The solaris packaging repository is used in administering the zones environment.
The zones automatically update when you use the pkg command to upgrade the system to a new version of Oracle Solaris.
The Image Packaging System (IPS), described in pkg (5) , is a framework that provides for software lifecycle management such as installation, upgrade, and removal of packages. IPS can be used to create software packages, create and manage packaging repositories, and mirror existing packaging repositories.
After an initial installation of the Oracle Solaris operating system, you can install additional software applications from a packaging repository through the Image Packaging System CLI and GUI (Package Manager) clients.
After you have installed the packages on your system, the IPS clients can be used to search, upgrade, and manage them. The IPS clients can be also used to upgrade an entire system to a new release of Oracle Solaris, create and manage repositories, and mirror an existing repository.
If the system on which IPS is installed can access the Internet, then the clients can access and install software from the Oracle Solaris 11.3 Package Repository (default solaris publisher), http://pkg.oracle.com/solaris/release/.
The zone administrator can use the packaging tools to administer any software installed in a non-global zone, within the limits described in this document.
The following general principles apply when zones are installed:
If a package is installed in the global zone, then the non-global zone can install the package from the system-repository service in the global zone and does not have to use the network to install that package. If that package has not been installed in the global zone, then the zone will need to use the zones-proxy service to access the publishers to install the package over the network, using the global zone.
The global administrator or a zone administrator with the appropriate rights can administer the software on every zone on the system.
The root file system for a non-global zone can be administered from the global zone by using the Oracle Solaris packaging tools. The Oracle Solaris packaging tools are supported within the non-global zone for administering co-packaged (bundled), standalone (unbundled), or third-party products.
The packaging tools work in a zones-enabled environment. The tools allow a package to also be installed in a non-global zone.