On 8/1/21 11:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
What was the system used for delivering and installing packages under Solaris
before IPS was adopted?
For delivering packages, CD-ROM & DVD-ROM media/images - there was no
online package repository.
For installing packages, the SVR4 package system with many enhancements by
Sun after the fork from AT&T/SVR4.
For updating packages, a separate set of patching tools Sun built to deliver
partial updates to SVR4 packages.
For OS updates, a different set of tools Sun built to upgrade packages from
one release to another.
Where did IPS come from?
Sun engineers who had worked with customers and release engineering to deal with
the many problems that people had with SVR4 packaging put together a project
proposal to replace it, started prototyping, and developed the project under the
OpenSolaris community.
You can find things they wrote up about the design & goals at:
https://github.com/oracle/solaris-ips/tree/master/doc
https://web.archive.org/web/20100408030116/http://hub.opensolaris.org/bin/view/Project+pkg/WebHome
https://web.archive.org/web/20090209041341/http://blogs.sun.com/sch/entry/observations_on_packaging
https://web.archive.org/web/20090603091027/http://blogs.sun.com/sch/entry/pkg_no_more_installer_magic
https://web.archive.org/web/20090603004127/http://blogs.sun.com/sch/entry/pkg_leaving_the_build_system
https://web.archive.org/web/20100105071515/http://blogs.sun.com/sch/entry/pkg_1_a_no_scripting
https://web.archive.org/web/20090603002904/http://blogs.sun.com/barts/entry/rethinking_patching
https://web.archive.org/web/20090522173407/http://blogs.sun.com/barts/entry/phattening_packages_supporting_multiple_variants
https://web.archive.org/web/20091212115852/http://blogs.sun.com/barts/entry/satisfaction
Why was IPS chosen in place of the previous package management system?
Because it solved so many problems, and modernized the system to match current
expectations, such as having an online package repository, automatically
installing needed dependencies instead of just erroring out and making you
track them down manually, making installs & upgrades more dependable and
repeatable, automating numerous things that previously had to be done manually,
unifying upgrades into the base system, etc.
For instance, if a file had to be deleted in a new version of a package,
it had to be manually added to two different delete lists for the patching
and OS upgrade tools, while IPS simply compares the old and new package
manifests, and automatically removes files in the old one that aren't in
the new one.
--
-Alan Coopersmith- [email protected]
Oracle Solaris Engineering - https://blogs.oracle.com/alanc
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