Blog · 2026-10-19 · Gardience Engineering

Uyuni and SUSE Multi-Linux Manager on Windows: what works

Uyuni and SUSE Multi-Linux Manager are strong for Linux, but Uyuni closed its Windows support request as not planned. How to manage the Windows side of a SUSE or Uyuni shop without a second silo.

Uyuni, the open-source upstream of SUSE Multi-Linux Manager (formerly SUSE Manager), is excellent at what it was built for: Linux content lifecycle, patching, and configuration, with Salt underneath. It is also the community's successor to Spacewalk.

The gap is Windows. The request to support Windows clients in Uyuni, issue #1937, was closed as "not planned" on May 20, 2025. If your estate is SUSE or Uyuni for Linux plus a block of Windows servers, the Windows side needs another answer.

What teams usually do#

1. A second, Windows-only tool. WSUS (now deprecated), Microsoft Configuration Manager, or Azure Update Manager for Windows, and Uyuni or Multi-Linux Manager for Linux. Two consoles, two reports, two audit trails, and two sets of skills.
2. Point Windows minions at Salt directly. Uyuni runs Salt, and Salt runs on Windows, so some teams manage Windows minions from the command line on a separate master. It works, but there is no console, no patch reporting and no compliance view for those machines.
3. One console that does both. Add a console that manages Windows and Linux together on Salt, and keep Uyuni or Multi-Linux Manager for what it does best on Linux.

Cost matters here too. SUSE Multi-Linux Manager lists at about $134,000 a year for 1,000 Linux virtual machines (SUSE store, October 2026), and that covers none of your Windows servers, so the second tool is another bill on top. Gardience Team covers 1,000 Windows and Linux machines for $15,000 a year, flat. Every price, with sources.

Option 3 in practice#

Gardience is a supported console on open-source Salt for Windows and Linux. Next to a SUSE or Uyuni stack, it is typically used for:

• The Windows fleet: Windows Server 2016 to 2025 and Windows 10 and 11 (pending updates, patch runs with reboots, a scored STIG/CIS-aligned baseline, drift repair), with no WinRM.
• One fleet-wide view of patch and compliance status across Windows and Linux, for the reports that do not care which OS a machine runs.
• Governance across both: two-person approval, change windows, locks, and one tamper-evident audit log.

Linux is supported in Gardience too (including SUSE Linux Enterprise 15, RHEL 8 to 10, Rocky, Oracle Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, and Amazon Linux 2023), so teams that want a single console can use it for everything. Teams that rely on Multi-Linux Manager's content lifecycle management for Linux usually keep it there.

Questions#

Does Uyuni support Windows clients?#

The request for Windows client support (issue #1937) was closed as not planned in May 2025.

Can Salt itself manage Windows?#

Yes. The Salt minion runs natively on Windows. What Uyuni does not provide for Windows is the console, patch reporting and compliance on top.

Do I have to replace Uyuni or SUSE Multi-Linux Manager to use Gardience?#

No. Many teams keep it for Linux content lifecycle and use Gardience for Windows and for the cross-platform view.