Missing repositories in SLES11 SP3

I’ve spun up a base image of SLES11 SP3 on Azure, and I’m unable to install some core applications, such as nmap and gcc43. This appears to be due to missing repositories. Some basic output:

[CODE][FONT=Courier New]$hostname:~ # zypper pd
Loading repository data…
Reading installed packages…
S | Repository | Internal Name | Name | Version | Arch | Is Base
–±-----------±--------------±------------------------------------------------------±-----------±-------±-------
i | @System | SUSE_SLES | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 | 11.3-1.140 | x86_64 | Yes
i | @System | sle-sdk | SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 11 SP3 | 11.3-1.69 | x86_64 | No[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New]$hostname:~ # zypper lr

| Alias | Name | Enabled | Refresh

–±------------------------------------±----------------------±--------±-------
1 | nu_novell_com:SLE11-SDK-SP1-Pool | SLE11-SDK-SP1-Pool | No | Yes
2 | nu_novell_com:SLE11-SDK-SP1-Updates | SLE11-SDK-SP1-Updates | No | Yes
3 | nu_novell_com:SLE11-SDK-SP2-Core | SLE11-SDK-SP2-Core | No | Yes
4 | nu_novell_com:SLE11-SDK-SP2-Updates | SLE11-SDK-SP2-Updates | No | Yes
5 | nu_novell_com:SLE11-SDK-SP3-Pool | SLE11-SDK-SP3-Pool | Yes | Yes
6 | nu_novell_com:SLE11-SDK-SP3-Updates | SLE11-SDK-SP3-Updates | Yes | Yes[/FONT][/CODE]
When I list the URI for the repositories, they are pointing to “nu.novell.com

So, I feel as though I am missing some repositories here. I tried running the suse_register command, feeding in my work email address. But that fails of course because I do not have a registration key.

What am I missing?

Unless you are running a BYOS (Bring Your Own Subscription) image from VMDepot the repositories should definitely not be pointing to nu_novell_com.

In what region are you running the instance?
What image did you select as the base of the instance?
What does “rpm -q cloud-regionsrv-client” produce?

Lets start there.

Curious…

  1. I didn’t create this using BYOS. As the base, I’m running the “SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3” image found on Azure, published by SUSE
  2. I’m running it in US Central region
  3. This is the version of cloud-regionsrv-client: cloud-regionsrv-client-6.3.15-30.1

I might be missing a critical point here. If I’ve spun up a SLES machine in Azure, do I need to sign up / buy a subscription from SUSE to get access to the repositories? Or is the subscription built into the price that I pay with Azure?

VMs started from the SLES images in the Azure Gallery include updates, and receive them directly from servers in the same region. These images are configured to register with a local update server on first boot. Registering one of these instances against SCC/NCC will definitely interfere with getting updates from the servers in Azure.

VMs started from the BYOS images in VM Depot do not include updates, and, as the name implies, require you to bring your own subscription, and register against SCC/NCC, or your own SMT or SUSE manager server.

When I spin up a machine from the Azure gallery, the product list (zypper pd) looks the same as in my post above. But the list of repositories (zypper lr) is empty. Am I missing a step here, or is this a bug in the configuration?

I believe I’ve found the issue. Our virtual network is configured in such a way that it’s not seeing the “smt-azure.susecloud.net” host. Thanks for all your help.

I’m glad you found a solution; are you using Azure Virtual Networks?

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a solution. I’ve just identified the problem. =)

I’m using Azure ExpressRoute to connect our Azure machines to the corporate network. The “smt-azure.susecloud.net” repo that’s configured by default in the gallery image isn’t visible from my network, so I may just need to use my own subscription. I’m following up with Azure Support right now to solve the issue.

I handled a support request today on this, which I assume is yours. Just to summarize for future cases - ExpressRoute uses a virtual private network in Azure, isolating the VMs from the rest of the cloud.

In a virtual private network, you will likely have to run BYOS images, and provide your own subscription-based updates.

I provided a list of IPs for our infrastructure as well, for whitelisting; if you are able to configure routing to allow traffic to those IPs, and your VMs are assigned public IPs from the Azure pools, you can use the Azure gallery images directly.