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

9. Monitor the screen for error messages.
The system reboots automatically if any of the patches you are installing requires it. Be patient.
The patch installation can be slow for large numbers of patches.
10. Verify that the installation was successful:
• Enter the command: swlist -l product
Ensure that the installed patches are shown in the output.
• Execute the swverify command on each of the new patches:
swverify patch_id
◦ This command might not always complete in a short period of time.
◦ If the verification is successful, the last few lines of output contain the line "*
Verification succeeded."
◦ If the verification was not successful, view the /var/adm/sw/swagent.log filefor
additional information related to the swverify command failure. If this is not
sufficient to resolve the problem, consult more advanced resources in Section :
“Related information” (page 95).
• View the swagent log file, located at /var/adm/sw/swagent.log. This log includes
information related to the installation.
◦ Find the section pertaining to the installation just performed (located near the end of
the file if you check it immediately after the install). Review this section, and ensure
that there were no errors ("ERROR").
◦ If you find errors, consult more advanced resources in Section : “Related information”
(page 95) to resolve the problem.
Advanced topic: using Dynamic Root Disk (DRD)
By using Dynamic Root Disk (DRD) you can minimize the downtime required to apply patches, do
most of your proactive maintenance during normal business hours, and have a fast, reliable backup
mechanism if your system does not function as expected after the application of the patches. With
DRD, you create a copy (or clone) of the root disk that you can apply patches to while your system
is still up and running. Once all the patches are loaded on the clone, you can then reboot the
system, using the clone as your active root volume. If for any reason you decide the patched root
volume does not perform as you desire, you can quickly reboot the original system image. Note
that if you are only applying a few patches, the time it takes to create a clone using DRD (similar
to the time required by Ignite-UX to create a recovery image) might not be a valuable investment
of your time. For more information, please see Chapter 9 (page 89).
16 Quick start guide for patching HP-UX systems