I'm trying to install packages that I downloaded from Sun made for Solaris 8 sparc. I keep getting the following message and can't seem to figure out why it won't install. I even specified absolute path to no avail. The readme file said something about me having to install libxml first, which I did, however the problem persists. Any help is so appreciated. I have also included the readme plus the file attributes (ls -la).

---[ERROR MSG][ERROR MSG][ERROR MSG][ERROR MSG][ERROR MSG]---

bash-2.03# pkgadd -d /var/tmp/svctag/SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg

pkgadd: ERROR: attempt to process datastream failed
- bad format in datastream table-of-contents
pkgadd: ERROR: could not process datastream from /var/tmp/svctag/SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg>

-----[LS -LA][LS -LA][LS -LA][LS -LA][LS -LA][LS -LA]-----

bash-2.03# ls -la SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 19968 Jan 18 18:29 SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg

-----[README][README][README][README][README][README]-----

README file for Service Tag 1.1.3 on Solaris 8 and 9 SPARC

1. Platforms

The packages included here are intended for installation on Solaris 8 and 9, SPARC.
2. Installation As super-user:

# pkgadd -d SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg
# pkgadd -d SUNWservicetagu.sparc.s89.pkg
# pkgadd -d SUNWstosreg.sparc.s89.pkg
# pkgadd -d SUNWpsn.sparc.s89.pkg

Notes:
1. libxml dependency
The Service Tag product is dependent upon the SUNWlxml package, which provides XML manipulation functionality. This package is standard on newer Solaris versions but will likely not exist on Solaris 8 installations. To verify if you need to install libxml:

% pkginfo SUNWlxml

If you get: ERROR: information for "SUNWlxml" was not found

-You'll need to download the Solaris 8 version of libxml before proceeding with the Service Tag installation.

SUNWlxml download and installation instructions:

(you'll need a Sun Download Account for this. They are free if you do not have one already)

(a) Then, go to: Sun Validation Test Suite (SunVTS) and Developers Toolkit

(b) Select "SunVTS 5.1PS11, Toolkit and Documentation"
-This option should list "Solaris 8" as one of the supported operating systems.

(c) Select "SPARC" and enter your Sun Download Account/Passsword

(d) On the next page, just download the single option: "XML packages (SUNWlxml, SUNWlxmlx)"

(e) Now you can install SUNWlxml, as super-user:

# tar xf s8xmlpkgs.tar
# pkgadd -d . SUNWlxml
-Note that SUNWxmlx is not needed

2. The Service Tag infrastructure now uses a fixed uid for the "svctag" identity used for registry ownership. If you get this error during the installation of the SUNWservicetagr package: ERROR: User svctag is not UID 95

pkgadd: ERROR: preinstall script did not complete successfully

-you'll need to modify the "svctag" uid via: # usermod -u 95 svctag before proceeding.

have you already instatlled the mentioned "SUNWlxml" package?

yea and it gave me a "installation complete" at the end, no errors.

in fact....

bash-2.03# pkginfo SUNWlxml
system SUNWlxml The XML library

what is the output of:

bash-2.03# file /var/tmp/svctag/SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg
/var/tmp/svctag/SUNWservicetagr.sparc.s89.pkg: English text

the file is no pkg... so the error message is true and you've done nothing wrong while installation. maybe the package is corrupt or something went wrong during unpacking... where do you download the package?

I download it from Sun.com. I visit the URL as said in the readme file.

I actually go to Sun Validation Test Suite (SunVTS) and Developers Toolkit and download a whole folder in zip format to my windows desktop, unzip the contents, then winSCP the files over to the unix box.

Maybe here is the problem?

yeah, better download the file (validate checksum if present) and transfer the zip file via scp to your solaris box.

I downloaded the zip folder to my windows PC (since I don't have internet access on the unix box) and then winSCP the zip folder over to the unix box and then proceeded to unzip...unfortunately, this still did not work.

same error.

What does this fila actually look like? Use e.g. "head -n 40 package_name.pkg" (show first 40 lines) and compare lines with those of another, already installed package. Do they generally look the same? (currently I am not sitting on a Sun, but if I remember right those package files do start with some descriptive "text table" lines not unlike .lsm format)