This chapter provides an overview of the concepts and features of the
patch kits for the Tru64 UNIX operating system and TruCluster software products.
1.1 Overview
A patch is a collection of files that contain fixes to problems. When possible, patches are merged together, into one patch, if they have intersecting files or codependencies. A patch may correct more than one problem.
The Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software patch kits contain patches for critical problems for those software products. These kits, which are distributed as needed, provide interim maintenance that prevents the occurrence of known critical problems. The patch kits contain the following elements:
Version-specific patches and patch-specific documentation
The
dupatch
patch-management utility, which
you use to install, view, remove, and manage patches
Patch kits are not intended to provide general maintenance and new functions; applying them to your system does not eliminate the need to upgrade to later versions of Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software.
Patches are applicable to a specific version of the software products, unless stated otherwise in the patch kit release notes. You cannot install version-specific kits on other software versions. Compaq recommends that you install all of the patches included in the kits and that you update the TruCluster software products (if applicable) at the same time you update your operating system.
To install Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software patches, your system must meet the following requirements:
Be running the appropriate version of Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software
Contain the necessary temporary and permanent storage space described in the Patch Summary and Release Notes document for the kit you are installing
After you install the patches, the following items are left on the system:
The
dupatch
utility
Patch-specific documentation that you can view with
dupatch
Optionally, the archived system files that were updated by the installed patches
Compaq provides two kinds of patches for its Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software products — release kits and customer-specific kits:
Release patches
These patches provide interim maintenance that prevents the occurrence of known critical problems. Release patches (sometimes referred to as official patches) are provided in kits, grouped by software product versions. The following are features of release patch kits:
Provide selective patch installation and removal
Use
dupatch
for installing, viewing, removing,
and managing patches
Are provided on the Internet or CD-ROM
Customer-specific patches (CSPs)
These patches are provided by your service provider in response to Tru64 UNIX or TruCluster software problems that are specific to your own system's hardware and software configuration. CSP kits have the following features:
Generally use the
dupatch
utility for installing,
viewing, removing, and managing patches.
May contain patches for one or more software products. For example, a single tar file may contain patches for Tru64 UNIX Version 4.0F, Tru64 UNIX Version 5.0A, TruCluster Version 1.5, and TruCluster Version 1.6.
May require release patches but do not contain any release patches.
1.3 Patch Kit Distribution and Naming
Tru64 UNIX patches for specific operating system and TruCluster software releases and customer-specific patches are packaged together in tar files. Each patch kit contains the following components:
Patch management utility (dupatch) and
other patch management tools
Installs, removes, and manages patches for Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software. This utility is installed and left on the system through the successful installation of a patch kit.
Patch subsets for the operating system and TruCluster Server products
Documentation
Packaged with release patch kits is
a document called
Patch Summary and Release Notes, which summarizes the problems that the patches
in that kit correct and provides any information you may need to know about
specific patches.
The information in this document also exists in separate
files that you can access using the
dupatch
utility.
(See
Section 2.4.)
Release patch kits also contain the Installation Instructions (the manual you are reading), which is common to all patch kits.
Both of these manuals are provided in PDF and HTML formats. The PDF version is easy to view and print using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is provided on the Documentation CD-ROM that ships with Tru64 UNIX Version 4.0E and higher, and is also available at the Adobe Web site (http://www.adobe.com/). The HTML version is viewed with your Internet browser, such as Netscape.
Beginning with kits shipped after March 2001, the
dupatch(8)man
command.
The contents of the tar file varies, depending on the type of kit.
For
example, a CSP kit might contain patches for several operating system versions,
while release patch kits always contain patches for only one operating system
version.
Also, the tar file may or may not contain TruCluster software patches.
However, the structure of the tar file is the same for each type of kit.
Figure 1-1
illustrates the contents of a patch tar file.
Figure 1-1: Structure of a Patch Kit Tar File
The following sections describe release and customer-specific patch
kits.
1.3.1 Release Patch Kits
Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software release patch kits are available from the Internet and on CD-ROM.
Patch Kits on the Internet
Patch kits are available publicly on the Internet through the Compaq Services Web page located at:
http://www.support.compaq.com/patches/
Release patches distributed over the Internet are provided in a tar file that you must unpack on your system or on an NFS-mountable file system. The tar file for each operating system version will contain patch kits for that version of the operating system and patch kits for the applicable TruCluster software products.
The Tru64 UNIX Patch CD-ROM contains all of the latest patch kits for the supported versions of Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software. The patch kits on the CD-ROM are provided in an expanded form (rather than a tar file) so they can be installed directly from the disk. The 00-READ-ME-FIRST file on the CD-ROM lists the contents of the disk and provides other information.
You can order a Patch CD-ROM in the United States by calling 1-800-344-4825 (1-800-ATCOMPAQ); customers in other countries should contact your local Compaq sales office or authorized reseller for pricing and availability. The order number is QA-MT4AW-H8.
Release patch kit names have the following syntax:
OS Product|Version|BaseLevel|KitType|Kit#|-MfgDate
For example, a file named
T64V51B18AS0003-20011020.tar
contains Patch Kit 0003, built in base level 18 for Tru64 UNIX Version
5.1 and TruCluster Server Version 5.1, and manufactured on October 20, 2001.
The following list describes the attributes currently used in patch kit names:
T64 = Tru64 UNIX
DU = DIGITAL UNIX
51A
V51
V50A
V50
V40G
V40F
V40D
The support pool in which the kit was built. This formerly internal number has become a common way of identifying kits.
AS = Aggregate Selective installation patch kit
SS = A patch kit containing a single patch
The numeric identifier that Compaq uses to track the kit contents
The year, month, and day the kit was built in the form of YYYYMMDD
1.3.2 Customer-Specific Patch Kits
Customer-specific patch kits (CSPs) provide interim patches for a specific customer's problem and computing environment. Customer-specific patch kit names have the following syntax:
Product|Version|BaseLevel|-C|PatchID|-UniqueID|-OptionalField|-MfgDate
For example, a file named
T64V50AB13-C9999900-1110746-M-20010531.tar
contains a customer-specific patch for Tru64 UNIX Version 5.0A,
built in base level 13, containing a patch identified as number 9999900 from
a unique kit numbered 1110746, which was built on May 31, 2001.
The following list describes the attributes currently used in patch kit names:
T64 = Tru64 UNIX
DU = DIGITAL UNIX
TC = TruCluster
V51A
V51
V50A
V50
V40G
V40F
V40D
The release patch base level the customer-specific patch is built against, for example, 13. This field is used by the service provider.
Indicates a customer-specific patch.
The numeric identifier used to track patches that are relative to the product version patch kit. Patch identifiers have the following format:
MajorIDFive numeric digits, for example 00223.
MinorID
Two numeric digits, for example, 00.
A unique kitting ID for the patch, for example, 1875.
A field that provides information about the type of patch and its installation method.
Type:E = Early release
S = Security
M = Manual installation
Valid Optional Field combinations:E = Early release patch — dupatch installation
EM = Early release patch — Manual installation
ES = Early release patch — Security
EMS = Early release patch — Manual installation — Security
M = Manually installed CSP
The year, month, and day the kit was built, in the form of YYYYMMDD.
Compaq provides Web sites to help you with the patching process:
To obtain the latest patch kit for your operating system and cluster:
To view or print the latest version of the Patch Kit Installation Instructions or the Patch Summary and Release Notes for a specific patch kit:
To visit Compaq's main support page:
To visit the Tru64 UNIX homepage: