openSUSE:FAQ

GOALS OF THE FAQ PAGE

This is intended to answer frequently asked questions about all openSUSE distributions and the openSUSE community as an effort to bring new comers up to speed as effectively and efficiently as possible.

It is also a tool to help others answer frequently asked questions in various segments of the community on other platforms.

While FAQ pages can be very helpful, it can never truly replace hands on learning, answer every single question someone might have, or keep up with a project that is constantly evolving and made up of mostly volunteers.

Warning: Wikis are NEVER considered official documentation. They are community sourced places to help gain knowledge - use at your own discretion.

What's the difference between Leap, Tumbleweed, and MicroOS? Which should I choose?

The openSUSE community maintains several Linux-based distributions (distros) -- collections of useful software and configuration to make them all work together as a useable computer OS.

Leap follows a stable-release model. A new version is released once a year (latest release: Leap 15.5, June 2023). Between those releases, you will normally receive only security and minor package updates. The user experience will not change significantly during the release lifetime and you might have to wait till the next release to get major new features. Upgrading to the next release while keeping your programs, settings and files is completely supported but may involve some minor manual intervention (read the Release Notes first).

Tumbleweed follows a rolling-release model. A new "version" is automatically tested (with openQA) and released every few days. Security updates are distributed as part of these regular package updates (except in emergencies). Any package can be updated at any time, and new features are introduced as soon as the distro maintainers think they are ready. The user experience can change due to these updates, though we try to avoid breaking things without providing an upgrade path and some notice (usually on the Factory mailing list).

Both Leap and Tumbleweed can work on laptops, desktops, servers, embedded hardware, as an everyday OS or as a production OS. It depends on what update style you prefer.

MicroOS is a distribution aimed at providing an immutable base OS for containerized applications. It is based on Tumbleweed package versions, but uses a btrfs snapshot-based system so that updates only apply on reboot. This avoids any chance of an update breaking a running system, and allows for easy automated rollback. References to "MicroOS" by itself typically point to its use as a server or container-host OS, with no graphical environment.

Aeon/Kalpa (formerly MicroOS Desktop) are variants of MicroOS which include graphical desktop packages as well. Development is ongoing. Currently Gnome (Aeon) is usable while KDE Plasma (Kalpa) is in an early alpha stage. End-user applications are usually installed via Flatpak rather than through distribution RPMs.

Leap Micro is the Leap-based version of an immutable OS, similar to how MicroOS is the immutable version of Tumbleweed. It is currently in the "release candidate" stage of development. It is also primarily recommended for server and container-host use, as there is no graphical desktop included.

JeOS (Just-Enough OS) is not a separate distribution, but a label for absolutely minimal installation images of Leap or Tumbleweed. These are useful for containers, embedded hardware, or virtualized environments.

How do I test or install an openSUSE distribution?

In general, download an image from https://get.opensuse.org and write (not copy as a file!) it directly to a USB stick, DVD, or SD card. Then reboot your computer and use the boot settings/boot menu to select the appropriate disk.

Full DVD or NetInstall images are recommended for installation on actual hardware. The Full DVD can install a working OS completely offline (important if your network card requires additional drivers to work on Linux), while the NetInstall is a minimal image which then downloads the rest of the OS during the install process.

Live images can be used for testing the full graphical desktop without making any changes to your computer. The Live image includes an installer but has reduced hardware support compared to the DVD image, and will likely require further packages to be downloaded during the install process.

In either case be sure to choose the image architecture which matches your hardware (if you're not sure, it's probably x86_64). Both BIOS and UEFI modes are supported. You do not have to disable UEFI Secure Boot to install openSUSE Leap or Tumbleweed. All installers offer you a choice of desktop environment, and the package selection can be completely customized. You can also upgrade in-place from a previous release of an openSUSE distro, or start a rescue environment if your openSUSE distro installation is not bootable.

All installers will offer you a choice of either removing your previous OS, or install alongside it. The partition layout is completely customizable. If you do not understand the proposed partition layout, do not accept or click next! Ask for help or you will lose data.

Any recommended settings for install?

In general the default settings of the installer are sensible. Stick with a BTRFS filesystem if you want to use filesystem snapshots and rollbacks, and do not separate /boot if you want to use boot-to-snapshot functionality. In this case we recommend allocating at least 40 GB of disk space to / (the root partition).

What is the Open Build Service (OBS)?

The Open Build Service is a tool to build and distribute packages and distribution images from sources for all Linux distributions. All openSUSE distributions and packages are built in public on an openSUSE instance of OBS at https://build.opensuse.org; this instance is usually what is meant by OBS.

Many people and development teams use their own OBS projects to distribute packages not in the main distribution or newer versions of packages. Any link containing https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/ refers to an OBS download repository.

Anyone can create use their openSUSE account to start building and distributing packages. In this sense, the OBS is similar to the Arch User Repository (AUR), Fedora COPR, or Ubuntu PPAs. Personal repositories including 'home:' in their name/URL have no guarantee of safety or quality, or association with the official openSUSE distributions. Repositories used for testing and development by official openSUSE packagers do not have 'home:' in their name, and are generally safe, but you should still check with the development team whether the repository is intended for end users before relying on it.

How can I search for software?

When looking for a particular software application, first check the default repositories with YaST Software, zypper search, KDE Discover, or GNOME Software.

If you don't find it, the website https://software.opensuse.org and the command-line tool opi can search the entire openSUSE OBS for anyone who has packaged it, and give you a link or instructions to install it. However be careful with who you trust -- home: repositories have absolutely no guarantees attached, and other OBS repositories may be intended for testing, not for end-users. If in doubt, ask the maintainers or the community (in forums like this) first.

The software.opensuse.org website currently has some issues listing software for Leap, so you may prefer opi in that case. In general we do not recommend regular use of the 1-click installers as they tend to introduce unnecessary repos to your system.

How do I open this multimedia file / my web browser won't play videos / how do I install codecs?

Certain proprietary or patented codecs (software to encode and decode multimedia formats) are not allowed to be distributed officially by openSUSE, by US and German law. For those who are legally allowed to use them, community members have put together an external repository, Packman, with many of these packages.

The easiest way to add and install codecs from packman is to use the opi software search tool.

zypper install opi opi codecs

We can't offer any legal advice on using possibly patented software in your country, particularly if you are using it commercially.

Alternatively, most applications distributed through Flathub, the Flatpak repository, include any necessary codecs. Consider installing from there via Gnome Software or KDE Discover, instead of the distribution RPM.

Update 2022/10/10: opi codecs will also take care of installing VA-API H264 hardware decode-enabled Mesa packages on Tumbleweed, useful for those with AMD GPUs.

How do I install NVIDIA graphics drivers?

NVIDIA graphics drivers are proprietary and can only be distributed by NVIDIA themselves, not openSUSE. SUSE engineers cooperate with NVIDIA to build RPM packages specifically for openSUSE.

First add the official NVIDIA RPM repository

zypper addrepo -f https://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/leap/15.5 nvidia

for Leap 15.5, or

zypper addrepo -f https://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/tumbleweed nvidia

for Tumbleweed.

To auto-detect and install the right driver for your hardware, run

zypper install-new-recommends --repo nvidia

When the installation is done, you have to reboot for the drivers to be loaded. If you have UEFI Secure Boot enabled, you will be prompted on the next bootup by a blue text screen to add a Secure Boot key. Select 'Enroll MOK' and use the 'root' user password if requested. If this process fails, the NVIDIA driver will not load, so pay attention (or disable Secure Boot). As of 2023/06, this applies to Tumbleweed as well.

NVIDIA graphics drivers are automatically rebuilt every time you install a new kernel. However if NVIDIA have not yet updated their drivers to be compatible with the new kernel, this process can fail, and there's not much openSUSE can do about it. In this case, you may be left with no graphics display after rebooting into the new kernel. On a default install setup, you can then use the GRUB menu or snapper rollback to revert to the previous kernel version (by default, two versions are kept) and afterwards should wait to update the kernel (other packages can be updated) until it is confirmed NVIDIA have updated their drivers.

Why is downloading packages slow / giving errors?

openSUSE distros download package updates from a network of mirrors around the world. By default, you are automatically directed to the geographically closest one (determined by your IP). In the immediate few hours after a new distribution release or major Tumbleweed update, the mirror network can be overloaded or mirrors can be out-of-sync. Please just wait a few hours or a day and retry.

As of 2023/08, openSUSE now uses a global CDN with bandwidth donated by Fastly.com.

If the errors or very slow download speeds persist more than a few days, try manually accessing a different mirror from the mirror list by editing the URLs in the files in /etc/zypp/repos.d/. If this fixes your issues, please make a post here or in the forums so we can identify the problem mirror. If you still have problems even after switching mirrors, it is likely the issue is local to your internet connection, not on the openSUSE side.

Do not just choose to ignore if YaST, zypper or RPM reports checksum or verification errors during installation! openSUSE package signing is robust and you should never have to manually bypass it -- it opens up your system to considerable security and integrity risks.

What do I do with package conflict errors / zypper is asking too many questions?

In general a package conflict means one of two things:

Numbered list item

The repository you are updating from has not finished rebuilding and so some package versions are out-of-sync. Cancel the update, wait for a day or two and retry. If the problems persist there is likely a packaging bug, please check with the maintainer.

Numbered list item

You have enabled too many repositories or incompatible repositories on your local system. Some combinations of packages from third-party sources or unofficial OBS repositories simply cannot work together. This can also happen if you accidentally mix packages from different distributions -- e.g. Leap 15.5 and Tumbleweed or different architectures (x86 and x86_64). If you make a post here or in the forums with your full repository list (zypper repos --details) and the text of any conflict message, we can advise. Using zypper --force-resolution can provide more information on which packages are in conflict.

Do not ignore package conflicts or missing dependencies without being sure of what you are doing! You can easily render your system unusable.*

How do I "rollback" my system after a failed or buggy update?

If you chose to use the default btrfs layout for the root file system, you should have previous snapshots of your installation available via snapper. In general, the easiest way to rollback is to use the Boot from Snapshot menu on system startup and then, once booted into a previous snapshot, execute snapper rollback. See the official documentation on snapper for detailed instructions.

Tumbleweed

How should I keep my system up-to-date?

For casual users, leaving the update process to packagekit is best, as it handles updates automatically and applies these updates in the safest way possible. For power users who are okay with assuming some level of risk, can run updates using zypper dist-upgrade (zypper dup) from the command-line.

If you want to avoid installing any new packages that are newly considered part of the base distribution, you can run zypper dup --no-recommends instead, but you may miss some functionality.

I ran a distro update and the number of packages is huge, why?

When core components of the distro are updated (gcc, glibc) the entire distribution is rebuilt. This usually only happens once every few (3+) months. This also stresses the download mirrors as everyone tries to update at the same time, so please be patient -- retry the next day if you experience download issues.

Leap (current version: 15.5)

How should I keep my system up-to-date?

Use YaST Online Update or zypper update from the command line for maintenance updates and security patches. Only if you have added extra repositories and wish to allow for packages to be removed and replaced by them, use zypper dup instead. == The Leap kernel version is 5.14, that's so old! Will it work with my hardware? ==

The kernel version in openSUSE Leap is more like 5.14+++, because SUSE engineers backport a significant number of fixes and new hardware support. In general most modern but not brand-new stuff will just work. There is no comprehensive list of supported hardware -- the best recommendation is to try it any see. LiveCDs/LiveUSBs are an option for this. == Can I upgrade my kernel / desktop environment / a specific application while staying on Leap? ==

Usually, yes. The OBS allows developers to backport new package versions (usually from Tumbleweed) to other distros like Leap. However these backports usually have not undergone extensive testing, so it may affect the stability of your system; be prepared to undo the changes if it doesn't work. Find the correct OBS repository for the upgrade you want to make, add it, and switch packages to that repository using YaST or zypper.

Examples include an updated kernel from obs://Kernel:stable:backport (warning: need to install a new key if UEFI Secure Boot is enabled) or updated KDE Plasma environment.

See Package Repositories for more.

openSUSE community

What's the connection between openSUSE and SUSE / SLE?

SUSE is an international company (HQ in Germany) that develops and sells Linux products and services. One of those is a Linux distribution, SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE). If you have questions about SUSE products, we recommend you contact SUSE Support directly or use their communication channels, e.g. r/suse.

openSUSE is an open community of developers and users who maintain and distribute a variety of Linux tools, including the distributions openSUSE Leap, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and openSUSE MicroOS. SUSE is the major sponsor of openSUSE and many SUSE employees are openSUSE contributors. openSUSE Leap directly includes packages from SLE and it is possible to in-place convert one distro into the other, while openSUSE Tumbleweed feeds changes into the next release of SLE and openSUSE Leap.

How can I contribute?

The openSUSE community is a do-ocracy. Those who do, decide. If you have an idea for a contribution, whether it is documentation, code, bugfixing, new packages, or anything else, just get started, you don't have to ask for permission or wait for direction first (unless it directly conflicts with another persons contribution, or you are claiming to speak for the entire openSUSE project). If you want feedback or help with your idea, the best place to engage with other developers is on the mailing lists, or on IRC/Matrix (https://chat.opensuse.org/). See the full list of communication channels in the subreddit sidebar or here.

Linux developers and Linux users everywhere are welcome to participate in the project. We believe that the project will appeal particularly to:

Millions of openSUSE users worldwide
Experienced Linux engineers and application developers who want to create their own packages for openSUSE
Corporate Linux experts, who regard openSUSE as the distribution that consistently delivers the latest Linux packages to the community in a stabilized integrated build

Current Linux users and others interested in getting started with Linux can visit openSUSE.org to download the recent official release of openSUSE. More technical users who wish to participate directly in the development of openSUSE will can download the current developer build of the distribution and submit bugs and patches through Bugzilla. Less technically advanced people can do other things, perhaps act as an openSUSE Ambassador.

Can I donate money?

The openSUSE project does not have independent legal status and so does not directly accept donations. There is a small amount of merchandise available. In general, other vendors even if using the openSUSE branding or logo are not affiliated and no money comes back to the project from them. If you have a significant monetary or hardware contribution to make, please contact the openSUSE Board directly.

Future of Leap, ALP, etc. (update 2023/06/14)

The Leap release manager originally announced that the Leap 15.x release series will end with Leap 15.5, but this has now been extended to 15.6. The future of the Leap distribution will then shift to be based on "SLE 16" (branding may change). Currently the next-generation SLE is expected to make greater use of containerized applications, a proposal known as "Adaptable Linux Platform". This is still quite early in the planning and development process, and the scope and goals may still change significantly before any release (2024?).

In particular there is no intention to abandon the desktop workflow or current users. This is not "the end of Leap" unless that is what the community decides. If you have strong opinions, you are highly encouraged to join the weekly openSUSE Community meetings and the Desktop workgroups in particular.

How is the openSUSE project organized and managed?

Today the openSUSE Guiding principles describe the goals of the openSUSE project and how it is driven.

For additional team members browse the openSUSE User Directory.

Why did SUSE start the openSUSE project?

At its inception, the openSUSE project was created as a direct response to the needs of Novell customers, which originally started and sponsored the project. With millions of users worldwide, openSUSE Linux is known for its innovation and ease of use, and is one of the most popular Linux distributions available today. openSUSE Linux users have asked for greater opportunities to collaborate on the testing, design and integration of new openUSE features. Now, through the openSUSE project, Linux users everywhere have the opportunity to shape and improve the software they use on their personal laptops and home networks. They will also ultimately influence the commercial SUSE Linux products businesses use to run their applications.

What is the relationship of the openSUSE project to SUSE?

The openSUSE project is sponsored by SUSE, which contributes significant engineering, management and infrastructure resources. The openSUSE operating system and associated open source applications are used by SUSE as the basis for its fully supported and hardened enterprise Linux offerings.

What is the default desktop of openSUSE - GNOME or KDE?

openSUSE supports a number of popular desktop environments, including GNOME and KDE. During installation from DVD, the user is asked to choose among GNOME, KDE, and XFCE, as well as non-desktop Server Roles. The two most common desktop environments are KDE and GNOME. Both desktop environments are mature and feature-rich, which one a user chooses is a question of personal taste.