Pkg-get Installation Notes

Pkg-get is an open-source,  Sun-approved software installation and management tool for Sun Solaris. You can use pkg-get to install a variety of pre-compiled software without having to worry about version compatibility, patch requirements, libraries, or any other prerequisites. This is a very useful tool.

Table of Contents

Pkg-get
Installation Notes. 1

Table of
Contents. 1

How
pkg-get Works. 1

Installing
pkg-get 1

Configuring
pkg-get 2

Using
pkg-get to Install Software. 2

Running
Applications Installed by pkg-get 2

Updating
Software Installed by pkg-get 2

Uninstalling
Software Installed by pkg-get 3

How pkg-get Works

Pkg-get connects to an online software repository,
such as sunfreeware.com or blastwave.org, and downloads a list of
all available software for the specific version of Solaris installed on your
server.

You specify which application you want to install and
pkg-get will download and install the correct version of this application,
along with any pre-requisites and other dependencies.

Anything pkg-get installs can be easily and safely
backed out using pkgrm.

Installing pkg-get

1. Check on your Solaris server if /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get
   exists. If it does, then you already have pkg-get installed on your
   machine. See the “Configuring pkg-get”
   section below.
2. Download the pkg-get package from http://www.blastwave.org/pkg_get.pkg
   and put it in /tmp on your Solaris machine.
3. Type: pkgadd –d /tmp/pkg_get.pkg and answer “yes”
   to all prompts.

Configuring
pkg-get

1. Edit the /opt/csw/etc/pkg-get.conf file and add the
   following lines:

ftp_proxy=proxy.domain:port

http_proxy=proxy.domain:port

export http_proxy ftp_proxy

1. Run /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get –U to update the software
   catalog.

Using pkg-get to Install Software

In the example below we will use pkg-get to install Ethereal
– an advanced network monitoring tool with a GUI interface.

1. Make sure that you have plenty of free space available in /var
   and /opt. The exact space requirements depend on the specific
   software you are installing. However, it is a good idea to have at least 1
   GB of free space in both /var and /opt.
2. Run: /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get –i ethereal
3. This may take awhile because Ethereal has many
   dependencies. You will need to monitor the installation process and answer
   “yes” to any prompts. Again, for certain complicated applications,
   the installation process may take a long time.

Running Applications Installed by pkg-get

Everything pkg-get installs by default goes to /opt/csw.
All executables are placed in /opt/csw/bin. For the example above, the
location of the executable will be “/opt/csw/bin/ethereal”.

A nice feature of pkg-get is that if, for example,
you already had an older version of Ethereal installed somewhere, say, in /usr/local,
the new version installed by pkg-get will not overwrite the old version.
You will simply need to type the full path – /opt/csw/bin/ethereal – to
use the newly-installed version.

Updating Software Installed by pkg-get

Pkg-get can automatically update all of the software
it installed in /opt/csw. The update to a specific application will
automatically include updates to any dependencies. This is a great time-saver
for you. Here’s an example of using pkg-get to upgrade the Ethereal
application:

1. Run: /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get –u ethereal
2. Follow the upgrade process and answer “yes” to any
   prompts.

Or you can use pkg-get to upgrade all software
installed in /opt/csw. Here’s the command:

1. Run: /opt/csw/bin/pkg-get –u
2. Follow the upgrade process and answer “yes” to any
   prompts. This will be a lengthy process if you used pkg-get to
   install many software titles.

Uninstalling Software Installed by pkg-get

You can use pkgrm to uninstall any or all software
installed with pkg-get. Here’s an example of how to uninstall Ethereal:

1. All packages installed by pkg-get will begin with
   the “CSW” string. You can list all packages installed by pkg-get
   by running this command: pkginfo | grep CSW
2. In this example, Ethereal package is called CSWethereal.
   So to remove it, simply do: pkgrm CSWethereal
3. This is a standard Solaris way of uninstalling software.
   It does not involve running pkg-get.