Q40: What is the product registry and why should I care about it?

Answer: The product registry is a repository where all packages are registered when they are installed. The registry contains information such as installation location, product version, and component dependencies. All installed packages have entries in the product registry. The Solaris product registry provides a graphical interface.

Before installation, make a copy of your product registry so that you can restore it if installation fails. The product registry is located here:

• Solaris OS: /var/sadm/install/productregistry

• Linux: /var/opt/sun/install/productregistry

• HP-UX: /var/adm/sw/productregistry

When packages are removed by the uninstaller or the package remove commands (Solaris pkgrm, Linux rpm -e, or HP-UX swremove), those package entries are deleted from the product registry. However, you might encounter a situation where your product registry has not been fully updated. This situation causes a subsequent installation to fail because those components are still considered to be on the host (they are still in the product registry). In this case, update the product registry to correctly reflect the packages that are actually installed on your host.

In rare cases, the installer allows installation to proceed but only installs and registers some of the packages. You might not discover this fact until you try to start the components. In this case, run the uninstaller allowing it to update the registry. If the registry is still not correct after uninstalling the Java ES components, the registry might be corrupted. In this case, restore the original product registry and perform a new Java ES installation.