Deciding Which Method to Use

Now that you have evaluated your system and ordered any needed hardware, you need to decide whether to cold-install or update to HP-UX 11i v3 on your system.

When to Cold-Install




	CAUTION: The cold-install process erases software on the root volume before installing. If you want to retain any existing software, make sure to back up that software before migrating or use update. Cold-installing using Ignite-UX overwrites everything on the target volume.

You can cold-install rather than update to HP-UX 11i v3 when:

You have a new system.
You are managing several systems with similar OS configurations.
Your disk space needs reconfiguration. See “How to Plan Your Disk Space Needs”.
Your systems are organized with clean separation of the OS from user, application, and data files.
Overwriting the root (/) volume on existing systems will not cause a loss of applications or data.
Your system configuration is not listed as a supported update path. See “Supported Update Paths to HP-UX 11i v3”.

You can cold-install from any supported configuration. See “Supported Systems”.

The process described in this guide cold-installs a single system from local media. If you plan to install many systems simultaneously, use an Ignite-UX server. Additional information on Ignite-UX and newer versions are available at: http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/

See Chapter 4: “Preparing to Cold-Install or Update to HP-UX 11i v3” for more information about preparing your system for cold-install and then read the cold-install process using Ignite-UX in Chapter 5: “Cold-Installing HP-UX 11i v3 From Media”.

When to Update

You can update rather than cold-install HP-UX 11i v3 when:

You are updating from a supported HP-UX 11i v2 or HP-UX 11i v3 system. See “Supported Update Paths to HP-UX 11i v3” for specific details.
You are concerned about recovering unique applications and data on your root volume, and do not want to write over non-OS files, which occurs when cold-installing HP-UX 11i v3.
Each system has a unique configuration.
Current disk space is sufficient for HP-UX 11i v3. See “How to Plan Your Disk Space Needs”.

You can choose two different methods to update to HP-UX 11i v3 on a supported system: 1) by the using the update-ux terminal user interface; 2) by using the update-ux command line interface.

An advantage of performing an update is that it leaves user data, configuration, and applications in place. Updating to HP-UX 11i v3 is limited to the supported paths listed in “Supported Update Paths to HP-UX 11i v3”.

See Chapter 4: “Preparing to Cold-Install or Update to HP-UX 11i v3” for details on how to prepare your system to update to HP-UX 11i v3. The update process is described in Chapter 6: “Updating to HP-UX 11i v3”.

What Software Source to Use

When cold installing or updating your systems, you can choose to update using media, copy the contents of media into network depots, or create a golden image of the desired system for installing many similar systems. The process described in this guide cold-installs and updates a single system from local media.

If you are cold-installing or updating one system at a time — Cold-install or update directly from the DVDs in the HP-UX 11i v3 media kit:
- HP-UX 11i v3 OE media — Boot and install a new system or update an existing system.
- HP-UX Application media— Install applications not installed with the OE or install a newer version of an OE application.
If you plan to cold-install or update on many systems in your enterprise — You can consolidate your software sources in a network depot:
- Network Depot — Use Software Distributor (SD) commands to create depots containing OS, OE, and other software bundles, then install or update from the depot using Ignite-UX or update-ux. For help with this method, refer to the swcopy(1M) manpage, the Software Distributor Administration Guide, and the Ignite-UX Administration Guide.
If you plan to create many similar systems in your enterprise — You can use an Ignite-UX server to create a faster software source than an SD depot:
- Golden Image — Create a golden image from which to cold-install. A golden image is a snapshot of a known, good operating system installation and configuration for use in installing other clients. The copied (source) client is called the golden image. This install image can contain the OS and OE, other applications, and any needed patches. After the archive is in place, either on the Ignite-UX server or on another system, you can cold-install on each client system in a single-pass operation; you need to reboot each client only once. Please refer to the Ignite-UX Administration Guide for more information on golden images.

Managing a Network Depot with Patch Bundles

You must use the updated Ignite-UX and Update-UX tools from September 2007 OE Update release (or later) to correctly install patches and HP-UX 11i v3 patch bundles. HP supports the following cold-install or update cases with a network depot that includes HP-UX patches or patch bundles.

To cold-install HP-UX 11i v3 using a network depot, use any release of HP-UX 11i v3 to create the network depot, and then copy the desired patch bundles into that depot. Use Ignite-UX version C.7.3 (or later) to cold-install HP-UX 11i v3. Get the latest Ignite-UX version from the IUX Download page: at: http://docs.hp.com/en/IUX/download.html

To update to the latest release of HP-UX 11i v3, start with the desired HP-UX 11i v3 OE bundles from the September 2007 release (or later) to create the depot, and then copy the desired patch bundles into the depot. Updates to a network depot with the HP-UX 11i v3 OE bundles from February 2007 and 11i v3 patch bundles from September 2007 release or later cannot be supported, due to known problems with the initial release of 11.31 HP-UX software management tools (that get installed with OE bundles from February 2007).

Deciding Which Method to Use

Technical documentation

» Table of Contents

» Index

When to Cold-Install

When to Update

What Software Source to Use

Managing a Network Depot with Patch Bundles