Can a flash_archive be patched?

[sunixadm]

Hi!

We are working on a Patch concept for our Solaris environment and are contemplating the use of flash archives. We would like to create a base image for differing machine types and then, if possible, patch the flash archives when new patches are rolled out.

Has anyone ever done this?

Thanks!

-Joe

 

[bfitzmai]

From my understanding of flash, it resembles "ghost" by Symantics. If this is the case, "flash" is a compressed image of your hard drive. There is no way to add a patch to a compressed image.

 

[coffeysm]

No you can not patch a flash image after it has been created. You can however write a script to patch the system afterwards. The only thing to remember is if you disable certain scripts and stuff patching it might renable it. I have this problem now where I have certain things disabled sendmail, cachefs, etc... and patching will sometimes renable these services. I am working on a script to take care of this problem also.