3    Issues and Restrictions

This chapter provides information you must be aware of when installing or removing patches. Be sure to check the Patch Summary and Release Notes document of the kit you are installing for any issues and restrictions that pertain to that installation.

3.1    When Single-User Mode Is Recommended

Although you can install patches in multiuser mode, Compaq recommends that you bring down your system to single-user mode when installing patches that affect the operation of the Tru64 UNIX operating system or the product you are patching. If your system must remain in multiuser mode, it is recommended that you apply the patches when the system is as lightly loaded as possible.

There are no restrictions on performing patch selection and preinstallation checking in multiuser mode. Patch removals can only be done in single-user mode.

3.2    Impact on System Upgrades to Later Versions of Tru64 UNIX

In the presence of patches or layered products, certain procedures used to upgrade a system to a later version of Tru64 UNIX can lead to inconsistencies among operating system and layered product objects. For more information see Appendix D for general Tru64 UNIX system upgrade information.

Note

After successfully installing a new version of Tru64 UNIX, you should obtain and install the latest patch kit that is applicable to that version of Tru64 UNIX.

3.3    Patching a System Prior to Creating a Cluster

If you have not yet created your cluster, you can save time by patching your system first. The sequence of events when patching the initial installation of Tru64 UNIX is as follows:

  1. Install and configure the Tru64 UNIX operating system.

  2. Use the setld command to install the TruCluster Server kit. If the TruCluster Server kit is not loaded before the patch operation, patches for TruCluster Server will not be loaded.

  3. Patch the system.

  4. Use the clu_create command to create the single-member cluster.

    Note

    Once you have completed step 4 and created your cluster, do not remove patches installed during step 3. To do so may cause your system to become unusable if dupatch replaces certain patched files with ones that are not cluster enabled. If you have identified patches that you want to remove, contact your Compaq service representative to find out if you can do so safely.

See the Tru64 UNIX Installation Guide for information about installing the operating system and the TruCluster Server Software Installation manual for information about creating your cluster.

3.4    Restriction on Loading New dupatch Tools from the Command Line

The new patch tools cannot be loaded using the delete command on the command line. Doing that will cause the following error to be displayed: 

product_map does not exist or is empty, Cannot continue.

If you want to use delete from the command line, you can first load the new tools, without affecting the system, by issuing the install command with the -precheck_only option. This will load the tools and not cause changes to your system.

3.5    No RIS or DMS Installation of Patches

Remote Installation Services (RIS) and Dataless Management Services (DMS) installations of patches are not supported. However, the patch kit installation mechanism does support network installation via NFS.

3.6    Direct setld Installation and Removal of Patch Subsets Is Not Allowed

You can install and remove Tru64 UNIX and TruCluster software patches only through dupatch. You cannot directly install or reinstall the patch subsets with setld. This ensures that patch tracking and management are not compromised.

3.7    Limitation for /var/adm/patch/backup Directory Handling

The patch management utility assumes there is one /var/adm/patch/backup directory per system. It does not handle placement of archived original files for multiple systems in one directory.

3.8    Do Not Enter Ctrl/c During Installation Phase

Do not enter a Ctrl/c command during the installation phase of the patch kit.

Caution

As with any system update, entering a Ctrl/c during this phase will leave the operating system software environment in an inconsistent and nonrecoverable state.

3.9    Removing Patches Containing Customized Files

If you use dupatch to remove a patch containing a customized file, messages similar to the following may appear in the session log file, /var/adm/patch/log/session.log: 

Customization found in /<path>/filename
 
Before the backup was restored, we had saved a copy of this file in:
 
   /<path>/filename.PreDel_OSFPATyyy
 
Please compare /<path>/filename with this saved copy.
 
If there are extra customizations you want to keep, you would need
to merge them into <path>/filename manually.
 
/<path>/filename.PreDel_OSFPATyyy
can be removed afterwards.

In this message, /<path>/filename is the full path of the customized file being replaced, and yyy is the patch subset ID number. This message warns you to examine the removed patch for any customized files it may contain. In order to keep those customizations, you will have to manually add them.

The following are examples of such customized files:

3.10    Release Patches Do Not Automatically Supersede CSPs

Currently, release patches cannot automatically supersede dupatch-based customer-specific patches (CSPs). Any release patch blocked by a CSP will result in a dupatch message. See Section A.1.7 for more information.