HP-UX 11i June 2002 Release Notes

Installation
Software Distributor (SD-UX)
Chapter 8
159
New Environment Variable, SW_COMPATIBLE, Created
A new environment variable, SW_COMPATIBLE, has been created for use during the
execution of a verify script that is called by the swverify command. If the software being
considered is compatible with the system it is installed on, the variable will be set to
TRUE. If it is incompatible, it will be set to FALSE. This new variable will help
control-script writers determine if installed software is incompatible and should be
removed from a system.
SD-UX Changes to Patch Installation
The SD-UX patch installation paradigm has changed for HP-UX 11i. To install patches
on HP-UX 10.x systems, HP recommended that you use the match_target (Match What
Target Has) option to match patches to the target. However, 10.x SD-UX could not
identify specific software as patches.
With HP-UX 11i, SD-UX can recognize patches based on their “internal attributes.” This
provides more control over patch management than in previous releases.
patch_match_target
The match_target option still functions, but no longer matches patches to targets. With
11i, setting the patch_match_target option to TRUE automatically selects the latest
patches that correspond to software on the target. The default setting is
patch_match_target=false.
NOTE Since the patch_match_target and match_target options cannot both be set to TRUE in
the same swinstall command, you should use the match_target option to update from
HP-UX 10.x, but use patch_match_target to install new patches on systems already
running HP-UX 11i. (This option selects patches that apply to software already installed
on an 11i system.
The 11i autoselect_patches option (TRUE by default) automatically selects patches to
match software selected for installation. It lets you install patches at the same time you
install base software. In addition to the base software selected by the match_target
option, the autoselect_patches option provides the means for selecting appropriate
patches during the update process.
Patch Filtering
With 11i, you can more interactively manage your patch process via Patch Filtering. By
using the category_tag and patch_filter options plus various version qualifiers, you
can select patches based on pre-defined criteria.
Category Tag Information
With 11i, SD-UX category tags are used to identify types of patches. These category tags
can be used to select various patches for installation. The category tags include the
following:
general_release
critical
hardware_enablement
defect_repair