1. Updating Systems and Adding Software in Oracle Solaris 11.4
  2. Updating or Upgrading an Oracle Solaris Image
  3. Image Update Best Practices
  4. Preview the Update Operation

Preview the Update Operation

Use the following options with the pkg update command:

  • Use the preview option (-n) to see the result of the operation without actually doing the operation. Review this output before you perform an update without the -n option.

  • Use the verbose option (-v) to see what packages will be updated, removed, and installed and at what versions; what mediators will be changed; what services will be restarted; what editable files will be changed; whether a new BE will be created. If the update does not succeed, the verbose option shows more information to help you diagnose the problem. To get even more information, use -vv.

Specify the result you want. If the update does not succeed, you will get more information to help you diagnose the problem if you specify more of the version of the packages that you are updating.

The following example command shows using these options:

$ pkg update -nv entire@11.4-11.4.0.0.1.12.0

If the update operation does not succeed, consider some of the following steps, depending on the error messages that you received. See also Troubleshooting Package Installation and Update.

  • Use the pkg freeze command to check whether the system has any packages frozen that could be preventing update.

  • Use the pkg facet command to check whether the version constraint is unlocked on any package. You might need to re-lock that constraint to accomplish the update you want. Note that the act of setting the version lock can result in a system update.

  • Check whether an IDR is installed that is constraining the update.

  • Run pkgrepo verify on the publisher repository locations. Perhaps required dependencies are missing or perhaps permissions are set incorrectly.

  • Run pkg verify on the system that you are trying to update. Perhaps packaged content was changed on the system in an unsupported way. For example, if someone changed a link that was delivered by an IPS package to be a directory or file, that could prevent the system update.

Software in a non-global zone that is required to be the same release as that software in the parent global zone is updated automatically when you update the global zone. Software in a non-global zone that is not required to be the same release as that software in the parent global zone must be updated separately.