Ansible zypper update all packages

Zypper is a command line package manager for SUSE and OpenSUSE Linux. Usually, sysadmins and developers run the following to refresh package cache using the zypper command:
sudo zypper refresh

Upgrading all zypper/rpm packages using Ansible on OpenSUSE/SUSE

The following works with openSUSE version 11.1+ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop 11.0+ only.

          - name: Update all packages on OpenSUSE/SUSE Linux
            zypper:
                    name: '*'
                    state: latest

Where,

1. name: '*' : State package name name or package specifier or a list of either. ‘*’ means all packages.
2. state: latest : When state is set to ‘latest’, Ansible will make sure the latest version of the package is installed. In other words, update all packages

Apply all available patches on OpenSUSE/SUSE Linux only

Update Ansible playbook as follows:

          - name: Update all packages on OpenSUSE/SUSE Linux
            zypper:
                    name: '*'
                    state: latest
                    type: patch

.
The type is set to ‘patch’. In other words, zypper would work on patches only.

Find out if we need to reboot the servers

If the file /boot/do_purge_kernels exists, you need to reboot your SUSE or OpenSUSE Linux system. We need to register a new variable if file /boot/do_purge_kernelsexists on the system as follows:

          - name: Check if a reboot is needed on all SUSE/OpenSUSE based servers
            register: linux_reboot_required_file
            stat: path=/boot/do_purge_kernels get_md5=no

Where,

1. register: linux_reboot_required_file : The ‘register’ keyword decides what variable to save a result in and we are going to use it as follows to reboot the box.
2. stat: path=/boot/do_purge_kernels : Find if a path (/boot/do_purge_kernels) exists
3. get_md5=no : Algorithm to determine checksum of file. In this example, we are using md5, but one can use sha1, sha224, sha256, sha384, and sha512.

Please note that the file /boot/do_purge_kernels is equivalent to Debian/Ubuntu Linux’s /var/run/reboot-required file.

Rebooting the SUSE/OpenSUSE server when a new kernel installed

We are going to use the reboot module to reboot the Linux server when kernel updated as follows:

          - name: Reboot the SUSE/OpenSUSE box if kernel updated
            reboot:
              msg: "Reboot initiated by Ansible for kernel updates"
              connect_timeout: 5
              reboot_timeout: 300
              pre_reboot_delay: 0
              post_reboot_delay: 30
              test_command: uptime
            when: linux_reboot_required_file.stat.exists

Where,

1. test_command: uptime : Execute the uptime command on the rebooted SUSE/OpenSUSE cloud server and expect success from to determine the machine is ready for further tasks and running daemons.
2. when: linux_reboot_required_file.stat.exists : First, check that the file named /boot/do_purge_kernels exists using a variable named linux_reboot_required_file. The reboot module will only work if that file exists and it is enforced using ‘when: linux_reboot_required_file.stat.exists’ Ansible condition.

Using Ansible for SUSE/OpenSUSE updates and reboot servers if necessary

Now you know basic logic let us create a new host file on Linux:
vi hosts
Append the following:

## set up ssh user name and path to python3 ##
[all:vars]
ansible_user='vivek'
ansible_become=yes
ansible_become_method=sudo
ansible_python_interpreter='/usr/bin/env python3'
 
##########################
## our server name
## www-1 may be mapped using /etc/hosts or ~/.ssh/config
## you can use ip address here too
###########################
[opensuseservers]
www-1
www-2
www-3

Sample playbook

Create a new file named opensuse.yml as follows:
vi opensuse.yml
Append the following Ansbile code:

---
- hosts: opensuseservers
  become: true
  become_user: root
  tasks:
          - name: Update all packages on OpenSUSE/SUSE Linux
            zypper:
                    name: '*'
                    state: latest

          - name: Check if a reboot is needed on all SUSE/OpenSUSE based servers
            register: linux_reboot_required_file
            stat: path=/boot/do_purge_kernels get_md5=no

          - name: Reboot the SUSE/OpenSUSE box if kernel updated
            reboot:
              msg: "Reboot initiated by Ansible for kernel updates"
              connect_timeout: 5
              reboot_timeout: 300
              pre_reboot_delay: 0
              post_reboot_delay: 30
              test_command: uptime
            when: linux_reboot_required_file.stat.exists

Make sure you set up ssh keys and run it as follows:
ansible-playbook -i hosts opensuse.yml

Conclusion

We learned how to update all packages on OpenSUSE or SUSE Enterprise Linux servers and reboot the servers when kerne updated using Ansible playbooks. See zypper docs here for further information.

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