Online Update

Contents

3.1. Definition of Terms
3.2. YaST Online Update
3.3. Update from the Command Line with zypper

openSUSE offers a continuous stream of software security updates for your product. By default openSUSE Updater is used to keep your system up-to-date. Refer to Section “Keeping the System Up-to-date” (Chapter 3, Installing or Removing Software, ↑Start-Up) for further information on openSUSE Updater. This chapter covers alternative graphical tools and command line utilities for updating software packages.

The current patches for openSUSE® are available from an update software repository. If you have registered your product during the installation, an update repository is already configured. If you have not registered openSUSE, you can do so by running Software+Online Update Configuration in YaST. Alternatively, you can manually add an update repository from a source you trust with each update tool. Please refer to the respective application described below for instructions.

openSUSE provides updates with different relevance levels. Security updates fix severe security hazards and should definitely be installed. Recommended updates fix issues that could compromise your computer, whereas Optional updates fix non-security relevant issues or provide enhancements.

Definition of Terms

Repository

A local or remote directory containing packages plus additional information about these packages (package meta-data).

(Repository) Alias

A short name for a repository used by various zypper commands. The alias can be chosen by the user when adding a repository and has to be unique.

Product

Represents a whole product, e.g. openSUSE.

Pattern

A pattern is an installable list of packages needed for a special purpose. Examples are Base System, providing the openSUSE baisc system, or GNOME Base System, containing all packages needed to run the GNOME Desktop environment.

Package

A package is a compressed file in rpm format that contains the files for a particular program.

Patch

A patch consists of one or more packages—either full packages or patchrpm or deltarpm packages— and may also introduce dependencies to packages that are not installed yet.

Resolvable

An generic term for product, pattern, package or patch. The most commonly used type of resolvable is a package or a patch.

patchrpm

A patchrpm consists only of files that have been updated since it was first released for openSUSE 11.0. Its download size is usually considerably smaller than the size of a package.

deltarpm

A deltarpm consists only of the binary diff between two defined versions of a package and therefore, has the smallest download size. Before being installed, the rpm package has to be rebuild on the local machine.