Chapter 1 Sun Update Connection System 1.0.8 Release Notes

This document describes the bugs and issues you might encounter when you use the Sun^TM Update Manager application and the Sun Update Connection Hosted web application to manage updates on your Solaris^TM 10 operating system. The Sun Update Manager application and the Sun Update Connection Hosted web application are part of the Sun^SM Update Connection System 1.0.8 product, previously referred to as the Sun Update Connection, System Edition 1.0.x product.

These release notes have been updated with Sun Update Connection System 1.0.8 information and supplement the detailed product information in the Sun Update Connection System 1.0.8 Administration Guide, available at http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/coll/1320.1.

Required Updates

You can install the upgrade for Sun Update Connection System 1.0.8 directly. Upgrade to release 1.0.8 by installing the appropriate update on your system:

• SPARC: 121118-07

• x86: 121119-07

Requirements and Limitations

The Sun Update Connection includes the following limitations:

• Solaris Support. Sun Update Connection 1.0.x is designed for Solaris 10 systems. Continue to use Sun Patch Manager 2.0 to perform update management tasks on your Solaris 8 systems and on your Solaris 9 systems.

• Solaris 10 Zones Support. Starting with Sun Update Connection 1.0.4, the Sun Update Manager application and the smpatch command support the default pkgadd behavior from a global zone on a system where one or more local zones are installed. This default behavior enables you to use the Update Manager GUI or the smpatch command options from the global zone to analyze, download, install, and uninstall updates in all the zones on the system. Update Manager does not support requests for specific updates to be installed or removed from specified zones. Instead, the application uses the default process to install or uninstall updates in all applicable zones.

• Sun Online Account Issues. Note these suggestions while using the Sun Update Connection suite of products.

  Supply a valid email address when you register for a Sun Online Account. All email is sent to the address you supplied during registration. For example, if you forget your password and have Sun send you a new one, the password is reset and then sent to the email address you supplied. Without a Sun Online Account, you cannot access the Update Connection web application. Save your language preference during registration. A language preference saved in the Sun Update Connection web browser application is not retained.

• Sun Subscription Key. Sun Update Connection 1.0.8 uses the term subscription key to mean the alphanumeric identification (ID) string of your Sun service contract that includes software support. Other terms that refer to this same ID include Sun services plan ID, token, and service contract number. Your Sun Services representative can help you to purchase a support contract that includes software support, and provide you with your current contract ID.

Known Problems and Workarounds

Bugs and issues are grouped in the following categories:

• Sun Update Connection System Update Manager Bugs

• Sun Update Connection Hosted Web Application Bugs

• smpatch Bugs

Sun Update Connection System Update Manager Bugs

The following section describes an issue that might arise when you use the Sun Update Manager application:

The selected options in the Notification dialog box of the Preferences window are not saved. (6437063)

Description: When you select Preferences from the File menu, and click the Notifications tab, the Display Notification Icon and Menu should be selected by default. When you change this selection and choose not to Display the Notification Icon and Menu click Apply and then click OK, the change is not saved.

Cause: The swupnot script that starts the Notification application tries to determine if the user is running the GNOME desktop before launching (it is not CDE compatible) by checking if the gnome-netstatus-applet is running. If the script finds that the applet is not running, it terminates.

Workaround: To save your selection in the Notification dialog box, you must start the gnome-netstatus-applet. Right-click the GNOME desktop panel and select Add to Panel from the menu that appears. Select Internet from the next menu that appears and then select Network Monitor. Now launch Update Manager, select Preferences from the File menu, and select the Notifications tab. Make your selections, click Apply and then click OK to close the Preferences window. Your selection is now saved.

This workaround only applies to sessions that are running the GNOME panel. It does not apply to users running CDE or those displaying the Update Manager remotely.

Sun Update Connection Hosted Web Application Bugs

The following section lists the issues that might arise when you use the Sun Update Connection Hosted Web Application:

• The Sun Update Connection Hosted Web Browser Application starts a new default browser instead of using the one that is already open. (6263022)

  Description: When you click the Manage at Sun Update Connection button, Update Manager opens a new window in your Mozilla^TM 1.7 browser. Your existing browser window is not used. If you are working in Firefox, when you click the Manage at Sun Update Connection button, a new instance of Mozilla 1.7 is opened, instead of the browser you have open.

  Cause: Instead of using your existing web browser window, Update Manager starts a new instance of the web browser specified as the default in the /usr/dt/bin/sdtwebclient file.

  Workaround: To make Firefox the default browser on your system, edit the /usr/dt/bin/sdtwebclient file. Add the path to firefox in the line that begins with: DEFAULT_BROWSER_LIST. DEFAULT_BROWSER_LIST="location-of-firefox/firefox mozilla netscape sun_netscape netscape6.” Replace location-of-firefox with the firefox command.

• Warning: Page has Expired Error Occurs When Using the Internet Explorer Back Button. (6321525)

  Description: When you click the browser Back button, you might see the following error: “Warning: Page has Expired The page you requested was created using information you submitted in a form. This page is no longer available. As a security precaution, Internet Explorer does not automatically resubmit your information for you. To resubmit your information and view this Web page, click the Refresh button.”

  Workaround: To clear the error, follow the instructions to refresh the page. Note that you might not be able to return to the page that you requested and the tab might not be correctly aligned with the page content. Instead of using browser navigation, use the navigational tabs, buttons, and links provided by the web browser application to navigate between pages.

smpatch Bugs

This section lists issues specific to the smpatch command:

• Rebooting the system fails to install pending updates. (6260402)

  Description: If you run the smpatch update command, updates that require special handling are installed at the next system restart. If you use the reboot command or use the Sun Java^TM Desktop System reboot mechanism as superuser (log out, and choose Restart from the Logout dialog box), the pending updates are not installed. These updates are still pending installation.

  Workaround: Use the init 6 command or the shutdown -i 6 command to restart the system and install the pending updates.

• The smpatch (IM) man page should be modified to remove the JAVA_HOME comment. (6426291)

  Description: The man page instructs you to modify the JAVA_HOME field if you want to use the smpatch command with any version of Java. Solaris 10 is compatible with Java 1.5.x . The usr/java link should point to Java 1.5.x. so that the smpatch command works.