Appendix B Known Problems

Known Problems in Solaris 7 MU2

This chapter describes known problems relating to the installation and use of the Solaris 7 MU2 software.

Installation Bugs

install_mu Does Not Function Correctly When Starting It Using sh 4062334

Because of problems regarding the interactions between sh(1) and ksh(1), the install_mu utility may fail to install certain patches correctly whenever you start it using the following command from the command line or from an administrative script:

# /bin/sh ./install_mu arguments

Workaround: Execute install_mu from the command line or from an administrative script as follows:

# ./install_mu arguments

install_mu Leaves Files in the /tmp Directory 4108278

install_mu leaves files and working directories in /tmp. The files and directories could cause /tmp to become full, potentially leading to system problems. Files and directories left in /tmp are of the form install* and SUNW*.

Workaround: After install_mu has completed execution, check /tmp for files and directories named install* and SUNW*. If the files were created recently by root, remove them. Or, if the MU was applied to a stand alone machine or server, reboot the system.

Patchadd Displays an Error That It Is Terminating

One of the following benign messages may be displayed by install_mu:

One or more patch packages included in
XXXXXX-YY are not installed on this system.

Patchadd is terminating.

Or:

Installation of XXXXXX-YY failed:
  Attempting to patch a package that is not installed.

These messages indicate that patchadd could not find on your system any of the packages that it intended to patch, so it skipped the indicated patch.

The message is displayed when patchadd notices a discrepancy installing a patch of one architecture onto a system with a different architecture (for example, a sun4u patch on a sun4c system.)

This may also be the result of one or more packages being missing from the system. The package may have been removed by the administrator, or never installed, as in the case of installing a cluster smaller than the Entire Distribution. This is common with diskless clients and AutoClients.

Workaround: Ignore the message.

Backout Bugs

Postpatch Script in 106542-04 Incorrectly Removes /devices Entries on a SPARC Server (4228999)

This condition only applies to SPARC servers that have x86 diskless clients or x86 Solstice AutoClients.

The postpatch script included in the MU2 with patch 106542-04 (x86) removes two /devices/pseudo entries from $ROOTDIR. Deleting these two entries may leave the server in a condition in which /var/utmpx cannot be written to during a subsequent reboot.

Workaround: After backing out the MU2 from a SPARC server that has an x86 diskless client or a Solstice AutoClient service area, execute the postpatch script using any -04 or later revision of patch 106541 for the SPARC platform or patch 106542 for the x86 platform to recreate the missing devices entries on the server.

Before Rebooting a Server:

1. Copy the postpatch script from the following locations on the MU2 CD to the /tmp directory before you reboot the server:

   • SPARC platform:

     # /cdrom/s7_maintenance_update_2_sparc/Solaris_7_MU2/sparc/Patches/106541-04/postpatch

   • x86 platform:

     # /cdrom/s7_maintenance_update_2_x86/Solaris_7_MU2/i386/Patches/106542-04/postpatch

     ---

     Note -

     The script is identical on the SPARC and x86 platforms.

     ---

2. Edit the postpatch script that you copied by adding the following line at the top of the script before any other commands.

   ROOTDIR=/

3. Execute the postpatch script.

   # /tmp/postpatch

If a Server Has Already Been Rebooted:

1. Boot in single user mode from the CD or the network and mount the root filesystem to /a.

2. Copy the postpatch script from the following locations on the MU2 CD to the /a/tmp directory.

3. Edit the postpatch script that you copied by adding the following line at the top of the script before any other commands.

   ROOTDIR=/a

4. Execute the postpatch script.

   # /a/tmp/postpatch