Solaris version release patch 1

[kHz]

In AIX we use VRMF (Version, Release, Maintenance, Fix) for OS releases. This would correspond to the following examples:

ML (Mainenance Level):
AIX 4.3.1.0
AIX 4.3.2.0
AIX 4.3.3.0

There were 3 MLs released for AIX 4.3

Where the version for them is 4, the release for all is 3, the maintenance for them is 1, 2, and 3, and the fix for all is 0.

Then for each release there is Recommended Maintenance. For AIX 4.3.3 there were 11 Recommended Maintenance levels released.

This gives a full ML of 4.3.3.0.11 or 4.3.3.0-11.

With AIX you can run 'oslevel -q' ; 'oslevel -r' ; 'oslevel -r -q' and each will give you information about versions, releases, and recommended maintenace installed.

Now for Solaris. Please explain to me how there releases and patches work.

Take Solaris 9.

There is Solaris 9 4/04, 9/04, 4/05, 9/05. Say I install Solaris 9 9/04 without any Recommended Patch and I have a kernel patch when running 'uname -a' of 117171-07. But if you install the latest (Feb 27, 2006) Recommended Patch cluster you will have a kernel patch (uname -a) of 118559-22 but /etc/release says 9 9/04.

So is there any need to upgrade to say 9 9/05 since the latest recommended patch cluster has been installed? With AIX there is recommended maintenance for each release (shown above). So I would think Sun would have recommended patch clusters for each release, so there would be a patch cluster for 4/04, 9/04, 9/05, etc. But since there isn't, just a patch cluster for Solaris 9 only, there doesn't seem to be any reason to upgrade an originally installed 9 4/04 server to 9 9/05. Is this correct?

Also, you can run a 'uname -a' and find the kernel patch which may output 117171-07, 117171-09, 118559-11, 118559-02, 118559-22, etc., but how do you correlate what version and release of Solaris is installed? You can cat /etc/release and it may show Solaris 9 4/04, but 'uname -a' shows 118559-22 so it isn't 9 4/04 anymore. You can search for the patch on sunsolve and see that shows patch 118559-02 is from March 7, 2005, but how do you find what you exactly have. There isn't anything like oslevel for Solaris.

Also, I have seen Sun refer to Solaris releases with something like for Solaris 10 they will refer to Solaris 10 3/05 as maybe update 10. Well, how do I know update 10 is 3/05 or some other release or how do I know 3/05 is update 10?

Can someone spell this out for me? AIX makes is so easy to find your release and maintenance level. And when you go to IBM Fix Central you select your release, say 4.3 and then you select the recommended maintenance level that you want to install. You would run 'oslevel -r' and if it shows 4.3.3.0-08, then you can select level 09, 10, or 11. Why doesn't Sun have something similar to this so it isn't so ambiguous?

 

[kHz]

Nobody else knows either?

 

[Annihilannic]

I'm sure we bashed this topic out before, wasn't it you who started that thread?

Solaris 9 4/04 is just a starting point, with a certain set of patches preinstalled. If you install the latest recommended cluster on a Solaris 9/04 box or a Solaris 4/04 box you should end up with an equivalent system.

There is no easy way to quote the current 'patch level', you have to list all of the patches that are currently installed to get a complete picture. But if you are consistent in your patch application process and always apply bundles, then you can generally go by the current kernel jumbo patch level (i.e. the one that appears in 'uname -r') to get an idea of the patch level of the system.

What may be useful to you is the /var/sadm/install_data/Solaris_8_Recommended_log, however unfortunately it doesn't tell you the date the bundle was generated, which is what I usually refer to when identifying the patch bundle installed.

I'm not familiar with the 'Update 10' terminology, so can't help you there.

Don't try to apply AIX concepts to Solaris systems... it won't work!

Annihilannic.

 

[WhiteVolg]

Well, technically your close. Annihilannic..but it takes more than 'just' the recommended cluster to be fully up to date. The recommended cluster only covers the base os, not devices drivers and security patches. A Maintenance Update (Sun uses mu, update and a few other terms) includes more, all the latest drivers and security patches. The difference in the install medai is this:
Solaris 10 {some date} will be the latest full maintenance update, which includes device drivers for new hardware since the original/prior maintenance update. This is why some hardware requires a minimum date value.. such as Solaris9 02/04 is the first Soalris 9 mu release which included drivers for the V440 hardware (ok, I may be miseremembering the actual matchup, but you get the point I hope). However there is no need to update a prior installed Solaris 9, but you may want to get the latest Maintenance update.

 

[kHz]

Where do you download the latest maintenance update? On sunsolve you can download the patch and security clusters, but I haven't seen mu downloads.

To get this straight for myself. Say I have Solaris 9 9/04 installed and it is an old kernel patch and there haven't been any updates since installation. To update to the latest (which would be 9 4/06 - maybe thats not out yet...anyway) I would need to download that mu and install it? Would you also need to install the latest patch cluster after installing the mu?

Any other hints, tips, or advice for Solaris upgrades?

AIX makes it much simpler and easier to understand and implement.

 

[WhiteVolg]

http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=40c8c2ad

Use the update manager. It looks as if they revamped since I worked there and stopped publishing the mu in favor of the updagte manager solution.