A.0 Troubleshooting Linux Package Management

The following sections provide solutions to the problems you might encounter while working with Linux Package Management:

The zac bundle-list command displays the bundle status as Available even though the packages of the bundle are not installed

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Possible Cause: This issue might occur if the Freshen flag is set for a package and the base version of the package is not installed.
Action: None.

Unable to access the YUM URL from YUM clients if you change the ZENworks Server port after creating the YUM Service

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Action: On the YUM client, manually add the new HTTP port of the ZENworks Server to the YUM Service URL. The YUM Service URL is represented as http://ZENworks_Server_IP_address:port/zenworks-yumrepo/yum_service_name.

For example, if you have changed the HTTP port of the ZENworks Server to 81, modify the YUM Service URL to http://ZENworks_Server_IP_address:81/zenworks-yumrepo/SLES11Updates.

For more information on how to add the new HTTP port to the YUM client, see Chapter 8, “Subscribing to External Services,” on page 69.

Listing of the subscription channels by using the zman srcl command might result in the Java heap space exception

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Explanation: The following out-of-memory exception error might occur when you list the subscription channels by using the zman srcl command: 
Exception in thread "Thread-1" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Action: Increase the zman memory size:

  1. Open the /opt/novell/zenworks/bin/zman file in a text editor.

  2. Search for the MEM_OPTS variable, then change its value to -Xms64m -Xmx256m or -Xms64m -Xmx512m.

  3. Save the /opt/novell/zenworks/bin/zman file.

Using zac bundle install command to install a bundle on a device also installs other bundles assigned to the device

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Explanation: If you use the zac bundle-install command to install a bundle that contains characters such as underscore(_), dollar($), hash(#), or exclamation(!) followed by an alphanumeric value in its name, all the assigned bundles whose name contains the character followed by the alphanumeric value are also installed on the device.

Example 1: Consider five bundles named bundle_1, bundle_10, bundle_20, bundle_100, and bundle_200 are assigned to a device. Run the zac bundle-install bundle_1 command to install bundle_1 on the device. The bundles named bundles_10 and bundle_100 are also installed on the device.

Example 2: Consider four bundles named bundle#abc, bundle#abcd, bundle#def, and bundle#abcrt are assigned to a device. Run the zac bundle-install bundle#abc command to install bundle#abc on the device. The bundles named bundle#abcd and bundles#abcrt are also installed on the device

Action: To install such a bundle on the device, specify the bundle GUID instead of the bundle name in the command. To determine the bundle GUID, run the zac bundle-list --show-guid command.

The actions listed in the Distribute action set of a bundle gets executed twice

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Explanation: Consider a bundle that is assigned to a device with the Distribution schedule set as Now and the Install Immediately after Distribution option selected. Both the Distribute and Install action set run on the device as a result of which the actions listed in the Distribute action set of the bundle gets executed twice.
Action: Perform the following steps in ZENworks Control Center:

  1. Edit the bundle’s distribution schedule to set the distribution schedule type as Recurring and select the When a device is refreshed option.

    Ensure that the Install Immediately after Distribution option is selected.

  2. Click the Devices tab. Select the device to which you have assigned the bundle, then click Quick Tasks > Refresh Device.

Unable to view the selected targets of packages on Internet Explorer 8

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Possible Cause: This issue might occur if you use Internet Explorer 8.
Action: To view the selected targets of packages, you should use Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer 7.

Upgrading from OES 2018 to OES 2018 SP1 fails using ZENworks 2017 Update 3

Source: ZENworks Configuration Management; Linux Package Management.
Explanation: When you try to upgrade OES 2018 to OES 2018 SP1 using ZENworks 2017 Update 3, the upgrade might fail.
Action: Perform the following:

  1. Install the ZENworks 2017 Update 3 agent on a OES2018 server.

  2. Update the server with the OES 2018 and SLES patches using a ZENworks 2017 Update 3 server.

  3. Stop the novell-zenworks-xplatzmd service.

  4. Update the ZENworks libsolv-helpers library.

  5. Delete the pkgdb database.

  6. Restart the novell-zenworks-xplatzmd service.

  7. Upgrade OES 2018 to OES 2018 SP1 after applying all OES2018-SP1 and SLES pools and bundles.