UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

this is what i got from sunhelp@sunhelp.org

"after untarring the 8_Recommended patches, did you read the "readme"
files for each patch?

many patches have dependencies and unless those dependency patches are
loaded first, the pathc will fail. the readme files list any dependency
(and there are a lot of patches with dependencies)."

according to this guy, the patch cluster is not the solver-of-all-problems.

you need to apply dependant patches before you run the patch cluster.

i was told that the patch cluster will install all patches in order so that you won't have these issues. but this guy is telling me otherwise.

The patch cluster is for recommended and security patches. Other issues not covered by these patches require you to patch with individual patches. This does not mean you go out and try to put every patch Sun puts out on your system. Most of the time if you are putting on a patch, it's because you have a problem that the patch is suppose to fix.

If you don't have the problem, don't use the patch - it may actually break your system. The only one you should keep up to date is the recommended and security patch cluster.

And if there are dependent patches that are required by the patch cluster, you need to put those on first. If you notice there is always a statement about these - it's up to you to know and follow all directions. Usually if our servers will be patched with the R&S patch cluster, it's done on test servers first, development servers second, and then rolled to production so any problems will hopefully show up before production is hit.

One other thing, if you have a Sun contract and you call in about a problem, one of the first things they say is "What is the patch level?". Most of the time their first line of defense is to have you patch the system (with the latest patch cluster) and then call back in if you still see the problem. There are times (many times) that this is a waste of time in trying to solve the problem.