The document summarizes improvements to YaST, the user interface for SUSE Linux, over the last year. Key updates include improved usability through better error reporting, reduced memory usage, and accessibility features. The Config File API was enhanced for manipulating configuration files and improved performance. New features added were trusted booting, simplified installation for container platforms, and Salt integration. A separate new storage stack is being designed to support new technologies like btrfs and encryption.

1. Josef Reidinger
Senior Software Engineer
jreidinger@suse.cz
YaST News
Summary of the Last Year (2016/2017)

2. Content
1. Usability
2. Config File API (CFA)
3. New Features
4. New Storage Stack

3. Usability

4. Improving Error Reporting
● Popup for non-blocking installation errors
● Allowing to fix Registration URL
● Checking mandatory installation packages
● Recovery for broken bootloader configuration
● Checking parameters for serial console
● Kudos to usability team

5. Reducing Installer Memory Footprint
● We get reports that 512MB is no longer enough
● We again fit into this
● But it also depends on online repositories

6. Improved Low-vision Accessibility in Installer

7. Config Files API (CFA)

8. Quick Intro
● Layered approach
● Precise comment manipulation
● Using existing Augeas lenses
● Contributing to upstream

9. Smarter Writing
● Keeping whitespaces
● Keeping various empty lines
● Done by marking what is modified

10. Optimized for Big Files
● Old bug for /etc/hosts
● Better with CFA, but not enough
● Ruby profiler rocks
● Real measurement for /etc/hosts with 10k entries:
○ SCR: 76s
○ CFA (before): 38s
○ CFA (now): 19s

11. New Usage of CFA
● Originally only Bootloader
● /etc/hosts
● /etc/ntp.conf
● /etc/zypp.conf
● /etc/puppet/puppet.conf
● /etc/salt/*

12. New Features

13. Trusted Booting on EFI
● Verifying integrity of all system layers ( bootloader, kernel, ... )
● Thanks to TPM2
● UI feels the same as for TPM1 used for legacy boot

14. CaaSP and Kubic
● Platform for container orchestration
● Simplified installer
● Many adaptations

16. New Desktop Selection

17. Debugger and Profiler Integration
● Environment variables to enable debugger and profiler
● Running debugger if YaST crashes
● On system and also in installation

18. Weblate for Translators
● YaST switched to openSUSE weblate
● https://l10n.opensuse.org/

19. New Module for Alternatives
● Result of GSoC
● Kudos to Joaquín Yeray

20. Salt Integration into Autoinstallation
● Salt is a configuration management system
● Details in a separate talk Adding Salt to AutoYaST by
Imobach González Sosa

21. New Storage Stack

22. Separate Presentation
The YaST team is currently redesigning the storage code, down from
the library up to the UI. This will allow many new features, e.g. btrfs
multi device support, encrypted root, bcache and whole disk usage.
See Next Generation Storage for YaST by Arvin Schnell
Today 14:00 here

23. References
● YaST: https://github.com/yast/
● CFA: https://github.com/config-files-api/
● Weblate: https://l10n.opensuse.org/

24. Contact Us
● http://yast.github.io
● irc://freenode.net/#yast
● Email: yast-devel@opensuse.org
● https://lizards.opensuse.org/author/yast-team

25. Join Us at www.opensuse.org

26. License
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Credits
Template
Richard Brown
rbrown@opensuse.org
Design & Inspiration
openSUSE Design Team
http://opensuse.github.io/branding-guidelines/