Upgrading Solaris Software

No upgradeable disks

Bug ID: 1191792 

A swap entry in the /etc/vfstab file is causing the upgrade to fail.

Comment out the following lines in the /etc/vfstab file:

• All swap files and slices on disks not being upgraded

• Swap files that are no longer present

• Any unused swap slices

The upgrade fails because the installation program could not mount metadevices on the system. 

Metadevices cannot be upgraded automatically. Instructions are included in "Upgrading to Other Solaris Versions" in the Solstice DiskSuite 4.2 Reference Guide.

Bug ID: 1170953 

The upgrade option is not presented even though there is a version of Solaris software that can be upgraded on the system. 

Reason 1: The /var/sadm directory is a symbolic link or it is mounted from another file system.

Solution for Reason 1: Move the /var/sadm directory into the root (/) or /var file system.

Reason 2: The /var/sadm/softinfo/INST_RELEASE file is missing.

Solution for Reason 2: Create a new INST_RELEASE file by using the following template:

OS=Solaris
VERSION=2.x 
REV=0

where x is the version of Solaris software on the system.

The upgrade fails for reasons beyond your control, such as a power failure or a network connection failure, and the system is left in an unbootable state.

1. Reboot the system from the Solaris 8 Installation English SPARC Platform Edition or Solaris 8 Installation Multilingual SPARC Platform Edition CD, or from the network.

2. Choose the upgrade option for installation.

Solaris Web Start determines if the system has been partially upgraded and will continue the upgrade where it left off. 

The upgrade fails because the installation program could not mount a file system. During an upgrade, the installation program attempts to mount all the file systems listed in the system's /etc/vfstab file on the root (/) file system being upgraded. If the installation program cannot mount a file system, it fails and exits.

Make sure all file systems in the system's /etc/vfstab file can be mounted. Comment out any file systems in the /etc/vfstab file that can't be mounted or that might cause the problem, so the installation program doesn't try to mount them during the upgrade.

Any system-based file systems that contain software to be upgraded (for example, /usr) cannot be commented out.

There is not enough space on the system for the upgrade. See if you can fix this problem without using auto-layout to rearrange space, by checking the following reasons for the space problem:

Reason 1: Since the automounter is not active during an upgrade, the installation program installs any package's files or directories that are symbolic links to automounted file systems. If a symbolic link is overwritten, the upgrade might fail because of insufficient disk space.

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

Solution for Reason 1: During the upgrade, delete software packages that will create files or directories on the automounted file systems. Then the installation program does not overwrite the symbolic link with the files or directories in the package.

Reason 2: New software has been added to the software group that you are upgrading or some of the existing software has increased in size. During an upgrade, the installation program installs any new software that is part of the software group previously installed on the system, and it also upgrades any existing packages on the system.

Solution for Reason 2: During the upgrade, delete software packages that are installed in the file systems that need more space. Especially look for any new packages that have been added to the Solaris software that you don't need.