Configuring Your Patch Management Environment (Task Map)

Use the smpatch command to perform the configuration tasks in this section. For the list of configuration parameters you can set, see Setting Patch Manager Configuration Parameters and the smpatch(1M) man page.

By default, the patch management environment is configured to obtain patches directly from the Sun patch server. Therefore, you must customize your environment if your system does one or more of the following:

• Connects to the Internet by means of a web proxy

• Requires a user name and password to obtain patches

• Obtains patches from a patch source other than the Sun patch server

The following table identifies the tasks that you might perform when you configure the patch management environment for your system.

The following procedures and examples show how to run the local mode smpatch command. Remote mode smpatch commands and options are not supported in Solaris 8. See the smpatch(1M) man page.

How to Specify Your Web Proxy

If your system connects to the Internet through a web proxy, you must provide information about the web proxy to Patch Manager.

Steps

1. Obtain the host name and the port of the web proxy from your network administrator.

2. Become an appropriately authorized user or assume a role that includes the Software Installation profile or the solaris.admin.patchmgr.* authorization.

   The System Administrator profile includes the appropriate profiles. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

3. Specify the web proxy.

   # smpatch set patchpro.proxy.host=web-proxy-server \ patchpro.proxy.port=port

4. (Optional) If the web proxy requires authentication, supply the user name and password.

   Obtain this information from your network administrator.

   1. Specify the user name to be used for authentication.

      # smpatch set patchpro.proxy.user=web-proxy-user

   2. Specify the proxy user's password by having smpatch prompt you for the password.

      # smpatch set patchpro.proxy.passwd Web Proxy User Password: web-proxy-password

      Setting the password in this way ensures that the password you type does not appear as clear text in the following:

      • Standard output

      • Output of the ps command

      • Your shell history file

How to Specify a User Name and Password With Which to Obtain Patches

If you needed a user name and password to obtain patches from the Sun patch server, you must specify them for Patch Manager.

If you do not have an account on SunSolve, register for one at http://sunsolve.sun.com.

As of September 2004, a user name and password are not required to obtain patches from the Sun patch server.

Steps

1. Become an appropriately authorized user or assume a role that includes the Software Installation profile or the solaris.admin.patchmgr.* authorization.

   The System Administrator profile includes the appropriate profiles. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. Specify your user name.

   # smpatch set patchpro.sun.user=user-name

3. Specify the password for your user by having smpatch prompt you for the password.

   # smpatch set patchpro.sun.passwd Sun User Password: password

   Setting the password in this way ensures that the password you type does not appear as clear text in the following:

   • Standard output

   • Output of the ps command

   • Your shell history file

How to Specify the Source of Patches

Your system can obtain patches from the following sources:

• Sun patch server

• Local patch collection

• Local patch server on your intranet

By default, your system obtains patches from the Sun patch server.

The local patch server is an optional Sun Patch Manager 2.0 feature that you can obtain at no charge if you are a contract customer in the SunSpectrum program.

For information about becoming a contract customer or obtaining the local patch server distribution, go to http://sunsolve.sun.com and click Patch Portal.

If you want your system to obtain patches from a local patch server, you must first configure one. Since a local patch server must be running at least Solaris 9, see ``Configuring Your Local Patch Server (Task Map)'' in the Sun Patch Manager 2.0 Administration Guide for the Solaris 9 Operating System.

Steps

1. Become an appropriately authorized user or assume a role that includes the Software Installation profile or the solaris.admin.patchmgr.* authorization.

   The System Administrator profile includes the appropriate profiles. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.

2. Specify the URL of the patch source.

   • For the Sun patch server, type:

     # smpatch unset patchpro.patch.source

   • For a collection of patches in a directory, use this URL format:

     # smpatch set patchpro.patch.source=file:/directory-name

     Note that directory-name can be a local file system or a remotely mounted file system.

     See Example 51 for examples of using the file:/ URL format.

   • (Optional) If you are using a Solaris 9 local patch server, use this URL format:

     # smpatch set patchpro.patch.source=http://server-name:3816/solaris/

Example 51 Specifying the Source of Patches

The following example shows how to configure a system to obtain patches from the /export/patches directory on the local system.

# smpatch set patchpro.patch.source=file:/export/patches

The following example shows how to configure a system to obtain patches from the /export/patches directory on the remote system called jupiter.

# smpatch set patchpro.patch.source=file:/net/jupiter/export/patches

The following example shows how to configure a system to obtain patches from a CD mounted from the first CD-ROM drive of the local system.

# smpatch set patchpro.patch.source=file:/cdrom/cdrom0

What to Do Next

After you specify a patch source, your client system is ready to manage patches. See Managing Patches (Task Map).