Tools for Managing Solaris Updates (Sun Update Connection System 1.0.8 Administration Guide)

Sun Update Connection System 1.0.8 Administration Guide

Tools for Managing Solaris Updates

You can use the following tools to apply updates to Solaris systems:

Sun Update Connection System tools:
- Update Manager graphical user interface (GUI)
- Sun Update Connection Hosted web application
- Update Manager command-line interface (smpatch)
patchadd command
Solaris Management Console (smc) Patches tool (GUI, starting with Solaris 9)

If you need to apply a patch to a diskless client system, see “Patching Diskless Client OS Services” in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

The Update Manager application is part of the Sun Update Connection System software product. The Sun Update Connection Hosted web application is also part of this software product.

The following table summarizes the availability of various Solaris update management tools.

Table 1–2 Availability of Solaris Update Management Tools


Tool Availability	Update Manager and Sun Patch Manager 2.0	Sun Update Connection System	`patchadd`/ `patchrm` Commands	Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 7 Patch Management Tools
How do I get this tool?	For Solaris 10 – Apply the Update Manager feature update. For Solaris 8 or Solaris 9 – Download the appropriate version of the Patch Manager tool from the Sun Download Center web site.	Run tool from the Sun Update Connection System web site.	Included with the Solaris release.	Download the tool from the Sun Download Center.
Solaris release availability	For Solaris 10 – Update Manager. For Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 – Sun Patch Manager 2.0.	Solaris 10.	Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7, Solaris 8, and Solaris 9 releases.	Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 7 releases.
Applies signed updates?	Yes, and automatically verifies the signed update when it is downloaded.	Yes	Starting with Solaris 9 12/03 – Yes, and automatically verifies the signed update when it is downloaded.	Yes, and automatically verifies the signed update when it is downloaded.
Applies unsigned updates?	For Update Manager – No. For Sun Patch Manager 2.0 – Yes, but the updates must be unzipped first.	Yes	Yes	No
GUI available?	For Solaris 10 – Yes, for systems running Update Manager. For Solaris 9 – Yes, for systems running Patch Manager (`smc`). For Solaris 8 – No.	Web application is hosted at Sun.	No	No
Analyzes system to determine the appropriate updates, and downloads signed or unsigned updates	Yes, signed updates only.	Yes	No	Yes, signed updates only.
Local and remote system update support	Local and remote. For Solaris 8 – Local.	Remote	Local	Local
RBAC support?	For Update Manager – No. For `smpatch` – Yes.	Not applicable	Yes	No

Managing Solaris Updates

While you apply updates, the patchadd command logs information in the /var/sadm/patch/update-id/log file.

The patchadd command cannot apply an update under the following conditions:

The package is not fully installed on the system.
The update package’s architecture differs from the system’s architecture.
The update package’s version does not match the installed package’s version.
An update with the same base code and a higher revision number has already been applied.
An update that makes an applied update obsolete.
The update is incompatible with an update that has already been applied to the system.
The update being applied depends on another update that has not yet been applied.

Selecting the Best Method for Applying Updates

You can use several different methods to download or apply one or more updates to your system. Use the following table to determine which method is best for your needs.

Note –

The version of the smpatch command described in this table was first available for Solaris 8 systems.

Table 1–3 Comparison of Update Methods


Command or Tool	Description	For More Information
Update Manager GUI	Use this tool when you want the convenience of a GUI to manage updates. Following are some features of this GUI: Analyzing your system to determine the appropriate updates Updating the system with one or more updates Removing updates Viewing the list of applied updates Configuring your update management environment Notifying you when new updates are available for your system	Chapter 4, Managing Solaris Updates by Using the Update Manager GUI
Sun Update Connection Hosted web application	Use this web application, which is hosted at Sun, to remotely manage updates on all of your Solaris 10 systems.	Chapter 5, Managing Solaris Updates by Using the Sun Update Connection Hosted Browser Interface
`smpatch update`	Use this command to analyze your system to determine the appropriate updates, and to automatically download and apply the updates. Note that this command will not apply an update that has the `interactive` property set. For Solaris 8 systems, only the local mode `smpatch` is available.	smpatch(1M) man page
`smpatch analyze` and `smpatch update`	First, use `smpatch analyze` to analyze your system to determine the appropriate updates. Then, use `smpatch update` to download and apply one or more of the updates to your system. Note that this command will not apply an update that has the `interactive` property set. For Solaris 8 systems, only the local mode `smpatch` is available.	smpatch(1M) man page
`smpatch analyze`, `smpatch download`, and `smpatch add`	First, use `smpatch analyze` to analyze your system to determine the appropriate updates. Then, use `smpatch download` to download them. This command also downloads any prerequisite updates. Then, use `smpatch add` to apply one or more of the updates to your system while the system is in single-user or multiuser mode. For Solaris 8 systems, only the local mode `smpatch` is available.	smpatch(1M) man page
`patchadd`	Starting with Solaris 2.6 release – Apply unsigned updates to your system. Starting with Solaris 9 12/03 release – Use this command to apply either signed or unsigned updates to your system. To apply signed updates, you must first set up your package keystore.	patchadd(1M) man page

If you choose to use the smpatch command-line interface or the Update Manager graphical user interface to apply updates, see Getting Started With the Sun Update Connection System for additional information that might affect which method you select.