The SUSE Driver Tools package is a suite of utilities to help users manage distribution and integration of driver updates with SUSE Linux distributions. The toolkit is an offering of the SUSE Partner Linux Driver Program (PLDP).
Given a set of packages, SUSE Driver Tools can perform the following tasks:
If terms like ‘driver kit’, ‘add-on product’, ‘kISO’ and ‘DUD’ are unfamiliar, please refer to the SUSE Driver concepts document.
The sdt command is the main command of the SUSE Driver Tools suite which provides a set of sub-commands for the specific tasks.
The following examples assume that kernel module packages (KMPs) or kernel packages themselves are located in a subdirectory called ‘updates’, and that ‘SLES-11-SP1-x86_64’ is a subdirectory containing the contents of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1 installation media.
sdt media driverkit -u updates -o driverkit.isoGenerates an add-on product iso image called driverkit.iso in the current directory that includes the rpm packages found in the ‘updates’ directory.
sdt media driverkit -b SLES-11-SP1-x86_64 -u updates -o driverkit.isoGenerates a bootable add-on product iso image called driverkit.iso in the current directory. The add-on repository is generated the same as the standard driver kit plus includes a boot loader that kicks off the installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1 with the add-on product automatically selected for installation.
The -b/–base option instructs the SUSE Driver Tools to include a boot loader based on the specified, standard installation media. Any kernel packages or kernel module packages included in the ‘updates’ directory will be used to update the boot loader to include the new kernel bits. For further information and options, refer to the sdt-driverkit.1 man page below, or enter ‘man sdt-driverkit’ on the command line.
sdt media driverkit -b SLES-11-SP1-x86_64 -a addon -o driverkit.isoGenerates a installation kit like the example above but uses an existing add-on product repository located under the ‘addon/’ path. The -a/–addon option uses the existing add-on repository (without rebuilding it) and includes any kernel packages or kernel module packages as updates to the boot loader.
sdt dud create -b SLES-11-SP1-x86_64 -u updates Generates a DUD structure in the current directory (linux/suse/…). The -b The base SLES media specified by the -b option is required to determine the correct DUD layout. For further information and options, refer to the sdt-dud.1 man page below, or enter ‘man sdt-dud’ on the command line.
sdt media kiso -b SLES-11-SP1-x86_64 -u updates -o kiso.isoGenerates a kISO for use with installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 1. Any kernel and/or kernel module packages contained in the ‘updates/’ directory will be integrated into the boot section of the kISO and used for booting the system just before installing the SUSE product.
The sdt command takes the following general options that are commonly used.
These options are placed on the command line between ‘sdt’ and the sub-command. For example:
sdt -d dud -b SLES-11-SP1-x86_64 -u updatesGenerates an update media structure under the ‘./DUD/’ path and outputs verbose messages during the build.
For more information on further options, refer to the sdt.1 man page below, or enter ‘man sdt’ on the command line.
For a brief summary of general command usage and options enter
sdt --helpor for sub-command usage and options enter
sdt [subcommand] --helpi.e.
sdt driverkit --helpThe SUSE Driver Tools commands scan the directory provided by the -u/–updates option for files to act upon. Based on file detection, actions will be automatically triggered. For more information on the files that SUSE Driver Tools detects, refer to the sdt-file-detection.1 man page below or enter ‘man sdt-file-detection’ on the command line.
The following are links to the SUSE Driver Tools command man pages.