What is a patch?

A patch fixes problems that prevent the proper execution of software. It is a collection of files and directories that replace or update existing files/binaries and directories.

The entire OS is installed as a collection of Solaris packages. It is done during the OS installation via the pkgadd command. Patches are build in a similar fashion. Patches are partial packages which replace files in the existing packages then they update the pkg/patch databases.

Some patches only update one package in the OS others update several packages. To get an idea as to which packages might be updated by a patch look into the patch directory itself. There will be at least one sub-directory of a package which will be updated. Full Story

Suppose you know the name of a file you need, but don’t know what package it  belongs to.  Knowing the package name can help you when installing missing software.

If you have a system on which the needed file exists, you can use one of below two methods:

# grep /usr/lib/libC /var/sadm/install/contents

/usr/lib/libC.so.5 f none 0755 bin bin 307352 50140 894427474 SUNWlibC

or

 # pkgchk -l -p /usr/bin/ls

Pathname: /usr/bin/ls
Type: regular file
Expected mode: 0555
Expected owner: root
Expected group: bin
Expected file size (bytes): 18844
Expected sum(1) of contents: 34850
Expected last modification: Jan 05 18:57:54 2000
Referenced by the following packages:
SUNWcsu
Current status: installed

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For servers with Solaris 10 OS at, or near, update 1 (1/06) or update 2 (6/06), if non-global zones are already configured and running, patching these servers at single user mode will encounter issues.  Patches may only be loaded on the global zone but not on the non-global zones. One should pay attention to the following:

1. If non-global zones have their own separate root file systems, make sure all of them are mounted.
2. Patches 119254-52 (or later) and 122660-10 need to be loaded on the global zone and all non-global zones first.
3. If a non-global zone has its own separate /var file system, both 119254-52 (or later) and patch 122660-10 must be loaded on all zones. Otherwise, the following error will appear:
…
Patch 1xxxxx-xx failed to install due to a failure produced by pkgadd.
…

Resolution
Patching procedure
As global zone is in single user mode, by default all non-global zones are halted  in “installed” state. Patches 119254-52 (or later) and 122660-10 cannot be installed in this mode. All non-global zones need to be booted to single user mode first. Once patches 119254-52 (or later) and 122660-10, along with their required patches have been installed, all other patches can then be installed as non-global zones in halted state. The proper procedure is as follows:

1. Boot server in single user mode

2. Mount all zone root file systems

3. Boot all non-global zones to single user mode
# zoneadm -z zone boot -s

4. Load patch 119254-52 (or later), required patch 121133-02

5. Load kernel patch 118833-36 if needed, required patches 118913-13, 119042-09, 119254-14, 119578-30; then do a reconfiguration boot

6. Make sure the global zone and all non-global zones are in single user mode – repeating steps 1 – 3

7. Load patch 122660-10, required patches 118731-01, 118833-33 (or later), 120900-04, 121133-02, 122640-02, 124204-04; then do a reconfiguration boot

8. Load all other patches as the global zone in single user mode, and all non-global zones halted in “installed” state (by default), all zone root file systems still need to be mounted

Solaris Live Upgrade software enables the operating system to continue to run while upgrades, patch installations, or routine maintenance operations are performed.

System administrators can patch/upgrade a system image rapidly without impacting the boot environment needed by the Solaris OS to run. Administrators simply create a copy of the active boot environment, make changes to the copy, and reboot to the updated boot environment when appropriate. In the event of a problem, administrators can revert to a previous environment with a simple reboot. The result — a simplified way to update systems that minimizes the downtime and risk often associated with patching efforts.

MY SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

The server is running on Kernel Patch level 141445-09. I will upgrade the kernel patch through bundle patching using Solaris Live Upgrade. Below are the outputs before any changes.

Note: I have one disk in the system (30GB), I will create the duplicate environment on slice4 and slice5 (slice4 for root FS & slice5 for /export/home FS). The similar procedure can be used for mirrored disks and can be used for separate disk i.e creating duplicate boot environment on separate disk. The same procedure can be used for SPARC & X-86 platform. I am doing this activity on x-86 box.

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In the global zone view the SMCsudo and SMCtop packages:

1. cd /export/home/student/zones

pkginfo -d sudo-1.6.8p4-sol10-zones-sparc-local
application SMCsudo sudo
#
pkginfo -d top-3.5.1-sol10-zones-sparc-local
application SMCtop top
#

Notice the “false” setting for SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES variable:

pkgparam -d sudo-1.6.8p4-sol10-zones-sparc-local SMCsudo SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES
false
#
pkgparam -d top-3.5.1-sol10-zones-sparc-local SMCtop SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES
false
#

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