Preparing a System for Upgrade

6

Overview

This chapter provides some guidelines for performing an upgrade installation and for preserving local modifications before upgrading from a previous version of Solaris software.

Can You Use Upgrade?

Upgrade and initial are options in the Solaris installation program that determine how Solaris software is copied to disk:

Upgrade - This option merges the new version of Solaris software with existing files on the system's disk. It saves as many local modifications as possible.
Initial - This option overwrites the system's disk with the new version of Solaris software.

Note - The upgrade option is not available for 4.1.x systems. Because you must use the initial installation option, backing up your data is critical. See the Solaris 1.x to 2.x Transition Guide for information.

To determine if your system supports the upgrade, see the following table.


 Upgrade Option Is Available  


 If at least one disk attached to the system has a Solaris 2.1 or later root file system.  
 1) To determine if the system has a root file  system, type the following command:  
       df -a  
   Look for a line of output similar to the following:  
   Filesystem          kbytes used       avail   capacity      Mounted on  
   /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s048295       15665    27810      36%        /  
 2) To determine if the system is running Solaris 2.1 or later, type the following  
   commands:  
    cd /var/sadm/softinfo  
    more INST_RELEASE

Note - The upgrade option may require deleting software packages if the disk is full; this requires knowledge of packages and dependencies.

Upgrading and Install Patches

You do not need to back out install patches before performing an upgrade.

Check Other Software Documentation

Check the documentation of other software you are running (e.g. Solstice^{^(TM)} DiskSuite^{^(TM)}, FrameMaker^{^(R)}) before using the upgrade option. There may be additional instructions you need to follow to preserve existing configurations.

If You're Using Custom JumpStart

Make sure you change the profile keyword from initial to upgrade in your profiles.

If You Override the Boot File Location

For Solaris 2.5 and later, the kernel resides in /platform/<arch>/kernel/unix; not in /kernel/unix.If you override the boot file location by explicitly setting it to kernel/unix, you can successfully install Solaris software, but you won't be able to boot the system.

Upgrading Dataless Clients

Dataless clients do not get automatically upgraded when the OS server is upgraded. After upgrading the OS server, you must perform an upgrade on dataless clients.

Important Files For Upgrading

The following files must be present on standalone systems, servers, and each diskless client being upgraded:

/var/sadm/softinfor/INST_RELEASE
/var/sadm/install/contents
/var/sadm/install_data.clustertoc
/var/sadm/install_data/CLUSTER

Backing Up Your System

Always back up an existing system before using the upgrade option and installing a new version of Solaris software. The safest backup to perform is a level 0 dump of all the file systems connected to the system being upgraded. If you do not have an established backup procedure, see System Administration Guide, Volume I.

Preserving Local Modifications

During an upgrade, the Solaris installation program attempts to preserve local modifications to the system whenever possible; however, sometimes local modifications can make an upgrade fail or perform differently than you would expect. Table 6-1 indicates tasks you should perform before upgrading to make your upgrade a success.

Table 6-1

What to Do Before Upgrading	How to	Why
Preserve symbolic links	Replace symbolic links that use absolute paths with symbolic links that use relative paths.	During an upgrade, the installation program cannot reference symbolic links that use absolute paths, because the Solaris installation program mounts the root (`/`) file
	For example, if `/usr/openwin` is a symbolic link to `/export/openwin`	system at `/a`. For example, a symbolic link to `/export/openwin` would fail, because during an upgrade, `/export/openwin` is really `/a/export/openwin`.
	change the symbolic link to `../export/openwin`	When the Solaris installation program cannot reference a symbolic link, it will overwrite the symbolic link and install the software (the installation program doesn't think the software exists). As a result, duplicate software will be installed on the system and the upgrade may fail because of insufficient disk space.
Preserve symbolic links to automounted file systems	Remove packages (by using Software Manager or the `pkgrm` command) that will create files or directories currently automounted.	The automounter is not active during an upgrade, so the Solaris installation program installs any package's files or directories that are symbolic links to automounted file systems. If a symbolic link is overwritten, the upgrade may fail because of insufficient disk space. (If you cannot remove a package, you can replace the symbolic link after the upgrade is completed.) Note: The `/var/mail` and `/var/news` directories, which usually reside on an automounted file system, are not affected by an upgrade.

Table 6-1 (Continued)

What to Do Before Upgrading	How to	Why
Prevent unneeded file systems from being mounted	Comment out file systems in the `/etc/vfstab` file that you do not want mounted during an upgrade.	During an upgrade, the Solaris installation program attempts to mount all the file systems listed in the `/etc/vfstab` file on the root file system being upgraded. If the Solaris installation program cannot mount a file system, it reports the failure and exits.