Solaris Patch Management Tools for Signed Patches (System Administration Guide: Basic Administration)

System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Solaris Patch Management Tools for Signed Patches

Solaris Patch Manager Base Version 1.0, which is the smpatch command, is used to manage signed patches on systems running the Solaris 2.6, 7, and 8 releases. You can use the smpatch command with PatchPro 2.1 to manage signed patches on systems running the Solaris 9 release.

Both signed patch tools provide the following capabilities:

They analyze patch requirements and download signed patches on the local system only. Similar to PatchPro Expert, this tool reads the /etc/patchpro_hdw.conf file to determine what hardware is installed. Other than this feature, the two tools are entirely independent.
They apply one or more signed patches in JAR format, which also authenticates the patch or patches to be added.
They remove one or more patches, which checks patch dependencies before removing the patch or patches.
You can set up a default patch policy that allows the installation of various patch types such as clientroot, clientusr, rebootafter, or standard patches.
If you upgrade to the Solaris 9 release, the smpatch command is automatically upgraded to the lastest version.

The patchadd command is still available to add unsigned patches to systems running the Solaris 2.6, 7, 8, and 9 releases. You cannot use Patch Manager Base Version 1.0 to add unsigned patches on these systems.

Restrictions When Using Solaris 2.6, 7, or 8 Signed Patch Tools

The Solaris 2.6, 7, and 8 signed patch tools limitations are:

You cannot install signed patches to alternate boot environments nor to diskless clients.
You cannot install patches that do not have a digital signature.
You cannot install patches with the rebootimmediate, reconfigimmediate, or nonconforming attributes.

Package Requirements for Solaris Patch Management Tools

When you install the patch management tools, several Solaris packages are added to your system, including some Java packages, that are required for the tools to run. In addition, several packages must be installed on your system before you can install the patch tools. These packages are as follows:

Solaris 2.6 release – Core cluster plus the SUNWmfrun, SUNWlibC, and SUNWxcu4 packages.
Solaris 7 and 8 releases – Core cluster plus the SUNWmfrun and SUNWlibC packages.
Solaris 9 release – Developer cluster (SUNWprog) is required if you are using the Solaris Management Console Patches Tool with PatchPro 2.1.

For information on verifying whether the required Solaris packages are installed on your system, see How to Verify Package Requirements for Signed Patch Tools.

Downloading the Solaris Patch Management Tools

You can download the Solaris patch management tools from the following location:

https://www.sun.com/PatchPro

Follow the links for your Solaris release and select the appropriate tar file.

Selecting the Best Method for Adding Signed Patches

After you have installed a patch management tool, you can use several different methods of downloading or adding a signed patch or patches to your system. Use the following table to determine which method is best for your needs.

Command or Tool	Description	For More Information
`smpatch update`	Use this command to identify required patches, and then, automatically download and add the patches to your system.	smpatch(1M)
`smpatch analyze`	Use this command to identify required patches and display a list of required patch IDs for your system. Then, you could use the `smpatch` `download` and `smpatch` `add` commands to download and add the patches to your system.	`smpatch(1M)`
`smpatch download` and `smpatch add`	Use these commands to download and add a patch or patches to your system. These commands also download and add any prerequisite patches.	Examples—Downloading and Adding a Signed Patch on a Solaris System (`smpatch` Command)
`ftp` and `smpatch add`	Use the `ftp` command to transfer a patch or patches to your system. Then, use the `smpatch add` command to add the patch or patches to your system.	Examples—Downloading and Adding a Signed Patch on a Solaris System (`smpatch` Command)
Solaris Management Console Patches Tool	For Solaris 9 systems only – Use this tool when you want the convenience of a GUI tool to manage signed patches.	Solaris Management Console online help