A Sun Docs article considers Solaris patches providing an overview of the various types of patches, patch characteristics, patch dependencies, and the basic interrelationships between patches.

Lynne Thompson describes the following specific patch types:

• Kernel patch (formerly known as Kernel Update [KU] patch)
• Temporary patch (T-patch)
• Security T-patches
• Rejuvenated patch
• Point patch
• Restricted patch (R-patch)
• Interim Diagnostic Relief (IDR)
• Interim Security Relief (ISR)
• Nonstandard patch
• Withdrawn patch
• Interactive patches
• Update releases and script patches

The basic characteristics of patches are noted to be:

• The keywords in the README file, which tells users which patches are appropriate for their environment. Thompson mentions that any patch with "Security" as its keyword needs to be reviewed immediately.

• Patch metadata, which describes a patch's attributes including special handling requirements. Attributes are translated into text in the README file. Solaris patch utilities also utilize the metadata contained in the pkginfo and pkgmap files, Thompson points out.

• Patch Metadata for Non-Global Zones. Solaris Zones specific metadata are contained within patches so a Zones environment is correctly handled.

In explaining the interrelationships between patches, Thompson identifies three fields in the package's pkginfo file that determine patch dependencies:

• The SUNW_REQUIRES field identifies patch dependencies and these prerequisite patches must be installed before the current patch.

• The SUNW_OBSOLETES field identifies other patches that are now contained in the current patch, making the original patches obsolete.

• The SUNW_INCOMPAT field identifies patches that are incompatible with this patch, and therefore cannot be installed on the same system.

Thompsons explains the above three fields in more depth and offers links to patching references such as patching documentation, the patch management tool - Sun Connection, patch information for OpenSolaris, and many more.

Check out the Sun Docs article for details. [...read more...]

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