This article is going to explain that how to update the Solaris 11.1 . Most of the Solaris administrators will search for Solaris 11 OS patch bundle like how we use to get for Solaris 10 but you won’t get it. In Solaris 11 , oracle removed the word called “patches” from their dictionary. Instead of that we have to call it as “package update”. In other words, you have to update the system instead of the patching it. If the server owner or application/DB teams is requesting you to patch the Solaris 11, you have to update the system using pkg commands. This operation is much easier than Solaris 10 OS patch bundle installation.
There are two type of repositories are available in oracle to update solaris 11 operating system.
* Oracle Solaris’s release repository which contains new packages and package updates. This repository doesn’t requires oracle support contract.
* Oracle Solaris’s support repository which is exclusively available for oracle customers with valid support contract.
For testing purpose,you can use the release repository but production environments must use oracle support repository. You can switch to any repository by setting it again using below command.
To set to Oracle’s support repository:
To set to Oracle’s support repository:
To set to Oracle’s release repository:
I need to run explorer from my sever (sunfire 4800) and save the out-put on my laptop. Digital Transformation Governance Leadership Outsourcing Spending Staffing Sustainability Training. X SolarisCAT 5. You need to download sun explorer data collector software (SUNWexplo package) and install it on your. I need to run explorer from my sever (sunfire 4800) and save the out-put on my laptop. Please, I need the step by step on how to go about it.
Here we will see how we can update the system using oracle support repository.
1. Login to the system and check the publisher .
2.Check the current build release and FMRI
3.To check the packages updates, use below command..There are 218 packages available to update on my system.
4.To know more information about the above list , use the below command for each packages .
If we update the system , compress/gzip will be updated with branch 0.175.1.15.0.2.0
5.To know the current package branch,
6.If we perform the system update, we should know how much space its going to occupy and what are the packages will update from which branch to branch . To get these details , we just do a dry run using below command.
7. To perform the actual update, use “pkg update” command.It will update the system automatically . But reboot required to take effect.
8.Once the update is completed, you can see the below details.
9.As per above results, you can see that new boot environment has been created (Solaris-1) and activated for next reboot.
10.Just reboot the system using “init 6 ” to boot from solaris-1 BE.
11.Once the system is up, you can check the kernel’s FMRI or Branch . You can see the new values .(Compare with Step 2 output)
Note:There is a way to identify Solaris 11’s kernel branch (Other words , Kernel patch number).
You can also compare with “entire” info regarding the update.
There won’t be any changes on “uname -a” & Releases.It will reflect only on the major upgrade. Ex:Solaris 11.1 to Solaris 11.2
12.Verify the BE. You can see that new BE (Solaris-1) has been activated now and
Awesome . We have successfully updated Solaris 11.1 from oracle support repository.
Here is the list of challenges that i have faced during this update:
- To update the Solaris 11, you need an internet connection. But most of the production system may not have direct internet access or it may be blocked in firewall.If its blocked ,then check with network team to open a port for https . Oracle support repository will use https connection and oracle release repository will use http.
If the system do not have direct internet connection, then they have to follow the below.
1. Login in to the system and export the proxy settings. Here my pxoxy server IP address is 192.168.2.2 and https’s configured port is 808.
2. Check the internet connection usage by running below command.This command just does the dry run for updating the package.
- The second challenge that i have faced is that settings the publisher. Due to proxy issue and DNS problem , i thought of using oracle support repository IP address instead of pkg.oracle.com.But i am getting the below error due to SSL certificate issue. Because SSL will check the repository’s exact URL.
Then i just added the pkg.oracle.com in /etc/hosts to fix this issue.
Note: I got the IP address by doing nslookup from my laptop which has direct internet connection.
- Another issue , i have faced due to certificate . When i try to do dry run for package update, i got the below error due to SSL certificate which is expired.
You can see the issue on “pkg publisher” command as well.
If you face such an issue , then you have to download the certificates and support keys file from oracle website and copy to /var/pkg/ssl directory . (Oracle_Solaris_11_Support.key.pem & Oracle_Solaris_11_Support.certificate.pem). To get these files, you have to login on http://pkg-register.oracle.com portal .
Once the keys are in place , just set the publisher ,using below command.
Check the repository status now,
IDR Patches needs to be back-out when you are updating the OS.
IDR (Interim Diagnostics / Relief) patches needs to be removed from system prior to the system update. Otherwise you might receive error like below.
Error:
pkg update: No solution was found to satisfy constraints
Plan Creation: Package solver has not found a solution to update to latest available versions.
This may indicate an overly constrained set of packages are installed.
pkg update: No solution was found to satisfy constraints
Plan Creation: Package solver has not found a solution to update to latest available versions.
This may indicate an overly constrained set of packages are installed.
To fix the above issue,
1. List the installed IDR patches.
2. View the IDR package info.
3. Back out the IDR patch. Just execute the command given in the package info. (summary)
4. If you get error like following for IDR patch back-out, set the oracle support repository & try.
Error: Matches no installed packages
Support repository:
To download the key & certificate, visit – https://pkg-register.oracle.com/
Hope this article has cover everything about the Solaris 11’s OS update (In other words, Solaris 11’s OS patching).
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Virtualization has been a need of time over several past years as we have machines now even with 16 cores and memory in TBs. A single machine is now capable of accommodating even more than 100 VMs at a time. Oracle VM for SPARC formerly known as LDOMs has played a key role in oracles virtualization strategies and is improving with every version. Before start configuring our first oracle VM for SPARC let us understand types of ldoms, ldom services and virtual devices. Types of logical domains NamePurposeGuestNo direct access to underlying hardware and does not provide virtual device or services to other ldoms. Uses virtual device.I/Ohas direct access to underlying hardware in the server. It can be used in cases like oracle DB which wants direct/raw access to the storage devices.Serviceprovides virtualized devices and services to guest domains.ControlService domain that also runs the ldoms manager software to control the configuration of hypervisor.
Primary# ldm add-vcc port-range=5000-5100 primary-vcc0 primaryprimary# ldm add-vds primary-vds0 primaryprimary# ldm add-vsw net-dev=nxge0 primary-vsw0 primaryprimary# ldm list-services primaryVDSNAME VOLUME OPTIONS DEVICEprimary-vds0VCCNAME PORT-RANGEprimary-vcc0 5000-5100VSWNAME MAC NET-DEV DEVICE MODEprimary-vsw0 02:04:4f:fb:9f:0d nxge0 switch@0 prog,promisc Initial configuration of the control domainBy default all the VCPUs, Memory and MAUs are assigned to the primary domain which is the default domain created after installing the OVM for SPARC software. Primary or control domain is used to configure all the guest ldoms and provide necessary virtual services to them like vcc, vsw and vds. Logical domain manager is responsible to create, delete, modify and control ldoms, thus make sure the ldmd service is running before configuring the primary and guest domains.
Use delayed reconfiguration in order to configure the primary ldom without rebooting for previous changes to take effect. Primary# telnet localhost 5000 Trying 127.0.0.1.Connected to localhost.Escape character is ’^’.Connecting to console 'ldom01' in group 'ldom01'. For control options. Flag definitionsNow you can see various flags in the “ldm list” command output. The falgs represent the current state of the ldom. Column 1column 2column 3s starting or stopping– placeholdern normalt transitiond delayed reconfiguration– placeholdercolumn 4column 5column 6c control domain– placeholderv virtual I/O service domain– placeholders source domain in migrationt target domain in migratione error occurred in migration– placeholderOther useful CommandsView current version of Oracle VM server for SPARC software.