Chapter 5 Managing Packages, Patches, and RPMs

The N1 System Manager enables you to perform the following OS update management tasks:

• To Copy an OS Update

• To Copy a Custom OS Update

• To Load an OS Update on a Server or a Server Group

• To List the Available OS Updates

• To List the OS Updates Installed on a Managed Server

• To Delete an OS Update

• To Uninstall an OS Update From a Managed Server

• To Uninstall an OS Update on a Server Group

Introduction to Managing OS Updates

After you have installed an OS on a managed server, the N1 System Manager enables you to install OS updates. These OS updates consist of Solaris packages and patches and Linux RPMs.

The N1 System Manager does not enable you to install updates or patches for the Windows operating system. You must update the Windows operating system on a managed server outside of the Sun N1 System Manager environment.

Installing OS updates on servers for the first time involves the following four-step process when you use the N1 System Manager:

1. Downloading the OS update.

2. Copying the OS update to the N1 System Manager.

   The N1 System Manager must have system access to the OS update before the update can be installed on the managed servers.

   By using the create update command, you can copy an OS update from a web site or an accessible file system on the management server. After an OS update is copied, you can display the update in the browser interface's Task Shortcuts pane, or you can use the show update command.

3. Verifying that the OS update was copied by displaying the Shortcut in the browser interface or by using the show update command.

4. Installing the OS update on the appropriate managed servers by using the browser interface or the load server or load group commands. The managed servers must have the base management feature supported.

OS update installations behave differently for every operating system because the native package installation mechanisms are used. For example, if a Solaris package is already installed on the target server, the installation might succeed without reporting an error. However, this same scenario for a Linux RPM results in an error message indicating that the package is already installed.

See OS Updates in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Troubleshooting Guide for troubleshooting information.

The following graphic describes the order in which these tasks should be completed.

Installing Custom OS Updates

The N1 System Manager also enables you to install OS updates that don't use the standard patch, package, or RPM update commands, such as .tgz, .tar, .Z, or .zip files. Examples of files you can install include:

• Complete software packages or libraries

• Custom RPM files or variants of RPM installs not supported by N1 System Manager

• Executable images or scripts

• Image files, such as .jpg or .gif files

• Text files

The overall process to copy and install standard OS updates using N1 System Manager is the same for custom OS updates, with the following exceptions:

• When copying custom OS updates to the management server using the create update command, the osupdatetype=other attribute is required with the create update command and an installation script is mandatory.

• The OS update's metadata is not automatically extracted during the copy, so you must provide the description, vendor, and version attribute values or they will be empty.

• When installing a custom OS update, the native OS update mechanisms are not used. Instead, the installation script is used and you are responsible for making sure it works properly.

• You cannot use the unload update command to uninstall a custom OS update, since there is no support to specify an uninstall script when copying the OS update.

• When installing Solaris packages, the pkgadd command in the installation script must explicitly specify the admin file to use for the install. The admin file's name will be source-filename.admin, where source-filename is the name of the actual source file used in the create update command.

Installation Script Overview

When copying an OS update using the create update command, you can specify an installation script with the installscript attribute. Installation scripts are used to install an OS update and are available for the following scenarios:

• A standard OS update that consists of one or more Solaris packages in a tar file, which is known as a package bundle. An installation script can be used in this instance to resolve dependencies. Note that a Solaris package can be delivered in .tar format without the need for an installation script.

• A custom OS update that requires an installation script to install the OS update on a managed server.

The following information provides instructions on how to create a successful installation script for either standard or custom OS update installations:

• The installation script file must be able to run under the Bourne shell (/bin/sh).

• During the installation process with the load update command, both the installation script file and the OS update source file are copied to /tmp directory on the target server. The installation script file is then executed using the Bourne shell with the full path to the source file as the sole argument, instead of the platform's usual native update commands (rpm, pkgadd, or patchadd).

• For Solaris packages, N1 System Manager always provides a default admin file if the admin file is not specified. The admin file is copied to /tmp directory on the target server, and the admin file's name will be source-filename.admin, where source-filename is the name of the actual source file used in the create update command. Therefore, you can refer to this admin file in the installation script if needed.

• Any output from the installation to stdout or stderr is captured into a single string and displayed in the job detail. If the installation script exits with a non-zero value, it is assumed that the installation failed and the failed status of the task is recorded and displayed.

• After the installation of the OS update is complete, the installation script should remove any files that it creates.

• If the installation script extracts an OS update, the script should create a new subdirectory (for example, in /tmp) and extract the OS update into that subdirectory. Once the installation completes, the installation script should remove the subdirectory.

• By default, the installation script executes in the invoker's home directory.

• The installation script should refer to the OS update source files by full path names in order to avoid any confusion.

Installing Multiple Solaris Packages

When you install a standard OS update that contains multiple Solaris packages in a tar file, follow these guidelines:

• You can specify an optional installation script to control the installation, such as the installation order of the packages.

• If you don't specify an installation script, the packages in the bundle are installed without any dependency checking and there is no guaranteed installation order.

• The metadata from the first package is used to populate the OS update metadata. Metadata from the other packages are ignored and you are responsible to maintain this information.

• You can attempt to uninstall the OS update with the unload update command, but no dependency checking is performed and the uninstall may fail.

When you install a custom OS update that contains multiple Solaris packages in a tar file, follow these guidelines:

• You must provide an installation script used to perform the installation.

• The installation script must determine the order of the package installations, including all dependences of the packages in the bundle.

• You must provide the package metadata when copying the package bundle to the N1 System Manager. If an OS update consists of multiple packages, you can specify only one set of metadata.

• You can attempt to uninstall the OS update with the unload update command, but this may not work and is not supported for custom OS updates.

Managing OS Updates

Managing OS updates includes such tasks as copying OS updates, loading OS updates on a server or server group, listing OS updates, deleting OS updates, and uninstalling OS updates.

To Copy an OS Update

This procedure describes how to copy an OS update to the N1 System Manager. Once an OS update is copied, you can use the command line or the browser interface to install the OS update on a managed server.

Before You Begin

Ensure that the OS update is available to the management server on the local file system, a network accessible file, or a web site. You can copy OS updates in the following formats:

• *.rpm – Linux RPM

• *.pkg– Solaris package (a *.pkg file can be with or without the file extension and it must be in a valid datastream format)

• *.tar – Single or multiple Solaris packages

• *.zip – Solaris patch.

The *.tar file must match the top-level directory name after the tar expansion. For example, if the tar file is SUNWstade.tar, the top-level directory of the tar expansion must be SUNWstade.

If you use the installscriptfile parameter when creating an OS update, consider loading the OS update on a single server to test whether the script is working correctly before loading on a large server group.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Copy the OS update to the N1 System Manager.

   N1-ok> create update update file file ostype ostype [adminfile adminfile] [responsefile responsefile] [installscriptfile installscriptfile]

   Use the tab completion help to find out the valid ostype values.

   See create update in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.

3. Confirm that the OS update copy has been successful.

Example 5–1 Copying an OS Update Through the Command Line

The following example command shows how to copy an OS update named RH3_update. where the ostype is Red Hat Enterprise Linux, AS 3.0 and the location of the update file is /tmp/test-i386.rpm.

N1-ok> create update RH3_update file /tmp/test-i386.rpm ostype=redhat-as3

Example 5–2 Copying an OS Update With a Package Install Script Through the Command Line

This example shows an executable Bourne shell (/bin/sh) package installation script.

#!/bin/sh
echo "This is from the install script:"
echo "pkgadd -n -a /tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg.admin -d /tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg SUNWtest1 SUNWtest2"
pkgadd -n -a /tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg.admin -d /tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg SUNWtest1 SUNWtest2
exit $?

The following sample command shows how to associate the package installation script with the OS update files. This example assumes that you have copied the script to the management server's /tmp directory with the name install.sh.

N1-ok> create update combo file /tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg ostype solaris10x86 adminfile 
/tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg.admin installscriptfile /tmp/install.sh

In this example, /tmp/combo-pkgs.pkg contains two Solaris packages in the datastream format.

The script and the source files for the OS update are copied to the target server when the load server server-name update command is issued. The installation script file is executed by using the Bourne shell with the full path to the package file as the sole argument. If the adminfile subcommand is not specified, the default admin file is also copied to the target server and is renamed with .admin appended to the source file name.

Troubleshooting

Refer to OS Update Creation Fails in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Troubleshooting Guide for solutions to common errors.

See Also

To find out how to load an OS update, see To Load an OS Update on a Server or a Server Group

To Copy a Custom OS Update

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Copy the custom OS update to the N1 System Manager.

   N1-ok> create update update updatetype other file file ostype ostype installscriptfile installscriptfile [adminfile adminfile] [responsefile responsefile]

   ---

   Note –

   Even though the tab completion allows this argument anywhere in the create update command, the command will fail if updatetype other is not the first argument.

   ---

   Use the tab completion help to find out the valid ostype values.

   See create update in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.

Example 5–3 Copying an Custom OS Update With a Patch Installation Script Through the Command Line

This example shows an executable Bourne shell (/bin/sh) patch installation script.

#!/bin/sh
mkdir /tmp/layer
cd /tmp/layer
echo "untar the source:"
tar -xvf /tmp/mypatches.tar
echo "let's install mypatches:"
patchadd -M /tmp/layer 117448-01 117466-01
cd /tmp
rm -rf /tmp/layer
exit $?

The following sample command shows how to copy the patch installation script to N1 System Manager with the OS update files. This example assumes that you have copied the script to the management server's /tmp directory with the name install.sh.

N1-ok> create update mypatches updatetype other file /tmp/mypatches.tar ostype solaris10x86 installscriptfile 
/tmp/install.sh

In this example, /tmp/mypatches.tar contains the Solaris patches 117448–01 and 117466–01 in the datastream format.

The script and the source files for the OS update are copied to the target server when the load server server-name update command is issued. The script file is executed by using the Bourne shell with the full path to the package file as the sole argument.

To Load an OS Update on a Server or a Server Group

This procedure describes how to load an OS update by using the browser interface. The example that follows the procedure provides a command-line equivalent.

The following default admin file is used to install Solaris packages:

mail=root
instance=unique
partial=nocheck
runlevel=nocheck
idepend=nocheck
rdepend=nocheck
space=quit
setuid=nocheck
conflict=nocheck
action=nocheck
basedir=default
authentication=nocheck

The admin file is located in the /opt/sun/n1gc/etc directory on the management server.

Before You Begin

• Copy the OS update to the N1 System Manager. See To Copy an OS Update for details.

• Disable monitoring for the managed server. This action is required only if you want to avoid the fault notifications if the server reboots after an OS update installation. See To Disable Monitoring for a Managed Server or a Managed Server Group in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

• Ensure that the base management feature is added to the managed server. This action provides the necessary support to install OS updates. You can automatically add base management support by adding the OS monitoring feature. See To Add the OS Monitoring Feature in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

• Ensure that the package file name matches the name of the package. If the file name does not match that of the package and an adminfile is used to install the OS update, uninstallation will fail.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Browser Interface in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Navigate to the table that contains the server or the server group by performing one of the following actions:

   • Choose All Servers from the View Selector menu.

     The Servers table appears.

   • Choose Servers By Group from the View Selector menu.

     The Server Groups table appears.

3. Drag and drop the OS update icon from the Task Shortcuts pane to the server or the server group.

   The Load OS Update confirmation dialog box appears.

4. To begin loading the OS update on the selected servers, click the OK button.

   The dialog box closes.

5. Click the Jobs tab.

   The Jobs table appears with information about your Load OS Update job.

6. Verify that the installation was successful.

   N1-ok> show server server

Example 5–4 Loading an OS Update Through the Command Line

The following command shows you how to install an OS update on two servers by using the load command.

N1-ok> load server server1,server2 update SUNWn1gcsolsparcag 

See load server in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.

Example 5–5 Loading an OS Update on a Server Group Through the Command Line

The following command shows you how to install multiple OS updates on a server group by using the load command.

N1-ok> load group devgroup update SUNWupdate1,SUNWupdate2

See load group in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.

Troubleshooting

Solaris OS Update Deployment Failures in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Troubleshooting Guide

To List the Available OS Updates

This procedure describes how to list the available OS updates that have been copied to the N1 System Manager. These OS updates can be installed on a managed server.

The example that follows the procedure provides a command-line equivalent.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Browser Interface in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Click the System Dashboard tab.

   The Task Shortcuts pane appears.

3. Click the Expand/Collapse icon on the Update title bar.

   The Update list expands.

4. Click the Edit List button.

   The Edit List dialog box appears with the list of available updates.

Example 5–6 Listing Available OS Updates Through the Command Line

The following command shows you how to list all of the OS updates in the system.

N1-ok> show update all

To List the OS Updates Installed on a Managed Server

You can also use the browser interface Server Details page to view all of the OS updates that are installed on a server.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. List the OS updates that are installed on a managed server.

   N1-ok> show server server

   See show server in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details

To Delete an OS Update

This procedure describes how to delete an OS update from the N1 System Manager. This procedure does not delete an OS update from a managed server. See To Uninstall an OS Update From a Managed Server for details on that specific task.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Delete an OS update from the N1 System Manager.

   N1-ok> delete update update

   See delete update in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.

To Uninstall an OS Update From a Managed Server

Before You Begin

• Disable monitoring for the managed server. Disabling monitoring prevents the fault notifications if the server reboots after an OS update uninstallation. See To Disable Monitoring for a Managed Server or a Managed Server Group in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

• Ensure that the OS monitoring feature is supported on the managed server. This action provides the necessary support to uninstall OS updates. See To Add the OS Monitoring Feature in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Uninstall an OS update from a managed server.

   N1-ok> unload server server[,server...] update update

   ---

   Caution –

   If the user-specified update name is not found, the command tries to uninstall an OS update with a matching file name. The show update command enables you to list an OS update's corresponding file name.

   ---

   See unload server in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.

Troubleshooting

If you cannot uninstall an OS update that was installed with an admin file, check that the package file name matches the name of the package. If the name is not the same, rename the admin file in the managed server's /tmp directory to match the name of the package and try the unload command again. If the package still exists, remove it from the managed server by using pkgrm.

Refer to OS Update Uninstallation Failures in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Troubleshooting Guide for solutions to common problems.

To Uninstall an OS Update on a Server Group

Before You Begin

• Disable monitoring for the managed servers. This action is required only if you want to avoid the fault notifications if the servers reboot after an OS update uninstallation. See To Disable Monitoring for a Managed Server or a Managed Server Group in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

• Ensure that the OS monitoring feature is supported on the managed servers. This action provides the necessary support to uninstall OS updates. See To Add the OS Monitoring Feature in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

Steps

1. Log in to the N1 System Manager.

   See To Access the N1 System Manager Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details.

2. Uninstall an OS update on the managed servers in a server group.

   N1-ok> unload group group update update

   ---

   Caution –

   If the user-specified update name is not found, the command tries to uninstall an OS update with a matching file name. Use the show update command to list an OS update's corresponding file name.

   ---

   See unload group in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Command Line Reference Manual for details.