Locking Packages to a Specified Version

Use the pkg freeze command to constrain a package version. One example of a time to freeze a package is when you do not want the package in a non-global zone to be updated when the global zone is updated.

/usr/bin/pkg freeze [-n] [-c reason] [pkg_fmri_pattern] ...

If no version is provided in pkg_fmri_pattern, the named package must be installed and is constrained to the version installed on the system. If a version is provided in pkg_fmri_pattern, then this constraint, or freeze, acts as if an incorporate dependency were installed where the fmri attribute had the value of the provided package version.

When a package that is frozen is installed or updated, it must end up at a version that matches the version at which it was frozen. For example, if a package was frozen at 1.2, then it could be updated to 1.2.1, 1.2.9, 1.2.0.0.1, and so on. That package could not end up at 1.3, or 1.1.

A publisher specified in the pkg_fmri_pattern is used to find matching packages. However, publisher information is not recorded as part of the freeze. A package is frozen with respect to its version only, not its publisher.

Freezing a package that is already frozen replaces the frozen version with the newly specified version.

If no packages are specified, information about currently frozen packages is displayed: package names, versions, when the package was frozen, and any associated reasons.

Freezing a package does not prevent removal of the package. No warning is displayed if the package is removed.

Use the -c option to record the reason the package is being frozen. The reason is shown if a freeze prevents an installation or update from succeeding.

Use the -n option to perform a trial run of the operation, displaying the list of packages that would be frozen without freezing any packages.

A freeze is never lifted automatically by the packaging system. To relax a constraint, use the pkg unfreeze command.

/usr/bin/pkg unfreeze [-n] [pkg_name_pattern] ...

Remove the constraints that freezing imposes from the specified packages. Any versions provided are ignored.

Use the -n option to perform a trial run of the unfreeze, displaying the list of packages that would be unfrozen without unfreezing any packages.