Sun Patch Manager 2.0 Administration Guide for the Solaris 8 Operating System

This administration guide describes the Sun^TM Patch Manager software product, henceforth referred to as Patch Manager. Administrators can use this book to learn how Patch Manager works and how to manage patches on one or more systems that run the Solaris^TM Operating System.

The Patch Manager application can analyze systems to determine the appropriate patches to apply, download the patches, apply them, and optionally remove them.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter1, Managing Solaris Patches (Overview) provides an overview of Solaris patches.
Chapter2, New Patch Manager Features (Overview) describes the new Patch Manager features.
Chapter3, Sun Patch Manager Concepts (Overview) describes Patch Manager concepts.
Chapter4, Getting Started With Sun Patch Manager (Overview) describes how to get started using Patch Manager in your patch management environment.
Chapter5, Managing Solaris Patches by Using Sun Patch Manager (Tasks) describes how to use the Patch Manager command-line interface (smpatch) to manage patches on your Solaris systems.
AppendixA, Troubleshooting (Reference) contains troubleshooting information.
Glossary is a list of terms used in this book and their definitions.

Related Books

Sun Patch Manager 2.0 Release Notes for the Solaris 8 Operating System

Read this document for information about bugs and issues that pertain to the installation, configuration, and use of Sun Patch Manager.
System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Read this book for information about using the patchadd command to apply patches to Solaris systems.

Accessing Sun Documentation Online

The docs.sun.com^SM Web site enables you to access Sun technical documentation online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or subject. The URL is http://docs.sun.com.

Ordering Sun Documentation

Sun Microsystems offers select product documentation in print form. For a list of documents and how to order them, see Buy printed documentation at http://docs.sun.com.

Typographic Conventions

The following table describes the typographic changes that are used in this book.

Table P1 Typographic Conventions


Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
`AaBbCc123`	The names of commands, files, and directories, and onscreen computer output	Edit your `.login` file. Use `ls -a` to list all files. `machine_name% you have mail.`
`AaBbCc123`	What you type, contrasted with onscreen computer output	`machine_name%` `su` `Password:`
`AaBbCc123`	Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type `rm` `filename`.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new terms, or terms to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this.

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

Table P2 Shell Prompts


Shell	Prompt
C shell prompt	`machine_name%`
C shell superuser prompt	`machine_name#`
Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt	`$`
Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt	`#`