System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Tools for Managing Software Packages

The tools for adding and removing software packages from a system after the Solaris release is installed on a system are the following:

Add, Remove, and Display Software Package Information With This Tool	Additional Features
The Solaris Web Start program	Launch an installer to add products included in the Solaris 9 media pack. You cannot add individual software packages.
Solaris Product Registry	Launch an installer to add, remove or display software product information. Use Product Registry to remove or display information about software products that were originally installed by using the Solaris Web Start program or the Solaris `pkgadd` command.
Package commands (`pkgadd`, `pkgrm`, `pkginfo`)	Incorporate these commands into scripts, set up optional files to avoid user interaction or perform special checks, and copy software packages to spool directories.
Admintool	View the online help that provides general information on using this GUI tool. It's probably easiest for you to use Admintool to add and remove software if you are: Unfamiliar with software package naming conventions Uncomfortable using command line options Managing software only on one system at time

The following table describes the software management tasks that you can perform with the GUI tools rather than the pkgadd and pkgrm commands.

Table 22–1 Software Management Capabilities


Software Management Tasks	Performed With Admintool, Solaris Product Registry, Web Start program?
Add and remove software packages on standalone or server systems	Yes
Easily view all installed software	Yes
Easily view and select packages from an installation media	Yes
Add packages to a spool directory	No
Eliminate user interaction by using an administration file	No