You need to have some
background on the way software is organized in Software Distributor.
There are the four following types of objects into which software is
grouped in Software Distributor: bundle, product, subproduct, and
fileset. Figure 1 shows the hierarchy of Software Distributor objects.
You can look at the bundle in Figure 1
as a group of software. This can be products, subproducts, and
filesets, as shown in the diagram. The concept here is to organize
software in such a way that it is easy to manage. The diagram shows that
some filesets are shared between different bundles and products. This
hierarchical organization and sharing makes managing software with
Software Distributor flexible.
Here are some of the common software management-related tasks you can perform with Software Distributor.
Installing and Updating Software (Command Line or GUI)
The swinstall
command is used to install and update software. The source of the
software you are loading can come from a variety of places, including,
CD-ROM, magnetic tape, or a "depot" directory from which software can be
distributed. Using the depot, you can load software into a directory
and then install and update software on other nodes from this directory.
Software loaded from CD-ROM with Software Distributor must be loaded
onto the local system; this technique is used in the upcoming example.
You have a lot of flexibility with SD-OV when selecting the target
system onto which you want to load software and the source from which
you will load the software. You can, for instance, load software from a
depot that is on another system on your network. This command can be run
at the command line or with the Graphical User Interface.
Copying Software to a Depot (Command Line or GUI)
The swcopy
command is used to copy software from one depot to another. The depot
used in the upcoming examples is a CD-ROM. By setting up depots, you can
quickly install or update software to other nodes simultaneously with
SD-OV. This command can be run at the command line or with the Graphical
User Interface.
Removing Software from a System (Command Line or GUI)
The swremove
command is used to remove software from a system that has had software
loaded with Software Distributor. This includes removing installed and
configured software from a system or removing software from a depot.
This command can be run at the command line or with the Graphical User
Interface.
List Information About Installation Software
The swlist
command provides information about the depots that exist on a system,
the contents of a depot, or information about installed software.
Examples of using this command are provided shortly. This command can be
run at the command line or with the Graphical User Interface.
Configure Installed Software
The swconfig command configures or unconfigures installed software. Configuration of software normally takes place as part of swinstall, but configuration can be deferred until a later time.
Verify Software
The swverify command confirms the integrity of installed software or software stored in a depot.
Package Software That Can Later Be Installed (Local Sys Only)
You may want to produce "packages" of software that you can later put on tape or in a depot with the swpackage command. This packaged software can then be used as a source for swinstall and be managed by other Software Distributor commands.
Control Access to Software Distributor Objects
You may want to apply restricted access to Software Distributor objects such as packaged software. Using the swacl command, you can view and change the Access Control List (ACL) for objects.
Modify Information about Loaded Software (Local System Only)
The Installed Products
Database (IPD) and associated files are used to maintain information
about software products you have loaded. swmodify can be run at the command line to modify these files.
Register or Unregister a Depot
A software depot can be registered or unregistered with swreg. This means you don't have to remove a depot; if you temporarily don't want it used, you can unregister it.
Manage Jobs (Command Line or GUI, this is SD-OV only)
Software Distributor jobs can be viewed and removed with swjob. The graphical user interface version of this command can be invoked with sd or swjob -i.
