I am currently running a SLES11 SP3 server within a virtual machine (XEN on SLES11 SP3) and I want to upgrade the VM OS to SLES12 but I cannot figure out how to have the VM boot from the installation media. There also does not seem to be a way to perform an upgrade via the NCC (like you can with the Novell products). Any hints on how to boot my VM to the media or any links to docs on upgrading via the upgrade channel?
-L
[QUOTE=LarryResch;35818]I am currently running a SLES11 SP3 server within a virtual machine (XEN on SLES11 SP3) and I want to upgrade the VM OS to SLES12 but I cannot figure out how to have the VM boot from the installation media. There also does not seem to be a way to perform an upgrade via the NCC (like you can with the Novell products). Any hints on how to boot my VM to the media or any links to docs on upgrading via the upgrade channel?
-L[/QUOTE]
Have you read the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 Deployment Guide? See the section entitled: Supported Methods for Upgrading SUSE Linux Enterprise.
Thanks. I had looked at the docs and was hoping to be able to have a way to boot the VM from physical media without having to edit my grub config. Novell OES upgrade is a little more straight forward with only a few console commands to add repositories, but it looks like I’ll have to modify my grub config to do this on SLES…
Hi Larry,
IMO, upgrading to SLE 12 is a big improvement over previous methods because there is a consistent approach that works for all types of VMs.
You did say: [QUOTE]I am currently running a SLES11 SP3 server within a virtual machine (XEN on SLES11 SP3) [/QUOTE]
That would suggest you have a para-virtual DomU. The boot sequence for a para-virtual DomU is significantly different from that of a fully virtual DomU. This creates some real challenges when it is necessary to boot a para-virtual DomU from a CD/DVD.
If you are curious, there is an old TID (XEN: How to boot SLES para-virtual DomU’s into the Rescue System for disaster recovery) that describes how to boot a para-virtual DomU using a rescue DVD. The procedure is quite involved and much more difficult than adding an additional entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst. Please note: I am not suggesting that you make use of that TID to attempt an upgrade but if you do read through it you should appreciate the fact that you don’t have to boot from the installation media. 
Good luck with your upgrade!