Tuning Your Patch Management Environment (Task Map)

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

Use the smpatch command to tune your patch management environment. For the list of configuration parameters you can set, see Setting Patch Manager Configuration Parameters and the smpatch(1M) man page.

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 View the Configuration Settings for Your Patch Management Environment

You can check the configuration settings of your patch management environment to help diagnose problems or to understand your system's patch-related settings.

The configuration settings output shows an entry for all configuration parameters. Each entry appears on a line by itself.

When you list all settings, each entry includes three fields: the parameter name, the value you have assigned, and its default value. The fields are separated by one or more tab characters.

The following values have special meaning:

• - means that no value is set

• "" means that the value is the null string

• \- means that the value is -

• \"" means that the value is "" (two double quotes)

In addition to these special values, these special characters might appear in the output:

• \t for a tab

• \n for a newline

• \\ for a backslash

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. List the configuration settings for your patch management environment.

   • To list all settings, type:

     # smpatch get

   • To list the values for one or more parameters, type:

     # smpatch get parameter-name...

Example 57 Viewing Configuration Settings for Your Patch Management Environment

The following example shows how to list all the configuration settings for your patch management environment.

# smpatch get
patchpro.backout.directory  -      ""
patchpro.download.directory -      /var/sadm/spool
patchpro.install.types      -      rebootafter:reconfigafter:standard
patchpro.patch.source       -      https://updateserver.sun.com/solaris/
patchpro.patchset           -      patchdb
patchpro.proxy.host         -      ""
patchpro.proxy.passwd       ****   ****
patchpro.proxy.port         -      8080
patchpro.proxy.user         -      ""
patchpro.sun.passwd         ****   ****
patchpro.sun.user           -      ""

The following example shows how to list the configuration settings for the patchpro.download.directory and patchpro.patchset parameters.

# smpatch get patchpro.download.directory patchpro.patchset
/var/sadm/spool
patchdb

How to Change the Policy for Applying Patches

If you want to configure your system to apply some nonstandard patches during an update operation, you must change the policy for applying patches.

By default, only patches that are associated with the standard, rebootafter, or reconfigafter properties can be applied by an update operation.

If you change your policy from the default, Sun makes no guarantees that the patches apply correctly to your system or that your system will function properly.

For more information about the policy for applying patches, see Customizing the Policy for Applying Patches.

Steps

1. Determine the types of nonstandard patch properties that you want to apply during an update.

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 new policy.

   # smpatch set patchpro.install.types=patch-property

   patch-property is a list of patch properties each separated by a colon (:). For the list of valid patch properties, see Customizing the Policy for Applying Patches.

Example 58 Changing the Policy for Applying Patches

This example shows how to set the policy for a system. The new policy also includes patches that require that the system be rebooted immediately for the patch to take effect.

# smpatch set \
patchpro.install.types=standard:rebootafter:reconfigafter:rebootimmediate

How to Change the Patch Set

You can choose to analyze your system based on different sets of Sun patches, such as the Recommended Patch Cluster. By default, you use the patch set All Available Patches.

As of September 2004, the only patch sets available from Sun are All Available Patches and Recommended Patch Cluster.

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 patch set to use.

   • To base your analysis on all patches, type:

     # smpatch set patchpro.patchset=patchdb

   • To base your analysis on recommended patches, type:

     # smpatch set patchpro.patchset=recommended

   • To base your analysis on another patch set, type:

     # smpatch set patchpro.patchset=patch-set

How to Change Directory Locations

Patch Manager is configured to use these default locations for storing patch-related data:

• Download directory Directory in which patches are stored when they are downloaded from the patch source. This is also the directory from which patches are applied. Patches remain in this directory until they are successfully applied. The default location is /var/sadm/spool.

• Backout data directory Directory in which data that enables a patch to be backed out is stored. By default, backout data is stored in the default locations used by patchadd. This is the save directory of each package that was modified by the patch. For example, if a patch modifies the SUNWcsr package, the backout data for that package is stored in the /var/sadm/pkg/SUNWcsr/save directory.

If you run out of available disk space in the default locations, specify different locations for these directories.

If you specify a different directory, you must manually create that directory before performing any patch operations.

Steps

1. Determine the new locations for the directories.

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 a new directory, dir-name, for any of the patch-related directories.

   • To specify a different download directory, type:

     # smpatch set patchpro.download.directory=dir-name

     where dir-name is /export/patches, for example.

   • To specify a different backout directory, type:

     # smpatch set patchpro.backout.directory=dir-name

     where dir-name is /export/patches/backout, for example.

How to Reset Configuration Parameters to the Default Values

You must reset parameter values explicitly. You cannot use the smpatch command to reset all parameter values at once.

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. Reset a configuration parameter for your patch management environment to its default value.

   # smpatch unset parameter-name...

Example 59 Resetting Configuration Parameters to the Default Values

The following example shows how to configure a system to obtain patches from the Sun patch server instead of from a different patch source.

# smpatch unset patchpro.patch.source

The following example shows how to reset the patch download directory and the backout directory locations to the default values.

# smpatch unset patchpro.download.directory patchpro.backout.directory