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Solaris 8 Advanced Installation Guide

Analyzing the Patches

The Patch Analyzer performs an analysis on your system to determine which (if any) patches will be removed by upgrading to a Solaris 8 Update. The Patch Analyzer is available as a script to run manually or as part of the Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program.

To Run the analyze_patches Script

Note -

To run the analyze_patches script, the installed system and the Solaris 8 Software Update CD (or net image) must be accessible by the script either through NFS or locally mounted media.

  1. Change to the Misc directory:

    • SPARC: If the image is located on locally mounted media, type:


      # cd /cdrom/sol_8_Update_sparc/Solaris_8/Misc

      where Update is the actual Update identifier (399, 599, or maintenance_update_4, for example).

    • IA: If the image is located on locally mounted media, type:


      # cd /cdrom/sol_8_Update_ia/s2/Solaris_8/Misc

      where Update is the actual Update identifier (399, 599, or maintenance_update_4, for example).

    • If the image is available through NFS, type:


      # cd /NFS_mount_directory/Solaris_8/Misc

  2. Run the analyze_patches script:


    # ./analyze_patches

    You can use the options listed in Table 5-1 on the command line.

    Table 5-1 Command-Line Options for analyze_patches

    Option 

    Description 

    -R rootdir

    rootdir is the root of the installed system. It defaults to /.

    -N netdir

    netdir is the path to the root of the OS image to be installed. It defaults to /cdrom/cdrom0. It should point to the directory containing the Solaris_8 directory. You must use this option if running the patch_analyzer from an NFS mount point.

    -D databasedir

    If the script is invoked from a directory other than the /Misc directory in the OS image, the program will not find the database it uses for patch analysis. Use the -D option to supply the path to the database. Without this database, which is located in /Solaris_8/Misc/database on the OS image, the script does not work properly.

To Review the Patch Analyzer Output

After performing the analysis, use these steps to review the output.

  1. Review the output of the analyze_patches script.

    • The Patch Analyzer provides a list of patches that will be removed, downgraded, accumulated, or obsoleted by other patches. Patch accumulations are similar to patch upgrades. The accumulated patch is removed and its fixes are delivered by a new patch. Messages such as the following are shown:


      Patch 105644-03 will be removed.
Patch 105925 will be downgraded from -02 to -01.
Patch 105776-01 will be accumulated/obsoleted by patch 105181-05.

    • If the Patch Analyzer program does not provide a list, no action is taken against any patches previously installed on your system.

  2. Are the patch replacements and deletions acceptable?

    • If yes, upgrade the system.

      Upgrading a system is described in detail in "SPARC: Upgrading a System" and "IA: Upgrading a System".

    • If no, do not upgrade the system.

      Instead of upgrading, you can use the Solaris 8 Maintenance Update to apply only patches to your system.

      Note -

      The Solaris 8 Maintenance Update is located on the Solaris 8 Maintenance Update CD, which is included with the Solaris 8 Update release. Instructions for applying patches are provided in the Maintenance Update Release Notes.