SUSE is a leading enterprise Linux vendor offering stable and reliable operating systems for businesses. Its portfolio includes SUSE Linux Enterprise for commercial use and the community-driven openSUSE distributions.
openSUSE has two main flavors: Leap, which is stable and great for general/enterprise use, and Tumbleweed, a rolling-release version that will appeal to power users.
On the other hand, Agama is their modern installer framework, built for automated and unattended installations. It works across SUSE Linux Enterprise and openSUSE products to speed up deployment, configuration, and system setup.
In a recent announcement, SUSE released Agama 17, featuring improvements across the board.
Agama 17: What to Expect?
Set to appear first with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0, Agama 17 makes installations easier than before. For instance, you can now skip SELinux, pick a different security module, and adjust your setup without extra hassle.
Similarly, JSON configuration is more flexible. You can configure VLANs, enable zFCP devices, tweak software patterns, and even pre-answer prompts using the new questions section.
The registration page got an upgrade too. Now, in addition to registering via SUSE Customer Center, you can register on custom RMT instances without using the command line or editing configuration files.
The updated Network and Storage pages on Agama.
Networking in Agama 17 is cleaner and more intuitive too. The wired interface UI has been reorganized to clearly display multiple devices sharing the same connection, making it easier to identify and configure interfaces.
And, finally, storage setup is smarter than before. You can use a disk or an existing RAID device without manually creating partitions, rescan the system when new hardware is added, and easily enter encryption passwords when inspecting encrypted volumes, improving efficiency and reducing setup errors.
If you want to try out Agama 17, you can download the perpetually updated testing ISO and see the new features and improvements in action.
