Patch Management User Guide for HP-UX 11.x Systems (5900-3011, April 2013)

Table Of Contents
Rating details ..............................................................................................................36
HP patch rating of 2 ..........................................................................................................36
Rating details ..............................................................................................................37
HP patch rating of 3 ..........................................................................................................37
Rating details ..............................................................................................................37
Critical and noncritical patches................................................................................................37
Finding information for a specific patch.....................................................................................38
Patch documentation..........................................................................................................38
Advanced topic: the readme attribute...................................................................................39
Obtaining information using the HPSC..................................................................................39
Accessing information on the HPSC.................................................................................40
Patch warnings.......................................................................................................................40
The warning field...............................................................................................................40
Critical and noncritical warnings..........................................................................................41
How to handle patch warnings............................................................................................41
Questions to ask................................................................................................................42
Advanced topic: finding patches with warnings.....................................................................42
Backup and recovery..............................................................................................................42
Considerations..................................................................................................................43
4 Patch management overview......................................................................44
Patch management life cycle....................................................................................................44
HP service contracts................................................................................................................47
Patch management and software change management strategies..................................................47
Establishing a software change management strategy ............................................................47
Recommendations for software change management .............................................................48
Consideration of HP patch rating.........................................................................................49
Patch management and software depots...............................................................................49
Proactive patching strategy..................................................................................................50
Acquiring patches for proactive patching.........................................................................50
Advanced topic: HP-UX Software Assistant........................................................................51
Reactive patching strategy...................................................................................................51
Acquiring patches for reactive patching ..........................................................................52
Advanced topic: security patching strategy ...........................................................................52
Advanced topic: scanning for security patches ......................................................................53
Testing the patches to be installed ............................................................................................53
5 What are standard HP-UX patch bundles?...................................................54
Key features...........................................................................................................................54
Standard HP-UX patch bundles.................................................................................................54
Obtaining standard HP-UX patch bundles..................................................................................56
6 Using the HP Support Center.....................................................................57
Obtaining an HPSC user account.............................................................................................57
Useful pages on the HPSC.......................................................................................................57
Find individual patches............................................................................................................58
Key features......................................................................................................................58
Accessing the patch database and finding an individual patch................................................58
Advanced topic: checking for special installation instructions........................................................60
Advanced topic: checking for all patch dependencies.................................................................61
Check for patches with dependencies...................................................................................61
Standard patch bundles...........................................................................................................64
Custom patch bundles - run a patch assessment..........................................................................64
Support information digests......................................................................................................64
Key features......................................................................................................................64
Ask your peers in the forums....................................................................................................64
4 Contents