Softpanorama May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)
	Contents	Bulletin	Scripting in shell and Perl	Network troubleshooting	History	Humor

Solaris Packages

News	See also	Recommended books	Recommended Links	Bulk Installation
Checking Installed Packages	Package Installation	Uninstalling Packages	Making New Packages	Tips
pkgadd man	pkgrm man	pkgchk man	pkginfo man	admintool man

All the software distributed as part of Solaris by Sun is released in package format. This includes all the standard shells and command sets. Packages clearly emerge as the preferred way of distributing software on Solaris specifically due to the following features:

Uniform package installation and removal interfaces (pkgadd and pkgrm)
Ability to see exactly which (versions of) packages are installed on the system (pkginfo)
Ability to verify the integrity of the contents of the package (pkgchk)
Ability to specify package dependencies and/or incompatibilities (depend, compver)
Ability to specify additional space requirements for the package (space)
Ability to create custom, dynamic package installation and removal scripts (request, checkinstall, preinstall, postinstall; preremove, postremove, and Class Action scripts)

It is possible to convert RPM to Solaris packages. The most commonly used package management commands are:

pkgadd Adds a package to the target system. Only root can run "pkgadd"
pkgrm Removes an installed package from a target system
pkgchk Checks a file to determine from which package it was installed. In case you suspect unauthorized modification of the file you can check which package an installed file was extracted from by using the pkgchk command
pkginfo Displays information about a package's contents

Here is a list of typical commands used :

List patches applied: # patchadd -p
To apply a patch
Untar the patch tar.Z
# patchadd <dir>
To add a package
# pkgadd -d <package file>
To add a package in tar format
# tar xvfz package.tar.Z
# pkgadd -d .

This will ask you which packages in the
current directory you wish to install.
To remove a package
# pkgrm <package>
To get info on a package
# pkginfo -x <package>
# pkginfo -l <package>
To list all installed packages
# pkginfo
To find out which package a file is in
# grep <file> /var/sadm/install/contents
To find out what files are in a package
# grep <package> /var/sadm/install/contents
To find out what runlevel you're in
# who -r

There are also several command that permit creation of your own custom packages or modification of existing packages:

pkgmk Makes a new package from the specifications contained within a prototype file
pkgproto Develops a new package specification to be stored within a prototype file
pkgtrans Translates all of the files in a directory into a single package archive

In addition, it is possible to use the admintool as a frontend to these commands. Installing packages using admintool has some advantages. Using admintool, you can:

Determine the current runlevel
Determine whether a package is already installed
Determine whether an existing installation is corrupt or only partially installed
Determine whether a new package installation would overwrite existing files
Perform package installations
Permit the execution of setuid/setgid scripts
Permit the installation setuid/setgid files
Print copyright notices
Verify that any pre-installation tasks have been performed
Verify that enough disk space exists for a package to be installed successfully

Package files are text files, meaning that an editor or similar text display program can view their contents. For example, if we downloaded a package for the Apache web server, we could verify its origin by examining its headers:

$ head apache-1.3.12-sol8-sparc-local 
# PaCkAgE DaTaStReAm
SMCapache 1 5392
# end of header
NAME=apache
ARCH=sparc
VERSION=1.3.12
CATEGORY=application
VENDOR=Apache Group
EMAIL=steve@smc.vnet.net

Here, we can see that steve@smc.vnet.net (Steve Christiansen, the maintainer of the www.sunfreeware.com site), created this Apache 1.3.12 archive for the SPARC platform. Following the header material are the actual archived files themselves, packed serially by the pkgmk command.

Checking Installed Packages

The pkginfo command can be used to list all of the packages currently installed on a system:

bash-2.03# pkginfo
application GNUbash        bash
application SMCgcc         gcc
application SMCmake        make
application SMCsamba       samba
system      SUNWab2m       Solaris Documentation Server Lookup
system      SUNWadmap      System administration applications
system      SUNWadmc       System administration core libraries
system      SUNWadmfw      System & Network Administration Framework
system      SUNWadmr       System & Network Administration Root
system      SUNWarc        Archive Libraries
system      SUNWarrf       X11 Arabic required fonts
system      SUNWatfsr      AutoFS, (Root)
system      SUNWatfsu      AutoFS, (Usr)
system      SUNWaudio      Audio applications
system      SUNWbcp        SunOS 4.x Binary Compatibility
system      SUNWbtool      CCS tools bundled with SunOS
system      SUNWcar        Core Architecture, (Root)
system      SUNWcg6        GX (cg6) Device Driver
system      SUNWcg6h       GX (cg6) Header Files

This target system has a number of system and application packages already installed, including SUNWadmap (system administration applications) and bash, the Bourne again shell (GNUbash), respectively.

Package Installation

Packages can be added easily by using the pkgadd command. Continuing with the example of the Apache file, we would use the following command to install it on a target system:

# /usr/sbin/pkgadd -d apache-1.3.6-sol7-sparc-local

Once the headers have been processed, the following message is displayed:

The following packages are available:
  1  SMCapache     apache (sparc) 1.3.12

Select package(s) you wish to process (or 'all' to process
all packages). (default: all) [?,??,q]:

Typing Enter or 1 here will install the SMCapache package:

Processing package instance <SMCapache> from </tmp/apache-1.3.12-sol8-sparc-local>

apache
(sparc) 1.3.12
Apache Group
Using </usr/local> as the package base directory.
## Processing package information.
## Processing system information.
   1 package pathname is already properly installed.
## Verifying disk space requirements.
## Checking for conflicts with packages already installed.
## Checking for setuid/setgid programs.

Installing apache as <SMCapache>

## Installing part 1 of 1.
/usr/local/apache/bin/ab
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl
...
/usr/local/doc/apache/README.NT
/usr/local/doc/apache/README.configure
/usr/local/doc/apache/WARNING-NT.TXT
[ verifying class <none> ]

Installation of <SMCapache> was successful.

This is the idealized example. Realistically, pkgadd often asks you to confirm various parameters and/or changes that it needs to install the software correctly. For example, if a directory already exists, and an attribute change needs to be made, you would encounter the following:

## Checking for conflicts with packages already installed.
The following files are already installed on the system and are being
used by another package:
* /usr/local/apache <attribute change only>

* - conflict with a file which does not belong to any package.

Do you want to install these conflicting files [y,n,?,q]

Typing y will make the attribute change as requested, and installation will continue as normal.

After processing package and system information, and checking that the required amount of disk space is available, the pkgadd command copies all files from the archive to the local filesystem.

Uninstalling Packages

Packages can be removed from a system at any time with the pkgrm command. Before uninstalling a package, it's wise to ensure that no processes are using any of the files contained in the package, by using the ps and lsof commands. To remove the SMCapache package we installed earlier, use the following command:

bash-2.03# pkgrm SMCapache

The following package is currently installed:
   SMCapache       apache
                   (sparc) 1.3.12

Do you want to remove this package? y

## Removing installed package instance <SMCapache>
## Verifying package dependencies.
## Removing pathnames in class <none>
/usr/local/doc/apache/WARNING-NT.TXT
/usr/local/doc/apache/README.configure
/usr/local/doc/apache/README.NT
/usr/local/doc/apache/README
/usr/local/doc/apache/Makefile.tmpl
...
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl
/usr/local/apache/bin/ab
/usr/local/apache/bin
/usr/local/apache <non-empty directory not removed>
## Updating system information.

Removal of <SMCapache> was successful.

Making New Packages

News

Various Solaris package and patch commands

To: bofh@PIsoftware.com
Subject: Various Solaris package and patch commands
From: Bradley Marshall <bmarshal@PIsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 14:42:19 +1000
User-agent: Mutt/1.3.23i

Hi,

Below is a random list of commands / ways of doing things under Solaris
I've picked up while installing stuff on the Sun box.

o List patches applied:
    # patchadd -p

o To apply a patch
    Untar the patch tar.Z
    # patchadd <dir>

o To add a package
    # pkgadd -d <package file>

o To add a package in tar format
    # tar xvfz package.tar.Z
    # pkgadd -d .

  This will ask you which packages in the
  current directory you wish to install.

o To remove a package
    # pkgrm <package>

o To get info on a package
    # pkginfo -x <package>
    # pkginfo -l <package>

o To list all installed packages
    # pkginfo

o To find out which package a file is in
    # grep <file> /var/sadm/install/contents

o To find out what files are in a package
    # grep <package> /var/sadm/install/contents

o To find out what runlevel you're in
    # who -r

Downloading and Installing Packages

Carefully follow the download - uncompress - install steps below:

Download When downloading a file, make sure you are saving in binary (not text) mode. Check that the filesize matches the size listed above after downloading.

Uncompress First unzip the package file. This creates a file without the .zip extension. This is a package "datastream" file, which is suitable for installation by pkgadd. For example,
unzip fortune-off-5.2-i86pc-solaris5.7.zip;

Note: If you are running an old version of Solaris (2.5.1 or earlier), you may not have unzip, download unzip for Solaris from here for SPARC or here for Intel/x86. Rename the unzip program as "unzip" and make it executable:
chmod +x unzip

Install Become root (login or su -). Change to the directory containing the package. Use /usr/sbin/pkgadd to install packages after they are uncompressed. For example,
pkgadd -d fortune-off-5.2-i86pc-solaris5.7

Use "pkginfo -l to verify the package is isntalled. For example, pkginfo -l fortune The files you installed from the package are listed at the end of file /var/sadm/install/contents to list information about the pac

Problems? If you have problems, see Steven Christensen's excellent Download and Installation Instructions and Package FAQ.

If you want to ask a question go to the Solaris On Intel mailing list or alt.solaris.x86 USENET newsgroup for Intel/x86 problems or comp.unix.solaris USENET newsgroup for Solaris (Sparc or Intel) problems.

Bulk Solaris Packages Installation

One should create a list of packages to install to the server. for example the following are a resonable subset:

top-3.5beta12.5-sol8-sparc-local (Optional)
gcc-3.0.3-sol8-sparc-local
lsof
cvs-1.11.5-sol8-sparc-local (Optional)

The question arise how to install them with minimal hassle. there are generally three approaches to the problem:

To use pkg-get, an automated tool to grab packages from www.sunfreeware.com. Modeled after Debian linux's "apt-get".
To use Solaris Software companion installer (if all packages are on the CD)
Using custom scripts and noack file (see below)

Auto Installation of Solaris Packages

Feel free to use more recent version if they are available. To install the packages you first need to unzip them and then issue the following commands:
su root
pkgadd -d gzip-1.3.5-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d tar-1.13.19-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d top-3.5beta12.5-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d gcc-3.0.3-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d binutils-2.11.2-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d zlib-1.1.4-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d perl-5.8.0-sol8-sparc-local
pkgadd -d cvs-1.11.5-sol8-sparc-local
We've added a lot of software to the system and we need to ensure that the additional programs and libraries can be found. To do this we need to edit /etc/profile (System wide) or $HOME/.profile (User specific). Whichever file(s) you decide to edit you should ensure that they contain the following lines:-
export PATH
PATH=/usr/local/bin:${PATH}
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
Note: Each users has there own .profile file located in their default directory. By default each of these files defines their own PATH variable with a hardcoded directory list (i.e. /usr/local/bin is not included). Your options are:- 1) To manually add /usr/local/bin to the PATH declaration in .profile, or, 2) To edit .profile and change the PATH definition so that it takes into account the existing paths.

When you issue a "su root" command the paths are reset and /usr/local/bin is no longer included. To set the default path for the su command it is necessary to edit /etc/default/su. Simply search this file for "SUPATH=" and insert /usr/local/bin immediately following the "=" Make sure you insert a Colon ":" between /usr/local/bin and any existing directories.

Note: If the "SUPATH=" declaration was commented out then simply remove the "#" character.

What I often have to do is install a whole bunch of packages onto a new machine, (or domain on an Enterprise system), and if I had to do it manually, even with the benefit of a script to unpack each package tgz file, it'd take a lot of time. (Not as much time as compiling and installing all the files on each machine, but when you have to install all the files on a lab of 20 new machines, half an hour each makes for a long tedious day This way you can rcp out the scripts and the files, fire off the install scripts in parallel and then go chat to the cute new girl/guy).

What one can do is have a simple shell script which installs all of the packages you want, plus a special file which tells pkgadd to not ask you any questions and to just install the packages as is.

Here is a shell script to install a group of packages automatically:

#!/bin/sh -x
umask 000
/usr/bin/tar -xvvf GNUzip.1.2.4.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tar
/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask GNUzip
rm -rf GNUzip
/usr/local/bin/gunzip -c GNUbison.1.25.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tgz | /usr/bin/tar -xvvf -
/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask GNUbison
rm -rf GNUbison
/usr/local/bin/gunzip -c GNUcvs.1.9.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tgz | /usr/bin/tar -xvvf -
/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask GNUcvs
rm -rf GNUcvs
/usr/local/bin/gunzip -c GNUflex.2.5.4a.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tgz | /usr/bin/tar -xvvf -
/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask GNUflex
rm -rf GNUflex
/usr/local/bin/gunzip -c GNUgcc.2.8.1.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tgz | /usr/bin/tar -xvvf -
/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask GNUgcc
rm -rf GNUgcc
/usr/local/bin/gunzip -c GNUgdb.4.16.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tgz | /usr/bin/tar -xvvf -
/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask GNUgdb
rm -rf GNUgdb

You can see the pkgadd line has a -a noask option. This tells pkgadd to refer to the noask file when it reaches a point in the package installation where it needs to ask a question. The noask file essentially tells pkgadd to skip any checks and just go ahead. Since I've made all the packages I am installing, I know how the system will look after the bulk installation, and that suits me just fine.

The noask file contains:

mail=
instance=overwrite
partial=nocheck
runlevel=nocheck
idepend=nocheck
rdepend=nocheck
space=nocheck
setuid=nocheck
conflict=nocheck
action=nocheck
basedir=default

Below is a perl script to build another script which will do the bulk install for you. It relies on some conventions in the package name that don't always apply. For instance it will use the first word in the large package file to attempt to pkgadd the packge. E.g. when GNUbison.1.28.SPARC.Solaris.2.6.pkg.tgz is added to the system the package name to add is GNUbison. This is true for 95% of the packages. However some packages have names that won't fit into the nine character limit on package names so they have been 'crunched' up, or it made sense to call the package something else. E.g GNUghostscript installs as GNUghoscr and fvwm installs as fvwm2.

How does this affect the script below? Not too much since it automatically checks to see if the guessed at package installed. If it didn't, then it doesn't delete the files afterwards. If you don't actually want to have your big package files deleted after installation then remember to modify the script first.

Note: You need to manually add GNUzip and perl onto your system first.

Here is is:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
#
# Program : mkbulkinstaller
# Author : Mark <mark@zang.com>
# Date : 27th December 1999
# Purpose : Generate package bulk installation script
#
open(NOASK, ">noask");
print NOASK "mail=\n";
print NOASK "instance=overwrite\npartial=nocheck\nrunlevel=nocheck\n";
print NOASK "idepend=nocheck\nrdepend=nocheck\nspace=nocheck\n";
print NOASK "setuid=nocheck\nconflict=nocheck\naction=nocheck\n";
print NOASK "basedir=default\n";
close(NOASK);

opendir(DIR, ".");
@files = readdir(DIR);
closedir(DIR);

open(OUTPUT, ">bulkinstall");
print OUTPUT "#!/bin/sh -x\n";
print OUTPUT "umask 000\n";

# The pkgname is usually right 95% of the time. If the name is different then
# you will have to manually add the package.

foreach $file (@files) {
next if ($file !~ /\.pkg\.tgz$/);
print OUTPUT "/usr/local/bin/gunzip -c $file | /usr/bin/tar -xvvf -\n";
$pkgname = $file;
$pkgname =~ s/\..*//;
print OUTPUT "/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d. -a noask $pkgname\n";
print OUTPUT "if [ \$? -eq 0 ]; then\n";
print OUTPUT " /bin/rm -rf $file\n";
print OUTPUT "fi\n";
print OUTPUT "/bin/rm -rf $pkgname\n";
}
close(OUTPUT);
chmod(0755, "bulkinstall");
chmod(0644, "noask");

Tips

Get all suid files from the /var/sadm/install/contents database:

grep "[46][0-9][0-9][0-9] root" /var/sadm/install/contents | wc -l

To what package the file /usr/bin/ls belongs:

pkgchk -lp /usr/bin/ls

Etc

Most popular humor pages:

Manifest of the Softpanorama IT Slacker Society : Ten Commandments of the IT Slackers Society : Computer Humor Collection : BSD Logo Story : The Cuckoo's Egg : C++ Humor : ARE YOU A BBS ADDICT? : Object oriented programmers of all nations : C Humor : Financial Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : Richard Stallman Related Humor : Admin Humor : Perl-related Humor : Linus Torvalds Related humor : PseudoScience Related Humor : Networking Humor : Shell Humor: Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2012 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2013 : Java Humor : Software Engineering Humor : Sun Solaris Related Humor : The Most Comprehensive Collection of Editor-related Humor : Microsoft plans to buy Catholic Church : Education Humor : IBM Humor : Assembler-related Humor : VIM Humor Computer Viruses Humor : Bright tomorrow is rescheduled to a day after tomorrow : Classic Computer Humor : Best Russian Programmer Humor : Russian Musical Humor : The Perl Purity Test : Politically Incorrect Humor : GPL-related Humor : OFM Humor : IDS Humor : Real Programmers Humor : Scripting Humor : Web Humor : Programming Language Humor : Goldman Sachs related humor : Greenspan humor :

The Last but not Least

Copyright © 1996-2013 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov. www.softpanorama.org was created as a service to the UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) in the author free time. This document is an industrial compilation designed and created exclusively for educational use and is distributed under the Softpanorama Content License. Site uses AdSense so you need to be aware of Google privacy policy. Original materials copyright belong to respective owners. Quotes are made for educational purposes only in compliance with the fair use doctrine. This is a Spartan WHYFF (We Help You For Free) site written by people for whom English is not a native language. Grammar and spelling errors should be expected. The site contain some broken links as it develops like a living tree...

You can use PayPal to make a contribution, supporting hosting of this site with different providers to distribute and speed up access. Currently there are two functional mirrors: softpanorama.info (the fastest) and softpanorama.net.

Disclaimer:

The statements, views and opinions presented on this web page are those of the author and are not endorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflect, the opinions of the author present and former employers, SDNP or any other organization the author may be associated with. We do not warrant the correctness of the information provided or its fitness for any purpose.

Last modified: December 19, 2004

lose(OUTPUT);
chmod(0755, "bulkinstall");
chmod(0644, "noask");