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Azure Hybrid Benefit Support

This document (000019891) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines

Situation

Azure Hybrid Benefit

What is AHB?

Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB) allows customers to convert between PAYG and BYOS Virtual Machines in Microsoft Azure.


What are the benefits of AHB and how to enable or disable it?

Azure Hybrid Benefit is a licensing benefit that helps reduce licensing costs.  The first step in the enablement or disablement process is to apply the benefit to a newly created or existing virtual machine via the Azure portal or Azure CLI.  Enablement is when a virtual machine is migrated from PAYG to BYOS.  Disablement is when a virtual machine is migrated from BYOS to PAYG.
For more information on completing this first step:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/azure-hybrid-benefit-linux


What package versions does the VM need to have installed to take advantage of AHB?

cloud-regionsrv-client-9.1.3
python3-azuremetadata-5.1.2
regionServiceClientConfigAzure-1.0.5

or later versions installed.

 

After enabling AHB via the Azure portal or Azure CLI, how do I get access to the SUSE Customer Center package repositories?

The following steps should be performed. A SUSE subscription registration code will be needed.
registercloudguest --clean
zypper rm -y cloud-regionsrv-client
SUSEConnect --cleanup --url https://scc.suse.com
SUSEConnect -r <ActivationCode> -e <EmailAddress>

Consult SUSE documentation on further use of SUSEConnect.


After disabling AHB via the Azure portal or Azure CLI, how do I get access to the SUSE public cloud update infrastructure repositories?

The following steps should be performed in order.
zypper install -y cloud-regionsrv-client-plugin-azure
registercloudguest --clean
SUSEConnect --cleanup
registercloudguest --force-new

Resolution

On or about March 21st, SUSE will be turning on "strict enforcement" of AHB rules. At this point, the update infrastructure will check for additional data being sent from the Azure virtual machine to determine permission.  VM's that do not send the data will lose access to the update infrastructure.
 

PROBLEM: The Virtual Machine does not have the minimum package versions and can no longer access the repositories to update them.

The following message may be exhibited as a result: 

'instance verification failed: Invalid signature' (422)

To manually update the packages to the minimum versions required for SLE12:

wget --no-check-certificate https://52.188.224.179/late_instance_offline_ahb_SLE12.tar.gz
tar -xf late_instance_offline_ahb_SLE12.tar.gz
cd late_update
zypper --no-refresh --no-remote --non-interactive in *.rpm

To manually update the packages to the minimum versions required for SLE15:

wget --no-check-certificate https://52.188.224.179/late_instance_offline_ahb_SLE15.tar.gz
tar -xf late_instance_offline_ahb_SLE15.tar.gz
cd late_update
zypper --no-refresh --no-remote --non-interactive in *.rpm


PROBLEM: Cannot Register Azure VM to the SCC After Enabling Azure Hybrid Benefit

After enabling Azure Hybrid Benefit for SLES_BYOS, VM cannot register to the SCC. A similar message to the following may be displayed:
Updating system details on https://smt-azure.susecloud.net ...
Activating SLES 15.2 x86_64 ...
Error:
Follow the steps above answered in "After enabling AHB via the Azure portal or Azure CLI, how do I get access to the SUSE Customer Center package repositories?"
 

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:000019891
  • Creation Date: 26-Feb-2021
  • Modified Date:12-Mar-2021
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications

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