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IU's software agreement with Novell and SUSE Enterprise Linux

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Summary

Indiana University has signed a site license agreement with Novell. This agreement covers the use of SUSE Linux by IU students, faculty, and staff. The license agreement provides access to the following SUSE products: Novell Linux Desktop 9, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9, 10 and 11 for all supported platforms, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 and 11. Media are available in ISO format for download to university systems.

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Installing

To install SUSE, download the ISO images and burn them to your own discs. The ISO images are available from IU's FTP server. For more about ISO images, see What is an ISO image?

Note: At the end of the installation, skip the Internet connection test.

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Activating

After you have completed the install process and have verified that your network works, you will need to activate your system using the activation code found at the Core Services SUSE web site (IU Network ID required).

  1. On the desktop, on the left, click the computer icon.

  2. Click Control Center.

  3. Click Open Administrator Settings. You may be prompted for your administrator password.

  4. Click Novell Customer Center Configuration.

  5. Leave the boxes checked next to Hardware Profile and Optional Information, select Configure Now, and then click Next.

  6. Click Continue on the Manual Intervention screen. This will open your web browser.

  7. Enter and confirm your IU email address and the activation code from the Core Services SUSE web site, and then click Submit.

    Note: If you do not enter an activation code, you will stop receiving updates after 15 days.

  8. Click Continue Install. When prompted to import untrusted GPG keys, click Import each time.

  9. Click OK. Your system is now activated and ready to receive updates.

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Updating

In SLED and SLES 10 and 11, an icon in the lower right corner of the desktop changes from a globe to an exclamation point when updates are available. To update:

  1. Click the update icon (!).

  2. Select the packages you want to update.

  3. Click Update to download and install the updates.

Note: If this is the first time you have updated your system, add yourself as a privileged user by clicking Add privileged user and following the on-screen prompts. After you have added yourself as a privileged user, you will be returned to the list of packages. Click Update again to continue the process.

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Transferring existing activations to the IU site license

If you have previously purchased SUSE licenses from Novell, you can transfer them to the IU site license:

  1. Log into the Novell Customer Center. Use the same Novell username that you used when you originally activated the product.

  2. In the Novell Customer Center, click Systems to display a list of systems registered to you.

  3. Single-click the system you wish to move to the IU license. Double-click the system to show full details for that system.

  4. At the bottom of the system list, click the double arrow icon.

  5. Enter the appropriate activation code from the Core Services SUSE web site, and then click Move. The system will be transferred to the IU site license, and will no longer be available in your list of systems.

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Troubleshooting

If you inadvertently left the activation code blank when you registered your system, follow these instructions to activate your system using the IU site license. These instructions assume you have already run the Novell Customer Center Configuration tool.

  1. Visit the Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click Create new account.

  3. Fill out the form, and check I am not associated with a company.

    Note: You must enter the same email address you used in the Customer Center Configuration tool.

  4. Create a username, password, and security question. Do not use the same password as your IU Network ID passphrase.

  5. Click Create Login once you have filled out the form. On the screen confirming your account, click Continue. You will be redirected to the Novell Customer Center.

  6. In the "Systems" column, click Needs Activation. There should be a single system listed next to an icon that looks like a computer with an exclamation point. Click that icon.

  7. Click the key icon that appears. In the resulting window, enter the IU activation code in the field next to "Enter Activation code here", and then click Activate.

  8. Your system is now activated and ready to receive updates.

At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

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This is document axpa in domain all.
Last modified on September 30, 2009.

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