Patch Management User Guide for HP-UX 11.x Systems (762796-001, March 2014)

HP patch rating of 1 ..........................................................................................................37
Rating details ..............................................................................................................37
HP patch rating of 2 ..........................................................................................................37
Rating details ..............................................................................................................38
HP patch rating of 3 ..........................................................................................................38
Rating details ..............................................................................................................38
Critical and noncritical patches................................................................................................38
Finding information for a specific patch.....................................................................................39
Patch documentation..........................................................................................................39
Advanced topic: the readme attribute...................................................................................40
Obtaining information using the HPSC..................................................................................40
Accessing information on the HPSC.................................................................................41
Patch warnings.......................................................................................................................41
The warning field...............................................................................................................41
Critical and noncritical warnings..........................................................................................42
How to handle patch warnings............................................................................................42
Questions to ask................................................................................................................43
Advanced topic: finding patches with warnings.....................................................................43
Backup and recovery..............................................................................................................43
Considerations..................................................................................................................44
5 Patch management overview......................................................................45
Patch management life cycle....................................................................................................45
HP service contracts................................................................................................................48
Patch management and software change management strategies..................................................48
Establishing a software change management strategy ............................................................48
Recommendations for software change management .............................................................49
Consideration of HP patch rating.........................................................................................50
Patch management and software depots...............................................................................50
Proactive patching strategy..................................................................................................51
Acquiring patches for proactive patching.........................................................................51
Advanced topic: HP-UX Software Assistant........................................................................52
Reactive patching strategy...................................................................................................52
Acquiring patches for reactive patching ..........................................................................53
Advanced topic: security patching strategy ...........................................................................53
Advanced topic: scanning for security patches ......................................................................54
Testing the patches to be installed ............................................................................................54
6 What are standard HP-UX patch bundles?...................................................55
Key features...........................................................................................................................55
Standard HP-UX patch bundles.................................................................................................55
Obtaining standard HP-UX patch bundles..................................................................................57
7 Using the HP Support Center.....................................................................58
Obtaining an HPSC user account.............................................................................................58
Useful pages on the HPSC.......................................................................................................58
Find individual patches............................................................................................................59
Key features......................................................................................................................59
Accessing the patch database and finding an individual patch................................................59
Advanced topic: checking for special installation instructions........................................................61
Advanced topic: checking for all patch dependencies.................................................................62
Check for patches with dependencies...................................................................................62
Standard patch bundles...........................................................................................................65
Custom patch bundles - run a patch assessment..........................................................................65
Support information digests......................................................................................................65
Key features......................................................................................................................65
4 Contents