IBM Certification Guide AIX V4.3 System Administration

4.4 Installing Optional Software and Service Updates

Once you have installed the base operating system, only a limited number of filesets are installed on your system. For a complete listing of the software that is installed during the BOS installation, please refer to Appendix B of AIX Version 4.3 Installation Guide, SC23-4112.

In order to install additional software, you can use SMIT or the command line. If you decide to use the command line to install your software, you should be familiar with the installp command.

4.4.1 The installp Command

The installp command is used to install and update software. The installp command has a large number of flags. In the following sections, only the most important flags are shown with each command. The installp command is also used by all the SMIT scripts to install software.

4.4.1.1 Installing Optional Software

To install software with apply only or with apply and commit, the command syntax for the installp command is:

installp [ -a | -ac [ -N ] ] [ -eLogFile ] [ -V Number ] [ -dDevice ] [ -b ] [ -S ] [ -B ] [ -D ] [ -I ] [ -p ] [ -Q ] [ -q ] [ -v ] [ -X ] [ -F | -g ] [ -O { [ r ] [ s ] [ u ] } ] [ -tSaveDirectory ] [ -w ] [ -zBlockSize ] { FilesetName [ Level ]... | -f ListFile | all }

For example, in order to install all filesets within the bos.net software package in /usr/sys/inst.images directory, enter:

installp -aX -d/usr/sys/inst.images bos.net

Execution of this command will install the bos.net filesets and will automatically commit them as well.

4.4.1.2 Committing Applied Updates

To commit applied updates, the command syntax for installp command is:

installp-c [ -eLogFile ] [ -VNumber ] [ -b ] [ -g ] [ -p ] [ -v ] [ -X ] [ -O { [ r ] [ s ] [ u ] } ] [ -w ] { FilesetName [ Level ]... | -f ListFile | all }

For example, in order to commit all updates, enter:

installp -cgX all

Execution of this command will commit all the updates and will remove the previous version's filesets.

4.4.1.3 Rejecting Applied Updates

To reject the updates that are in the applied state, the command syntax for the installp command is:

installp -r [ -eLogFile ] [ -VNumber ] [ -b ] [ -g ] [ -p ] [ -v ] [ -X ] [ -O { [ r ] [ s ] [ u ] } ] [ -w ] { FilesetName [ Level ]... | -f ListFile }

For example, in order to reject all updates that were applied to the bos.net package, enter:

installp -rBpX bos.net

Execution of this command will remove all the uncommitted updates and bring the system back to the previous maintenance level.

4.4.1.4 Removing Installed Software

If you want to remove an installed product, that is, remove all files that belong to that software from the system, the command syntax for the installp command is:

installp -u [ -eLogFile ] [ -VNumber ] [ -b ] [ -g ] [ -p ] [ -v ] [ -X ] [ -O { [ r ] [ s ] [ u ] } ] [ -w ] { FilesetName [ Level ]... | -f ListFile }

For example, in order to remove bos.net files that belong to that product in a preview mode, enter:

installp -ugp -V2 bos.net

Execution of this command will give you a list of files that will be removed and will not actually run the command.

4.4.1.5 Cleaning Up After Failed Installations

If an installation fails, installp will not be able to install the same software until you perform a clean operation. Therefore, in order to remove the incomplete filesets that were installed when the installation failed, you can use the installp command as follows:

installp -C [ -b ] [ -eLogFile ]

For example, if all the prerequisites in an installation are not met, the installp command might fail. You will not be able to reinstall the product until you have done a cleanup. In order to do this, enter:

installp -C

This will remove all the files installed in the failed installation.

4.4.1.6 Listing All Installable Software on Media

In order to see what software is available on a particular media, the command syntax for the installp command is:

installp { -l | -L } [ -eLogFile ] [ -d Device ] [ -B ] [ -I ] [ -q ] [ -zBlockSize ] [ -O { [ s ] [ u ] } ]

For example, in order to list the software that is on your CD-ROM, enter:

installp -L -d /dev/cd0

The flags commonly used with the installp command are listed in Table 20.

Table 20: installp Command Flags

4.4.2 Using smitty install_update

SMIT can be used to install software and updates. A number of menus are available to you for these tasks. To install software products, use the SMIT fast path:

smitty install_latest
A screen similar to Figure 20 is shown.

Figure 20: installp - Step 1
Enter the device name for installation in INPUT device /directory for software field. A screen similar to Figure 21 is shown:

Figure 21: installp - Step 2
In the SOFTWARE to install field, either enter the name, if you know what you have to install, or press F4 to get a list of all the available software. Press Enter once you have selected the products you want to install.
It is recommended that you first verify that the software you are trying to install meets all the prerequisite and co-requisite requirements. It is a good practice to set the PREVIEW only? (install operation will NOT occur) field to YES. This will give you a detailed listing of whether your installation will be successful or not.
It is recommended that you accept the default values for the AUTOMATICALLY install requisite software (default YES) and EXTEND file systems (default YES) fields if space is needed. Your installation might fail if you tell installp not to extend the file system if it runs out of space. An error similar to the one shown below can be encountered:
```
0503-008 installp: There is not enough free disk space in file system
/usr (506935 more 512-byte blocks are required). An attempt to extend
this file system was unsuccessful. Make more space available, then retry
this operation.
```
Press Enter.
Look at the error messages, if any, at the end of the command execution when the command status changes to failed. It is recommended that you look at your smit.log even if the command status reports OK since there may be filesets that you wanted to install which the system did not attempt to install.

Once you have read the log, and there are no misses and failures, you have successfully installed the optional software.

Note

If you try to run two installp commands at a time from the same installation medium, it will fail with an error similar to:
0503-430 installp: Either there is an installp process currently running or there is a previously failed installation. Wait for the process to complete or run installp -C to cleanup a failed installation.

Note
If you try to run two `installp` commands at a time from the same installation medium, it will fail with an error similar to: 0503-430 installp: Either there is an installp process currently running or there is a previously failed installation. Wait for the process to complete or run installp -C to cleanup a failed installation.

4.5 Software Products and Update Maintenance