Local Patch Server

Starting with Solaris 8, client systems can use Patch Manager to access patches and patch data to perform patch analysis and maintenance. This patch data is provided by a patch source. The patch source can be a patch server, such as the Sun patch server or a local patch server, or a local collection of patches.

If you use a local patch server on your intranet, you can serve patches to your local systems and minimize the Internet traffic between your systems and the Sun patch server. Such a local patch server caches any patches that are downloaded from its patch source.

Using a local patch server addresses security concerns as well as system analysis and patch download performance issues.

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.

The system you choose to act as the local patch server must be running at least Solaris 9 and have at least the Entire Solaris Software Group installed. This system must also have the Sun Patch Manager 2.0 software installed.

For information about configuring a Solaris 9 system to act as local patch server on your intranet, see ``Configuring Your Local Patch Server by Using the Command-Line Interface'' in the Sun Patch Manager 2.0 Administration Guide for the Solaris 9 Operating System.