Prepare SLES - Poolside

Complete these steps on a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) host before you run the on-premises installation. For requirements that apply to every host, see On-premises installation prerequisites.

Supported versions and architectures

Item	Supported values
Operating system	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 16
CPU architecture	`amd64` (`x86_64`), `arm64` (`aarch64`)

Step 1: Install required tools

Ensure that sudo is present and operating correctly on the host. Use su to become the root user, then run zypper install sudo. After you install sudo, open the sudoers file with visudo. Verify that the file includes only one Defaults secure_path entry. If multiple entries exist, delete any entries that do not include /usr/local/bin. You install terraform and yq in this directory, so it must be in the secure_path value that sudo uses. To install the required packages available from the operating system repositories, run:

sudo zypper install -y iptables tar unzip skopeo jq

Install yq (version v4.49.2 or later) from the yq releases page
- Download yq_linux_amd64.tar.gz or yq_linux_arm64.tar.gz and install it to /usr/local/bin/yq
Install terraform (version 1.8.5) from the Terraform 1.8.5 releases page
- Download terraform_1.8.5_linux_amd64.zip or terraform_1.8.5_linux_arm64.zip and install the binary to /usr/local/bin/terraform
- unzip is required to extract the Terraform binary

Step 2: Install kubectl

Ensure that the kubectl version is the same as or newer than the RKE2 Kubernetes version. To install kubectl using native package management, add the Kubernetes repository for the minor version that matches your deployment. The following example uses the v1.35 repository:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/zypp/repos.d/kubernetes.repo
[kubernetes]
name=Kubernetes
baseurl=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.35/rpm/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.35/rpm/repodata/repomd.xml.key
EOF

sudo zypper install -y kubectl

Alternatively, install wget, then download the kubectl binary directly and install it to /usr/local/bin/kubectl. Replace <arch> with amd64 or arm64:

sudo zypper install -y wget
wget https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.35.3/bin/linux/<arch>/kubectl
chmod +x kubectl
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Step 3: Disable the `nouveau` driver

Confirm that the nouveau graphics driver is not loaded. For instructions, see Disable the nouveau driver in the NVIDIA documentation. Run the following command to check whether the nouveau driver is loaded. If the command returns output, follow the next steps to turn off the driver and reboot.

lsmod | grep nouveau

If the nouveau driver is loaded:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-nouveau.conf
blacklist nouveau
options nouveau modeset=0
EOF

# Regenerate the kernel initramfs.
sudo dracut --force

# Reboot the system.
sudo systemctl reboot

# After reboot, confirm that the nouveau driver is not loaded.
lsmod | grep nouveau

Step 4: Install the NVIDIA driver

Poolside disables GPU Operator driver installation on SLES and other SUSE variants because the drivers are available through SUSE-owned and operated container repositories that Poolside cannot redistribute. Install NVIDIA driver version before you run the installer. This is the driver version listed for the certified on-premises stack. Follow NVIDIA’s instructions for your host operating system:

SLES

Step 5: Verify prerequisites

Your host is ready when the following checks pass:

Confirm that sudo resolves /usr/local/bin:
sudo grep secure_path /etc/sudoers

Confirm that the required tools are installed and on the path:

kubectl version --client
jq --version
/usr/local/bin/yq --version
/usr/local/bin/terraform version
skopeo --version

Confirm that the nouveau driver is not loaded. This command returns no output:
lsmod | grep nouveau
Confirm that the NVIDIA driver is loaded and reports the host GPUs:
nvidia-smi

Next steps

Install on-premises

​Supported versions and architectures

​Step 1: Install required tools

​Step 2: Install kubectl

​Step 3: Disable the nouveau driver

​Step 4: Install the NVIDIA driver

​Step 5: Verify prerequisites

​Next steps

​Related resources