Martin,
> So I'm using the ctime as a marker which notes when PCA last tried to update > the file. I think it is the "tried" part that got me. If I have a normal routine, it is to save a patchdiag.xref file and use it for all the servers, but for some things - such as LU patches - I always want the current patchdiag.xref file. I have notes containing many pca commands with various options. In this case I was copying and pasting commands and inadvertently picked one using the current xref file when I intended to use the saved file. Of course I realized this when pca displayed "Trying https ..." and stopped it with cntl-c. Also, this server requires explicit routes for Oracle (route add ...) and the IPs have changed since last December, so pca was not going to succeed anyway. Using BASH's "PS1='ex=$? \D{%m%d} \t \h \w \u \$'" here's the console output: ex=0 1030 09:46:16 notme ~ notme $sudo /var/tmp/pca --list 149668 --xrefdir="/var/tmp" --patchdir="/var/tmp/pcatmp" Downloading xref file to /var/tmp/patchdiag.xref Trying Oracle Trying https://getupdates.oracle.com/ (1/1) ^C ERROR: Caught a SIGINT ex=1 1030 09:54:15 notme ~ notme $ Based on the end time (09:54:15) and the ctime of /var/tmp/patchdiag.xref (09:54:15) if looks like the pca error processing may have resulted in the updating of ctime. ls -lcE /var/tmp/patchdiag.xref -rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 2241259 2013-10-30 09:54:15.544509000 -0500 /var/tmp/patchdiag.xref Anyway, pca's debug option (-V) quickly revealed the problem with both the xref and the IPs I needed to add. Thanks, Glen Gunselman (Note: I checked the ctime for patchdiag.xref on several servers and it appears that NetBackup is causing ctime to be updated when the file is backed up.)