Solaris 8 Advanced Installation Guide

Upgrading

An upgrade merges the new version of the Solaris operating environment with the existing files on the system's disk. An upgrade saves as many modifications as possible that you have made to the previous version of the Solaris operating environment.

You can upgrade any system that is running the Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6, or Solaris 7 software. You can upgrade to a Solaris 8 Update release if your system is running the Solaris 8 software. Type the following command to see the version of Solaris software that is running on your system:

$ uname -a

You can upgrade the Solaris operating environment by using the following installation methods.

Note –

Use the smosservice patch to upgrade diskless clients. For detailed instructions, refer to Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement or to smosservice(1M).

Table 8–1 SPARC: Solaris Upgrade Methods


Current Solaris Operating Environment	Solaris Upgrade Methods
Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7, Solaris 8	Solaris Web Start program Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program Custom JumpStart method

Table 8–2 x86: Solaris Upgrade Methods


Current Solaris Operating Environment	Solaris Upgrade Methods
Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7	Installing from DVD media or a net installation image: Solaris Web Start program Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program Custom JumpStart method Installing from CD media: Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program Custom JumpStart method
Solaris 8	Installing from DVD or CD media or a net installation image: Solaris Web Start program Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program Custom JumpStart method

You cannot upgrade your system to a software group that is not installed on the system. For example, if you previously installed the End User Solaris Software Group on your system, you cannot use the upgrade option to upgrade to the Developer Solaris Software Group. However, during the upgrade you can add software to the system that is not part of the currently installed software group.