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Solaris 7 Sun Hardware Platform Guide

Backing Up Your Domain

Always back up an existing domain before you use the upgrade option in the suninstall utility. The safest backup to perform is a level 0 dump of the file systems connected to the domain being upgraded. If you do not have an established backup procedure, see the System Administration Guide.

Caution - Caution -

In Solaris 2.5 and compatible versions, the kernel resides in /platform/arch/kernel/unix, not in /kernel/unix. If you override the boot file location by explicitly setting it to /kernel/unix, you can successfully install the Solaris software, but you will not be able to boot the domain.

Using the Upgrade Option

The upgrade option in the suninstall utility determines how the Solaris software is copied to the disk. It merges the new version of the Solaris software with the existing files on the domain's disk, saving as many local modifications as possible.

Note -

The upgrade option may require deleting software packages if the disk is full; this requires knowledge of packages and dependencies.

Upgrading Installed Patches

You do not need to back out installed patches before you perform the upgrade.

Checking Other Software Documentation

Check the documentation of other software you are running, such as any disk volume managers, before you use the upgrade option. There may be additional instructions you need to follow to preserve existing configurations.

Upgrading Important Files

The following files must be present on stand alone systems, servers, and each diskless client being upgraded.

Preserving Local Modifications

During an upgrade, the suninstall utility attempts to preserve local modifications to the server whenever possible; however, local modifications might make an upgrade fail or perform differently than you would expect.

Caution - Caution -

AP 2.0 and 2.1 are not supported by Solaris 7. If you have either version of AP on the domain, you must deconfigure the software and remove the packages before you perform the upgrade.

The following table includes tasks you should perform before you upgrade the domain.

Table 6-7 Upgrading Tasks

What to Do Before Upgrading 

How to 

Why 

Preserve symbolic links 

Replace symbolic links that use absolute paths with symbolic links that use relative paths.  

 

For example, if /usr/openwin is a symbolic link to

 

/export/openwin

 

change the symbolic link to 

 

../export/openwin

 

During an upgrade, the suninstall utility cannot reference symbolic links that use absolute paths because the Solaris installation program mounts the root (/) file system at /a. For example, a symbolic link to /export/openwin would fail because during an upgrade, /export/openwin is really /a/export/openwin.

 

When the suninstall utility cannot reference a symbolic link, it will overwrite the symbolic link and install the software (the installation program doesn't think the software exists). As a result, duplicate software will be installed, and the upgrade may fail because of insufficient disk space.

Preserve symbolic links to automounted file systems 

Remove packages (by using Software Manager or the pkgrm(1M) command) that will create files or directories currently automounted.

 

 

The automounter is not active during an upgrade, so the suninstall utility installs any package's files or directories that are symbolic links to automounted file systems. If a symbolic link is overwritten, the upgrade may fail because of insufficient disk space.

 

(If you cannot remove a package, you can replace the symbolic link after the upgrade is completed.) 

 

Note: The /var/mail and /var/news directories, which usually reside on an automounted file system, are not affected by an upgrade.

Prevent unneeded file systems from being mounted 

In the /etc/vfstab file, comment out file systems that you do not want mounted during the upgrade.

During an upgrade, the suninstall utility attempts to mount all of the file systems listed in the /etc/vfstab file on the root file system being upgraded. If the Solaris installation program cannot mount a file system, it reports the failure and exits.