Greetings,
Is there a separate openSUSE Server edition available?
if yes, where can I get it?
Thanks
No, the closest to a ‘server’ setup is the “minimal server setup” when installing the system and clicking Other in the desktop installation menu.
The defaults used in the -default kernel are good for a server, depending a bit on your needs you may need to tweak some sysctl values although that only becomes important for file servers and extremely busy systems (thousands to tens of thousands connections per second).
If you want the openSUSE feel in a truly server build (hardened,
more-testing, less bleeding-edge software) then check out SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server (SLES) hosted at (suse.com).
–
Good luck.
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This isn’t always necessarily a good thing. When using SLES I’ve ran into various issues trying to do more… let’s say more ‘advanced’ stuff than what the developers were thinking (out of date libraries, missing applications etc.)
Things like Apache, nginx, php are so horribly out of date on SLES that it’s almost criminal, then when you update those applications to a newer version so you can get performance or feature improvements, the benefit of having SLES goes out of the window.
On 10/13/2014 01:16 AM, Miuku wrote:
>
> ab;2669153 Wrote:
>> less bleeding-edge software)
> This isn’t always necessarily a good thing. When using SLES I’ve ran
> into various issues trying to do more… let’s say more ‘advanced’ stuff
> than what the developers were thinking (out of date libraries, missing
> applications etc.)
Care to share specifically which “advanced” features you were lacking with
Apache httpd 2.2, PHP 5.3, and other software on SLES? There is always a
cost for stability, and that applies to any system. The downside of being
on code that is more-proven is that you cannot be on code that is
less-proven. In a server, that’s a normal tradeoff, and so far I’ve never
been limited in running anything on SLE because of versions.
> Things like Apache, nginx, php are so horribly out of date on SLES that
> it’s almost criminal, then when you update those applications to a newer
> version so you can get performance or feature improvements, the benefit
> of having SLES goes out of the window.
Other software that was so “out of date” as to be almost criminal is
OpenSSL, which was so out of date that it worked for thousands of
customers, but not for a single attacker trying to exploit Heartbleed.
The downside here is, sarcastically, that system administrator were not
able to get overtime pay and a test of low-sleep functionality while
patching all of their systems like their counterparts for other Linux
distributions.
–
Good luck.
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PHP 5.3? When PHP 5.4.33], 5.5.17] and 5.6.1] are released?
The good thing is that projects like Drupal 7 (current) recommends PHP 5.3 or higher, but Drupal 8 (coming out soon) requires PHP 5.4 or higher.
In order to install an openSUSE server, you need to either use the DVD (image) or Netinstall, correct?
2.2 is old as sin, PHP 5.3 lacks tons of features 5.5 or 5.6 offers (including extremely useful things like opcache which have a massive performance benefit when combined with nginx/php-fpm/varnish)
I’m sure SLES is great in places like banks or other industries that don’t need “the latest and greatest” but for those of us who actually develop things, it’s really not very usable. I need to run my own repositories and build my own packages for SLES installations that invalidate any support for those applications - the server applications are just too **** old.
On Mon 13 Oct 2014 03:16:01 PM CDT, Miuku wrote:
ab;2669182 Wrote:
> Care to share specifically which “advanced” features you were lacking
> with
> Apache httpd 2.2, PHP 5.3, and other software on SLES?
2.2 is old as sin, PHP 5.3 lacks tons of features 5.5 or 5.6 offers
(including extremely useful things like opcache which have a massive
performance benefit when combined with nginx/php-fpm/varnish)
I’m sure SLES is great in places like banks or other industries that
don’t need “the latest and greatest” but for those of us who actually
develop things, it’s really not very usable. I need to run my own
repositories and build my own packages for SLES installations that
invalidate any support for those applications - the server applications
are just too **** old.
Hi
Don’t forget the Telecommunications industry 
Stuff I worked on
expected lifetime 15-25 years… We were cradle to the grave Admins
(Since I don’t work in the industry anymore).
Then you will be hanging out for SLE 12 when it hit the streets…
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-21-desktop
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Start with understanding that openSUSE is distributed with an “everyone and everything” configuration that supports small machines with limited resources. If you deploy openSUSE even as a Server supporting small numbers of simultaneous Users (eg small website for 20 or fewer simultaneous connections with minimal application loads), the default openSUSE configuration should be fine, just load in your Server apps.
On the other hand, if you intend to support larger and heavier loads, you’ll find the default configuration lacking. AFAIK even commercial SUSE does not distribute a special, “server” tuned kernel (like RH for example) but you can always experiment with a kernel tuned for other uses, eg I understand that Google publishes the kernel they use for their search engine machines which makes major modifications to re-allocating resources for high network bandwidth and lessening network latencies in Google’s clusters.
You can easily re-allocate machine resources to support high Server network loads following what I describe in the following
https://sites.google.com/site/4techsecrets/optimize-and-fix-your-network-connection
That would generally be for “non-consumer” scenarios which might include but not limited to the following
- Hundreds of simultaneous User network connections
- More than maybe 10 FTP network connections (dedicated sockets and ports require more resources)
- Unusually fast network connections (Generally Gig and above)
- Non-dedicated network connections (lots of other traffic like on the main company’s network)
- Any kinds of network connections which aren’t 802.3 wired.
- Dedicated “special use” connections (eg dedicated WAN links)
HTH,
TSU
Once you install openSUSE by any means (DVD, USB, net, livecd, etc) and immediately update (zypper update), you have full access to the latest stable versions of any and all applications for any role (server, desktop, cluster node, etc). In fact, after install, all your package management is best done with online repositories, so it’s advisable to remove and disable your original installation source (if the source is local).
During the initial install, if you select “advanced” and decline automatic configuration, you can make changes more appropriate for a Server setup, including
- Decline a s separate /home partition. If you won’t be running many Desktop apps, there is no useful reason to store data on a User dedicated partition.
- Select an appropriate disk subsystem. LVM, encryption and more are more often seen in Servers.
- Select a lightweight or no Desktop. KDE is very large and resource hungry but friendly for End Users… but features that are generally undesirable for a Server.
- Specify a fixed network address
- Specify network security (if desired)
HTH,
TSU
Can also see what other people have built in Suse Studio
On 2014-10-13 19:26, tsu2 wrote:
> - Select an appropriate disk subsystem. LVM, encryption and more are
> more often seen in Servers.
I’m curious about this. Why encryption? It loads the system a bit,
delays i/o a bit, and supposedly sensitive servers are in secured racks
with video surveillance and armed patrols 
Typically we encrypt disks in order to protect them when removed or
stolen, or to hide from a inquisitive body if the machine is unpowered.
But servers are typically on full time (with encrypted partitions
mounted and accessible, if you have a login), in protected environments,
and disks can be destroyed after their useful life. Like roasted in a
furnace.
I see it as a protection for the chance that they forget to destroy the
disks later, though. Is that it?
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” at Telcontar)
The only reason I can think of for disk encryption is physical theft. Also, LVM can be a preferred way to manage volumes.
TSU