Where is "lsb" package for SLED 11 SP3?

[awalker199]

Hello,

I have SLED 11 SP3 pre-installed. I need the package "lsb" in order to install flexlm license manager. It seems that "lsb" is not installed on my system, although there is a src rpm in the iso directory. Do you know where I can find this package? is there a repository somewhere that I can add? can I install it from the src rpm somehow? I have enquired over at Suse forums and been told that it is in some HP-specific repository that would be automatically added to my system if I would enter the HP registration code when I register my system at the Novell Customer Center. Do you know what this is? I didn't receive any code. I have no idea how to find repositories to add packages to my system, any guidance will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Alison

[Matti_Kurkela]

"lsb" probably refers to Linux Standard Base, i.e. it's a package that ensures certain basic functionalities are available in a standard way. It probably includes dependencies to certain library packages, and scripts and/or other wrappers that enable standard ways to achieve certain things regardless of the Linux distribution used.

I think the "lsb" package is probably part of the basic SLED distribution, not a "HP-specific" package.If your system was pre-installed, it might have been "pre-registered" too.

Try starting up YaST (the universal system management utility of SLES/SLED), go to the package management section and see if it has a "lsb" package available. If it is available, just select it for installation and the package manager will automatically download and install it for you.

[awalker199]

I have used YaST software mgmt tool and it does not show "lsb" in the list of available software. I think that I need to configure some repository in order to get that package. Can you tell me what are the standard repositories that I can access? Alternatively, can I install the package from the src rpm somehow?

Alison

[Matti_Kurkela]

Unfortunately, when you use one of the pay-for-support enterprise Linux distributions, a common restriction is that the base binary package repositories are available to registered customers only. This is to make it inconvenient to use the distribution without paying.

(Oracle has done it a bit differently: you can download OEL packages for free... but only the "latest and greatest" ones. Most enterprise applications will want to hold on to a certain, well-tested patch level until a new set of patches is tested against their particular environment and in-house applications, and then deployed in a planned fashion. To implement this without excessive effort with OEL... you'll need to pay for support.)

Since it's open-source software, the source code must of course be available - but very few people will want to compile everything from source on their own. Also, the locally-compiled packages won't be signed by the distribution maintainer's private key, so it will be obvious that they are created somewhere else. This may require extra steps in security audits.

The source RPM can definitely be built into a binary RPM and then installed; depending on the version of the RPM package manager used in SLED, there is either a "build" option in the "rpm" command (=older style) or a separate "rpmbuild" command (=newer style) that does exactly that.

[Jimmy Vance]

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awalker199 wrote:

Hello,

I have SLED 11 SP3 pre-installed. I need the package "lsb" in order to install flexlm license manager. It seems that "lsb" is not installed on my system, although there is a src rpm in the iso directory. Do you know where I can find this package? is there a repository somewhere that I can add? can I install it from the src rpm somehow? I have enquired over at Suse forums and been told that it is in some HP-specific repository that would be automatically added to my system if I would enter the HP registration code when I register my system at the Novell Customer Center. Do you know what this is? I didn't receive any code. I have no idea how to find repositories to add packages to my system, any guidance will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Alison

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The package you are looking for is probably "lsb-4.0-2.4.21.x86_64.rpm" which is on disc 1 of SLED11 SP3. A pre-loaded system should include the media (or information on how to obtain the media) and/or a registration key to register with SUSE and get access to the SLED repository.

[awalker199]

Thank you for the responses.

I have solved the issue - while I did not receive any physical media, or any instructions, or any registration key, I've discovered the base system binary packages are in an iso file on the system. I didn't know that I was supposed to manually add this iso file as a repository. Once I did that, the packages appeared in my software list and I was able to install what I needed.

Alison

[Jimmy Vance]

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awalker199 wrote:

Thank you for the responses.

I have solved the issue - while I did not receive any physical media, or any instructions, or any registration key, I've discovered the base system binary packages are in an iso file on the system. I didn't know that I was supposed to manually add this iso file as a repository. Once I did that, the packages appeared in my software list and I was able to install what I needed.

Alison

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Yes, a local ISO image is another option. Glad you got it worked out.  I'm curious though, without a registration key how will you get patches/updates from SUSE?

[awalker199]

Well, for my purposes, I'm not concerned about patches and updates. If it turns out I want/need them at some point I would purchase a subscription. I just wanted a working SLED system at the current version. More likely that when the time comes to upgrade I will switch to one of the open distros.

Thanks again,

Alison