custom self-update repositories #Edit source

YaST can use a user-defined repository instead of the official repository by specifying a URL through the self_update boot parameter.

• HTTP/HTTPS and FTP repositories are supported.

• Starting with yast2-installation-4.4.30, the relurl:// schema is supported, as a boot parameter or in an AutoYaST profile. The URL is relative to the main installation repository, and you may navigate the file tree with the usual ../ notation, for example relurl://../self_update. This is useful when serving the packages via a local installation server, or when building a custom installation medium which includes a self-update repository.

  The following examples assume the installation repository is at the medium root (/), and the self-update repository in the self_update subdirectory. This structure makes the relurl:// portable, and it will work anywhere without changes as a boot parameter, copied to a USB stick, hard disk, network server, or in an AutoYaST profile.

  Custom DVD/USB medium

  Add the self_update=relurl://self_update boot option directly to the default boot parameters, and it will work properly even if the medium is copied to an USB stick, hard disk, or a network server.

  Installation server

  Assume that the installation packages are available via http://example.com/repo and a self-update repository is available at http://example.com/self_update.

  Then you can use the http://example.com/repo and http://example.com/self_update boot parameters, without having to change the self_update parameter when the repositories are moved to a different location.

• Only RPM-MD repositories are supported (required by RMT).

• Packages are not installed in the usual way: They are uncompressed only and no scripts are executed.

• No dependency checks are performed. Packages are installed in alphabetical order.

• Files from the packages override the files from the original installation media. This means that the update packages might not need to contain all files, only files that have changed. Unchanged files are omitted to save memory and download bandwidth.

Note: Only one repository

Currently, it is not possible to use more than one repository as source for installer self-updates.

Figure 3.1: Language, keyboard and license agreement #

The Language and Keyboard Layout settings are initialized with the language you chose on the boot screen. If you did not change the default, it will be English (US). Change the settings here, if necessary.

Changing the language automatically selects a corresponding keyboard layout. You can override this proposal by selecting a different keyboard layout from the drop-down box. Use the Keyboard Test text box to test the layout. The selected language also determines a time zone for the system clock. This setting can be modified later as described in Chapter 6, Changing language and country settings with YaST.

Read the license agreement. It is presented in the language you have. Translations are available via the License Language drop-down box. Proceed with Next if you agree to the terms and conditions. If you do not agree, click Abort to terminate the installation.

Tip: Light and high-contrast themes

If you have difficulties reading the labels in the installer, you can change the widget colors and theme.

Click the button or press Shift–F3 to open a theme selection dialog. Select a theme from the list and Close the dialog.

Shift–F4 switches to the color scheme for vision-impaired users. Press the buttons again to switch back to the default scheme.

After booting into the installation, the installation routine is set up. During this setup, an attempt to configure at least one network interface with DHCP is made. In case this attempt has failed, the Network Settings dialog launches now.

Figure 3.2: Network settings #

Choose a network interface from the list and click Edit to change its settings. Use the tabs to configure DNS and routing. See Book “Reference”, Chapter 13 “Basic networking”, Section 13.4 “Configuring a network connection with YaST” for more details.

In case DHCP was successfully configured during installation setup, you can also access this dialog by clicking Network Configuration at the the Installation Settings step. It lets you change the automatically provided settings.

Note: Network configuration with boot parameters

If at least one network interface has been configured via boot parameters (see Section 2.3.2, “Configuring the network interface”), automatic DHCP configuration is disabled and the boot parameter configuration is imported and used.

Tip: Accessing network storage or local RAID

To access a SAN or a local RAID during the installation, you can use the libstorage command line client for this purpose:

1. Switch to a console with Ctrl–Alt–F2.

2. Install the libstoragemgmt extension by running extend libstoragemgmt.

3. Now you have access to the lsmcli command. For more information, run lsmcli --help.

4. To return to the installer, press Alt–F7

Supported are Netapp Ontap, all SMI-S compatible SAN providers, and LSI MegaRAID.

A system analysis is performed, where the installer probes for storage devices, and tries to find other installed systems. If a network connection with Internet access is available, you will be asked to activate the online repositories. Answer with Yes to proceed. In case you do not have Internet access, this step will be skipped.

The online repositories are official openSUSE package sources. They not only offer additional packages not included on the installation media, but also the update repositories containing security and bug fixes. Using the default selection is recommended. Add at least the Main Update Repository, because it makes sure the system is installed with the latest security patches.

You have the following choices:

Confirm your selection with Next. Depending on your choice, you need to confirm one or more license agreements. Do so by choosing Next until you proceed to the System Role screen. Now choose Next to proceed.

To simplify the installation, the installer offers predefined use cases that tailor the system for the selected scenario.

Figure 3.3: System role #

Choose the System Role that meets your requirements best. The availability of system roles depends on your selection of modules and extensions. The dialog is omitted under the following conditions:

With the default selection, the following system roles are available:

In this dialog, select your region and time zone. Both are preselected according to the installation language.

Figure 3.5: Clock and time zone #

To change the preselected values, either use the map or the drop-down boxes for Region and Time Zone. When using the map, point the cursor at the rough direction of your region and left-click to zoom. Now choose your country or region by left-clicking. Right-click to return to the world map.

To set up the clock, choose whether the Hardware Clock is Set to UTC. If you run another operating system on your machine, such as Microsoft Windows, it is likely your system uses local time instead. If you run Linux on your machine, set the hardware clock to UTC and have the switch from standard time to daylight saving time performed automatically.

Important: Set the hardware clock to UTC

The switch from standard time to daylight saving time (and vice versa) can only be performed automatically when the hardware clock (CMOS clock) is set to UTC. This also applies if you use automatic time synchronization with NTP, because automatic synchronization will only be performed if the time difference between the hardware and system clock is less than 15 minutes.

Since a wrong system time can cause serious problems (missed backups, dropped mail messages, mount failures on remote file systems, etc.), it is strongly recommended to always set the hardware clock to UTC.

If a network is already configured, you can configure time synchronization with an NTP server. Click Other Settings to either alter the NTP settings or to Manually set the time. See Book “Reference”, Chapter 18 “Time synchronization with NTP” for more information on configuring the NTP service. When finished, click Accept to continue the installation.

If running without NTP configured, consider setting SYSTOHC=no (sysconfig variable) to avoid saving unsynchronized time into the hardware clock.

Create a local user in this step.

Figure 3.6: Create new user #

After entering the first name and last name, either accept the proposal or specify a new User name that will be used to log in. Only use lowercase letters (a-z), digits (0-9) and the characters . (dot), - (hyphen) and _ (underscore). Special characters, umlauts and accented characters are not allowed.

Finally, enter a password for the user. Re-enter it for confirmation (to ensure that you did not type something else by mistake). To provide effective security, a password should be at least six characters long and consist of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (7-bit ASCII). Umlauts or accented characters are not allowed. Passwords you enter are checked for weakness. When entering a password that is easy to guess (such as a dictionary word or a name) you will see a warning. It is a good security practice to use strong passwords.

Important: User name and password

Remember both your user name and the password because they are needed each time you log in to the system.

If you install openSUSE Leap on a machine with one or more existing Linux installations, YaST allows you to import user data such as user names and passwords. Select Import User Data from a Previous Installation and then Choose Users for import.

If you do not want to configure any local users (for example when setting up a client on a network with centralized user authentication), skip this step by choosing Next and confirming the warning. Network user authentication can be configured at any time later in the installed system; refer to Chapter 5, Managing users with YaST for instructions.

Two additional options are available:

Warning: Automatic login

With the automatic login enabled, the system boots straight into your desktop with no authentication. If you store sensitive data on your system, you should not enable this option if the computer can also be accessed by others.

In an environment where users are centrally managed (for example by NIS or LDAP) you should skip the creation of local users. Select Skip User Creation in this case.

If you have not chosen Use this Password for System Administrator in the previous step, you will be prompted to enter a password for the system administrator root or provide a public SSH key. Otherwise, this configuration step is skipped.

Figure 3.7: Authentication for the system administrator root #

Enter the password for the system administrator root. For verification purposes, the password for root must be entered twice. Do not forget the password as it cannot be retrieved later.

Tip: Passwords and keyboard layout

It is recommended to only use US ASCII characters. In case of a system error or when you need to start your system in rescue mode, the keyboard may not be localized.

To change the root password later in the installed system, run YaST and start Security and Users › User and Group Management.

Important: The root user

root is the name of the system administrator or superuser. Its user ID (uid) is 0. Unlike regular users, the root account has unlimited privileges.

Do not forget the root password

Only root has the privileges to change the system configuration, install programs, manage users and set up new hardware. To carry out such tasks, the root password is required. Do not forget the password as it cannot be retrieved later.

Do not use the root user for daily work

Logging in as root for daily work is rather risky: Commands from root are usually executed without additional confirmation, so a single mistake can lead to an irretrievable loss of system files. Only use the root account for system administration, maintenance and repair.

Do not rename the root user account

YaST will always name the system administrator root. While it is technically possible to rename the root account, certain applications, scripts or third-party products may rely on the existence of a user called root. While such a configuration always targets individual environments, necessary adjustments could be overwritten by vendor updates, so this becomes an ongoing task rather than a one-time setting. This is especially true in very complex setups involving third-party applications, where it needs to be verified with every vendor involved whether a rename of the root account is supported.

As the implications for renaming the root account cannot be foreseen, SUSE does not support renaming the root account.

Usually, the idea behind renaming the root account is to hide it or make it unpredictable. However, /etc/passwd requires 644 permissions for regular users, so any user of the system can retrieve the login name for the user ID 0. For better ways to secure the root account, refer to Book “Security and Hardening Guide”, Chapter 14 “User management”, Section 14.5 “Restricting root logins” and Book “Security and Hardening Guide”, Chapter 14 “User management”, Section 14.5.3 “Restricting SSH logins”.

If you want to access the system remotely via SSH using a public key, import a key from a removable storage device or an existing partition. After the installation is finished, you can log in through SSH using the provided SSH key.

If you have both set a password and added a public SSH key, and need remote access right after the installation, do not forget to open the SSH port in the Security section of the Installation Settings summary. If you set no password but only add a key, the port will be opened automatically to prevent you from being locked out of the newly installed system.

On the last step before the real installation takes place, you can alter installation settings suggested by the installer. To modify the suggestions, click the respective headline. After having made changes to a particular setting, you are always returned to the Installation Settings window, which is updated accordingly.

If you have added an SSH key for your root as mentioned in Procedure 3.1, make sure to open the SSH port in the Security settings.

Figure 3.8: Installation settings #

3.11.1 Software #Edit source

openSUSE Leap contains several software patterns for various application purposes. The available choice of patterns and packages depends on your selection of modules and extensions.

Click Software to open the Software Selection and System Tasks screen where you can modify the pattern selection according to your needs. Select a pattern from the list and see a description in the right-hand part of the window.

Each pattern contains several software packages needed for specific functions (for example Multimedia or Office software). If you chose Generic Desktop in the System Role dialog choose a desktop environment from the list of available Graphical Environments. For a more detailed selection based on software packages to install, select Details to switch to the YaST Software Manager.

Figure 3.9: Software selection and system tasks #

You can also install additional software packages or remove software packages from your system at any later time with the YaST Software Manager. For more information, refer to Chapter 9, Installing or removing software.

By default, openSUSE Leap uses the Wayland display server protocol.

Tip: Adding secondary languages

The language you selected with the first step of the installation will be used as the primary (default) language for the system. You can add secondary languages from within the Software dialog by choosing Details › View › Languages.

3.11.2 Booting #Edit source

The installer proposes a boot configuration for your system. Other operating systems found on your computer, such as Microsoft Windows or other Linux installations, will automatically be detected and added to the boot loader. However, openSUSE Leap will be booted by default. Normally, you can leave these settings unchanged. If you need a custom setup, modify the proposal according to your needs. For information, see Book “Reference”, Chapter 12 “The boot loader GRUB 2”, Section 12.3 “Configuring the boot loader with YaST”.

Important: Software RAID 1

Booting a configuration where /boot resides on a software RAID 1 device is supported, but it requires to install the boot loader into the MBR (Boot Loader Location › Boot from Master Boot Record). Having /boot on software RAID devices with a level other than RAID 1 is not supported.

3.11.3 Security #Edit source

The CPU Mitigations refer to kernel boot command line parameters for software mitigations that have been deployed to prevent CPU side-channel attacks. Click the selected entry to choose a different option. For details, see Book “Reference”, Chapter 12 “The boot loader GRUB 2” CPU Mitigations.

By default, the Firewall is enabled on all configured network interfaces. To completely disable firewalld, click disable (not recommended).

Note: Firewall settings

When the firewall is activated, all interfaces are assigned to the public zone, where all ports are closed by default, ensuring maximum security. The only port you can open during the installation is port 22 (SSH), to allow remote access. Other services requiring network access (such as FTP, Samba, Web server, etc.) will only work after having adjusted the firewall settings. Refer to Book “Security and Hardening Guide”, Chapter 23 “Masquerading and firewalls” for configuration details.

The SSH service is enabled by default, but its port (22) is closed in the firewall. Click open to open the port or disable to disable the service. Note that if SSH is disabled, remote logins will not be possible. Refer to Book “Security and Hardening Guide”, Chapter 22 “Securing network operations with OpenSSH” for more information.

Tip: Existing SSH host keys

If you install openSUSE Leap on a machine with existing Linux installations, the installation routine imports an SSH host key. It chooses the host key with the most recent access time by default.

If you are performing a remote administration over VNC, you can also specify whether the machine should be accessible via VNC after the installation. Note that enabling VNC also requires you to set the Default systemd Target to graphical.

The default Major Linux Security Module is AppAmpor. To disable it, select None as module in the Security settings. This allows you to deselect the AppAmor pattern in the Software settings (Section 3.11.1, “Software”).

After configuring all installation settings, click Install in the Installation Settings window to start the installation. Some software may require a license confirmation. If your software selection includes such software, license confirmation dialogs are displayed. Click Accept to install the software package. When not agreeing to the license, click I Disagree and the software package will not be installed. In the dialog that follows, confirm with Install again.

The installation usually takes between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the system performance and the selected software scope. After having prepared the hard disk and having saved and restored the user settings, the software installation starts. Choose Details to switch to the installation log or Release Notes to read important up-to-date information that was not available when the manuals were printed.

After the software installation has completed, the system reboots into the new installation where you can log in. To customize the system configuration or to install additional software packages, start YaST.