Re: how to know if reboot is required

In article <domcc7$1h80$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Daniel Rock" <abuse@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> mnikhil@xxxxxxxxx <mnikhil@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> lets say if one installs a patch on the solaris machine, and not sure
>> if that requires a reboot. how one can identify if there is such thing
>> which can tell us that there is a need of the reboot for the system ? (
>> I have seen such things in Windows atleast).
>
> Read the patch README (Section "Special Install Instructions")

On that point, I have a complaint. I've seen quite a few patches that
either claimed they needed a reboot, but probably didn't (although you
might not get the full benefit without it), or at least didn't need
it if you'd already installed a reasonably recent prior rev (say something
that affected the kernel interface for e.g. getrusage). Excessive reboots
are something that a number of folks would Really Prefer To Avoid, whether
to minimize impact on ongoing operation, or just because it too much
resembles Windows. Now some might require certain procedures, or awareness
of effects and consequences, to safely avoid a reboot, while obtaining
sensible results. Even that might require stopping and starting processes,
but it could well be quite a bit quicker, esp. on systems where the
PROM takes quite awhile to do its thing on reset, or where the total
time taken by system+installation rc scripts (or SMF methods) is already
rather long.

Other qc of README files isn't quite up to par, either. There are patches
that are mentioned as xxxxxx-yy (or later) that have in fact been obsoleted
by something else altogether (typically a kernel patch) that are listed in
the notes (i.e. to get feature A/for full fix of bug B, the following
patches are also required). For those who attempt to verify all of those
not-quite-dependencies have been met, it can be more tedious and
time-consuming than it ought to be.

--
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