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Solaris Advanced Installation Guide

Chapter 4 Upgrading a System

Ways to Upgrade a System

When you try to install a new version of Solaris software on an existing Solaris system, the installation program allows you to choose one of the following options to copy the Solaris software to disk:

This chapter mainly focuses on using the upgrade option.

Note -

The upgrade option is not available for 4.1.x systems. Because you must use the initial installation option, backing up your data is critical. See the Solaris Transition Guide for information.

Upgrade With Disk Space Reallocation

The upgrade option in the Solaris Interactive Installation program provides the ability to reallocate disk space if the current file systems don't have enough space for the upgrade. By default, an auto-layout feature tries to determine how to reallocate the disk space so the upgrade can succeed. If auto-layout can't determine how to reallocate disk space, you must specify which file systems can be moved or changed and run auto-layout again.

If you're creating an upgrade profile and the current file systems don't have enough space for the upgrade, you can use the backup_media and layout_constraint keywords to reallocate disk space. See "Reallocating Disk Space for an Upgrade" for an example of how to use the backup_media and layout_constraint keywords in a profile.

Frequently Asked Questions About Upgrading

What to Do Before Upgrading

  1. Consider the following information before you upgrade an existing system to the new Solaris release.

    • Check the Solaris Release Notes to see if:

      • There is any Solaris software that you use that is no longer provided in the new release.

      • Any of the changes or enhancements to the Solaris software will affect anything that you currently do.

      • You need any of the available patches. The most current patch list is provided by SunSolve on the Internet: http://sunsolve.sun.com/

    • Make sure the system is supported by the new Solaris release.

    • Make sure the third-party or co-packaged software you are using will run on the new Solaris release.

    • To avoid upgrade problems or loss of data, check the documentation of the third-party or co-packaged software you are running before upgrading.

      Caution - Caution -

      Table 4-1 provides a list of known software requiring additional instructions before upgrading. Because this list is not complete, always check the documentation of the third-party or co-packaged software you are running before upgrading.

      Table 4-1 Software Requiring Additional Instructions Before Upgrading

      Software 

      Problem Summary 

      Solstice DiskSuite(TM) 

      Metadevices cannot be upgraded automatically. For instructions, see Appendix B, "Upgrading to Other Solaris Versions," in the Solstice DiskSuite Reference Guide.

      Prestoserve 

      If you start the upgrade process by shutting down the system using init 0, you can lose data. See the Prestoserve documentation for shutdown instructions.

  2. Back up your system.

    Always back up an existing system before upgrading a system. The safest backup to perform is a level 0 dump of all the file systems connected to the system being upgraded. If you do not have an established backup procedure, see the System Administration Guide, Volume I.

  3. If the configuration information for your system isn't preconfigured (see Chapter 6, Preconfiguring System Configuration Information), use the following table to find the needed system configuration information that you will be prompted for:

    Configuration Information 

    Example 

    Command for Finding Information 

    System's name (host name) 

    crater

    uname -n

    Primary network interface 

    le0

    ifconfig -a

    IP address 

    129.221.2.1

    ypmatch host_name hosts

    or 

    nismatch host_name hosts.org_dir

    Domain name 

    chandy.West.Arp.COM

    domainname

    System part of subnet? 

     

    Check for existing subnet in /etc/netmasks

    Netmask 

    255.255.255.0

    more /etc/netmasks

  4. Make sure you have a form of backup media ready for the upgrade (if necessary).

    If some of the Solaris-based files systems (for example, root (/), /usr) on the system to be upgraded don't have much space left, you'll probably need to reallocate disk space during the upgrade. If so, the Solaris Interactive Installation program prompts you for a backup location, which is required to temporarily back up file systems that need to be reallocated.

    You can use one of the following types of backup media:

    • Local file system - You can use a local file system on the system to be upgraded. However, the local file system can't be used to help reallocate disk space during the upgrade. You'll need to provide the installation program with either the file system's block device path or the file system's mount point name.

    • Local tape - Make sure a tape drive is connected to the system to be upgraded and the system knows about the tape drive. You'll need to provide the installation program with the character (raw) device path for the diskette.

    • Local diskette - Make sure the system to be upgraded has a diskette drive. You'll need to provide the installation program with the character (raw) device path for the diskette drive.

    • Remote file system (NFS) - If you want to use an NFS file system on a remote system, the system to be upgraded must be on the same network as the NFS file system, and the NFS file system must be shared properly. You'll need to provide the installation program with the name or IP address of the NFS server and the absolute path to the NFS file system.

    • Remote system (rsh) - If you want to use a directory on a remote system that can be reached by a remote shell (rsh), the system to be upgraded must be on the same network as the remote system, and it must have access to the remote system through the remote system's .rhosts file. You'll need to provide the installation program with the name of the remote system, the user login, and the absolute path to the directory.

What to Do After Upgrading

After the system finishes upgrading, the installation program leaves it at the superuser prompt in single-user mode.

  1. Clean up the system if necessary.

    When you use the upgrade option, the Solaris installation program merges local software modifications of the existing system with the new software; however, in some cases, the merge is not possible. Refer to the following file to see if you need to fix any of the local modifications that the upgrade could not preserve:

    /a/var/sadm/system/data/upgrade_cleanup

    Caution - Caution -

    Make sure you look at all the information in the upgrade_cleanup file. Your system may not boot if you fail to fix the unpreserved local modifications.

  2. Reboot the system.


    # reboot

  3. If you upgraded an OS server, upgrade clients with different platforms and platform groups.

    If you've upgraded a heterogeneous OS server, clients of that server are automatically upgraded only if their platform (x86 or SPARC) and platform group (for example, sun4m or i386) is supported by the Solaris CD. For example, if you upgrade a SPARC server using the SPARC Solaris CD, only SPARC clients that share the platform group on the CD are upgraded.

    To upgrade clients with different platforms and platform groups, you must use the server_upgrade command. See the server_upgrade(1M) man page for more instructions.