Software Distributor Administration Guide (March 2009)

Table Of Contents
1 Introduction to Software Distributor
This chapter contains overview information and explains important concepts that will
help you use the Software Distributor (SD-UX) commands most effectively.
Table 1-1 Chapter Topics
Topics:
“SD-UX Overview” (page 23)
“SD-UX Concepts” (page 26)
“Using the GUI and TUI Commands” (page 31)
“Working from the Command Line” (page 46)
1.1 SD-UX Overview
Software Distributor for HP-UX (SD-UX) provides you with a powerful set of tools for
centralized HP-UX software management. When connected by a LAN or WAN, each
computer running SD-UX can act as a server, allowing its resources to be managed or
accessed by other machines, or as a client, managing or using the resources of other
machines.
Software Distributor commands are included with the HP-UX operating system and,
by default, manage software on a local host only. You can also enable remote operations,
which let you install and manage software simultaneously on multiple remote hosts
connected to a central controller.
Note that SD-UX running under HP-UX 11.00 and higher versions does not support
NFS diskless clusters.
1.1.1 Network Requirements
Networked systems must support TCP/IP.
Because Software Distributor is based on distributed, client/server technology, it
requires some networking functionality on the host system for proper execution.
These networking services are only available in UNIX Run Level 2 (Multi-User
mode) and above. Software Distributor cannot run in Single-User mode.
1.1.2 SD-UX Programs and Commands
The following list provides a brief description of each command and references for
more detailed information.
1.1 SD-UX Overview 23