SUSE Linux Operating System

The SUSE Linux Operating System is currently supported on the ​Newport Family of SBCs with ​Venice SBC support coming in the future.

SUSE is a paid and supported Linux operating system. SUSE is an OS to consider over the free open-source OS's (like Ubuntu).

Why Choose SUSE

• Excellent Support
  • SUSE’s award-winning technical support provides prompt resolution of support issues and questions during development and operations. SUSE support is available worldwide with engineers trained in Linux and mixed environments. You have the option of a Standard Support subscription (12 hours x 5 days) or a subscription for mission-critical operations, Priority Support (24 hours x 7 days).
• Long Support Cycles
  • Releases will not go stale. Security, performance and application updates are pushed frequently. Reduce risk of having to do a complete software refresh on a product.
• Optimized for ARM
  • Contains specific optimizations for storage, network, encryption, compression
• Time to Market
  • With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Arm, you can avoid the resource costs and time of maintaining and supporting a private Linux distribution. By leveraging SUSE’s mature and proven operating system, you can dedicate your staff to developing innovative industrial automation solutions that increase your operational efficiency and reliability.
• Certifications
  • Some certifications are included
• Advanced Tools and Packages
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Arm includes an array of advanced tools to more quickly compile, package and deploy Linux solutions. Installation on ARM devices is made easier with all firmware, boot loader and device tree packages installed from USB media.
• A guarantee of stability
• Enhanced Security

Read more:

• ​SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Arm General Flyer
• ​SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server for ARM FAQ
• ​7 Reasons to Choose SUSE for Industrial Automation Systems

SLES - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

SLES or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is one of the more popular releases from SUSE.

You can read more about SLES for ARM CPUs here: ​https://www.suse.com/products/arm/

SLES 15 SP2 has been validated on a ​Newport GW63xx SBC. Venice support will be coming in the future.

Use the Gateworks Update Script instructions to flash the disk image to the eMMC over TFTP.

Customers wishing to use SLES will work directly with SUSE.

SLES Installation Instructions

Plan this installation process could take around 1 hour of time.

The below instructions have been used on the Gateworks Newport SBC, however more installation instructions are on the SUSE website:

• ​SUSE SLES Quick Install Guide
• ​https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP2/

Gateworks Instructions:

1. Register for a subscription key
   1. Provided at time of sign up for trial download here: ​https://www.suse.com/products/server/download/
2. Download installation media for SLES15SP2 for ARM
   1. An online install will require a smaller initial download which is recommended, filename: SLE-15-SP2-Online-aarch64-GM-Media1.iso
3. Flash ISO image to USB Drive using the following command on a Linux PC: (IMPORTANT: Adjust sdx to actual device)

   sudo dd if=SLE-15-SP2-Online-aarch64-GM-Media1.iso of=/dev/sdx bs=4M
   

4. Flash Newport SBC with latest bootloader: http://trac.gateworks.com/wiki/newport/boot
5. Insert USB drive into Newport SBC and break into the bootloader and type the following commands in uboot to boot the installation media:

   usb start
   fdt addr $fdtcontroladdr
   fdt resize
   fatload usb 0:1 $kernel_addr_r EFI/BOOT/bootaa64.efi
   bootefi $kernel_addr_r $fdtcontroladdr
   

6. This will take you into a grub prompt. At the prompt continue the boot process with the following commands:

   set root=(hd1,msdos1)
   set prefix=(hd1,msdos1)/EFI/boot
   configfile $prefix/grub.cfg
   

7. Modify the installation line by pressing the letter e on the keyboard and append the following on the end of the kernel command line:
   1. Note this will kick off an installation process over SSH

      console=ttyAMA0,115200n8 earlycon=pl011,0x87e028000000 cma=64M network=1 usessh=1 sshpassword=linux
      

8. SSH into the board from a system on the network given the provided commands and address on the screen
9. Now, going through installation process, overall choose default options or adjust as desired.
   1. You will need a registration key (as mentioned above)
   2. During the partitioning step, if any partitions try to default to btrfs, use ext4 instead. Install on /dev/mmcblock0
   3. It is suggested that the /boot/efi install go on the Gateworks FAT partition instead of creating another one. This was tested manually modifying the partitions during the install process on the GUI menu and this worked.
   4. During the username setup, you can use the same password for the root user if desired
10. System will reboot once complete
11. Once the system reboots, the USB stick can be removed and now it will boot the installed OS off EMMC.
12. By default, it should take you automatically to the grub prompt.
13. Then 2 items appear in the GRUB menu to boot SLES. Select the standard boot.

           GNU GRUB  version 2.02
    
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │*SLES 15-SP2                                                                                                                                                                                                    │ 
    │ Advanced options for SLES 15-SP1                                                                                                                                                                               │
    │                                                                                                                                            
    

    1. If this does not happen automatically, another command to try from the grub command prompt is:

       grub> configfile (hd0,2)/efi/boot/grub.cfg
       

14. The system should now boot. Username and password should match what was used during the installation.

See more installation instructions on the SUSE website: ​https://documentation.suse.com/sles/15-SP2/

Contact Gateworks support for questions with the installation.

OpenSUSE

While this may work on a Newport SBC, it is not something Gateworks is supporting at this time.