Re: [pca] Solaris Update Patch Bundle updates /etc/release

[Don O'Malley]

Hi Rajiv, Short answer is that you should not install it manually, as like I said previously, /etc/release is only updated by this patch if the Patch Bundle itself is installed (via the installcluster script). We have extensively tested this set of patches (and the install script) and so that is why we are happy to identify when it has been used. BTW - This patch does not require all patches in the Patch Bundle to be applied but rather when the bundle is built, the patch requirements for this "private" patch are calculated as the subset of patches that would be applicable to the SUNWCrnet metacluster of all earlier update releases. Best, -Don Rajiv Gunja wrote: Don, Thanks for explaining the reasoning. Yes, I understand that it is a private patch and is part of a bundle. My question was, should we look into installing it on our system after I determine that all other patches in the bundle is already present? Or should we stay away from installing that patch? Please let me know, Thanks. -GGR -- Rajiv G Gunja Blog: http://ossrocks.blogspot.com On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 05:16, Don O'Malley <don.omal...@oracle.com> wrote: Hi Rajiv/All, There are a couple of points of note here... Essentially Oracle wanted a way of being easily able to determine when a customer had applied the Patch Bundle for a Solaris Update. The Patch Bundles are seen as having the closest relationship to upgrading to the latest Solaris Update, without actually doing an upgrade. Upgrading systems to the latest Solaris Release is the recommended support strategy, but we realize that this may not always be possible, due to issues like needing to re-certify apps on upgrade which is why we introduced the Patch Bundles. The solution that we came up with (and there were many alternatives discussed) to identify when a Patch Bundle has been successfully applied to a system, was to add a "private" patch to the patch bundle to update /etc/release to indicate that a particular Patch Bundle had been applied. It is worth pointing out here that my team does extensive testing of the Patch Bundle, starting months before the bundle is due to be released (which typically happens 2-4 weeks after GA of a Solaris Update). The "private" patches that make the updates to /etc/release are not made public, purely because there is no logical reason to do so; their purpose is to indicate that a particular Patch Bundle has been applied and this is only true if a customer actually downloads and installs the bundle itself. We can guarantee that the patches in the Patch Bundle have undergone extensive testing and there is also logic in the installcluster script that adds value not available through automated patching tools. The advantage to Oracle of having this information is more from the perspective of support. Is a customer has an issue and supplies Oracle with an explorer log of the system in question, then it is very useful for the engineer examining the system to have a quick reference point in /etc/release that explains the installation of a couple of hundred patches. I hope this explains why we have approached this the way that we have... Best, -Don Rajiv Gunja wrote: Martin, I just noticed this on Solaris Patch Update Aug 2010. ----------- http://blogs.sun.com/patch/resource/Oracle_Solaris_Patch_Update_Aug_2010.pdf (PAGE 69) ----------- Solaris Update Patch Bundles now update /etc/release to make it easier to identify that a system has been patched to the software level of a Solaris Update release. ----------- How will this effect us? Can we simulate this or is this addition/change included as a part of kernel patch or part of their wrapper? Do you know? Should also be a question for Don. Please advise. Thanks -GGR -- Rajiv G Gunja Blog: http://ossrocks.blogspot.com -- Don O'Malley Manager, Patch System Test Revenue Product Engineering | Solaris | Hardware East Point Business Park, Dublin 3, Ireland Phone: +353 1 8199764 Team Alias: rpe_patch_system_test...@oracle.com -- Don O'Malley Manager, Patch System Test Revenue Product Engineering | Solaris | Hardware East Point Business Park, Dublin 3, Ireland Phone: +353 1 8199764 Team Alias: rpe_patch_system_test...@oracle.com