Howto: Download SLES or SLED Source Code

Show Me the RPM’s

A customer just asked me this one: where can they get the source code or source RPM’s for SLED 10? They need to provide that information to their legal department as part of the whole indemnification program and adhering to the GPL.

This is an easy question to answer, but there are two choices. Basically you have to decide if you want access to the raw source RPM’s in a big open directory (the ftp option) or you want to download a set of CD or DVD ISO images that have the same RPM files on them (more complex option).

Getting the Source RPMs from Novell’s Forge

1. Open a browser or FTP client
2. Go to [url]ftp://forgeftp.novell.com/sledsource[/url]
3. Download your choice of RPM source

Getting the Code on a CD or DVD ISO

1. Open developer.novell.com in a browser
2. Select “What Developers Need”
3. Select “SDK and Source Code Downloads”
4. Select “SUSE Linux Enterprise Product Sources”
5. Select “Choose a Product”
6. Select “Proceed to download”
7. You’re then prompted to Login
8. Accept the notice about DVD downloads being slower
9. Download the product

Now you have the source, have a lot of fun with it. I really had a hard time not saying “Use the Source, Luke”, that would be too goofy.

RossB