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Personal System Administration Guide

Chapter 4
Installing and Removing Software

This chapter shows you how to install software products that you received from Silicon Graphics, Inc. using the Software Manager. To install products from other vendors, please see the software installation instructions that accompany the products. In some cases, you can also install their products using the Software Manager.

Note: At this time, Software Manager does not support installing a new version of the operating system. See "About Installing a New Operating System" for details.

Software from Silicon Graphics, Inc. is distributed on Compact Discs (CDs). Typically you install software from a CDROM drive that's connected either to your own system or to another system from Silicon Graphics, Inc. In some cases a network administrator may use the CD to create a distribution directory on your own system or on another system on your network from which you can install the software.

This chapter contains these sections:

For more information on software installation or troubleshooting, please see the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

Overview of the Software Manager

The Software Manager lets you install and remove both operating system software and optional product software. Any User or Privileged User can use the Software Manager to view a list of installed software, but only the Administrator (or anyone who knows the password for the root account) can use it to install or remove software. You can start the Software Manager using any of these methods:

If you are not logged in to the root account and the root account has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.

To view or remove installed software, click the Manage Installed Software button.

To install software, you specify where the new software is located (see also "Specifying the Location of Available Software") by dragging a local or remote CD icon or a local or remote distribution directory icon into the Available Softwaredrop pocket. Then you can install either a default set of software by clicking Install Automatically, or a customized set of software by clicking Customize Installation.

For more information, click a topic:

For help on a specific item or area in the Software Manager window, choose "Click for Help" from the Help menu, then click on the item or area.

About the Menus

The Software Manager has five menus. Click the menu name below for details on the menu choices.

The File Menu

The File menu contains these choices:

Button Equivalents to Choices in the File Menu

The Start button starts the actual installation and/or removal of software. It is identical to the "Start Installation /Removal" choice in the File menu.

The Stop button stops the installation and/or removal that is currently in progress. It is identical to the "Stop Installation/Removal" choice in the File menu.

The Conflicts button brings up a window in which you can resolve problems that the Software Manager identifies while trying to install or remove software. It is identical to the "Manage Conflicts" choice in the File menu.

The Selected Menu

The Selected menu lets you select software for installation or removal, and find specific software in the Software Inventory list. Its choices become available when you click the Customize Installation or Manage Installed Software buttons. The menu contains these choices:

The Software Menu

The Software menu controls your view of the Software Inventory list. When you choose an item in the menu whose check box is empty, a check mark appears in the box to indicate that the item will now appear in the Software Inventory list. You can choose as many items as you like; the more you choose, the longer the list becomes. Most of the items become available when you click the Customize Installation or Manage Installed Software buttons.

The menu contains these choices:

The Panes Menu

The Panes menu lets you control which portions (called panes) of the Software Manager window are displayed. By default, the Available Software, Software Inventory, and Status/Disk Space panes are shown, so check marks appear next to these three items on the menu.

To hide one of the three default panes, choose it from the menu; the check mark disappears along with the pane; to view a pane that's not displayed, choose it from the menu. Software Manager retains your pane choices, so whatever panes are displayed when you quit Software Manager will be displayed the next time you start Software Manager.

The Help Menu

The Help menu contains these choices:

Installing Software

If the root account has a password, only the Administrator can install software. Installing software is a three step process:

    Specify where the software is located; see "Specifying the Location of Available Software."

    Choose to install either:

    For more information, see "About Automatic and Custom Installation."

    Start the installation by clicking the Start button.

Note: If you plan to install a new version of the operating system, you cannot use the Software Manager. Please see "About Installing a New Operating System."

Click a topic for more information:

Specifying the Location of Available Software

Silicon Graphics, Inc. distributes software on compact disks (CDs). You typically access the new software from a CD drive that's connected to either your own system, or to another system on your network whose CD drive allows software installation (see "Allowing Remote Users to Install Software From Your CD Drive.")

In some sites, a network administrator copies the contents of the CD into a distribution directory on a server system on your network so that you can access the new software from a directory rather than a CD. (See also "Setting Up a Distribution Directory.")

The first step in installing software is to tell the Software Manager where the software is located. If the CD that contains the software appears as an icon on your desktop, just double-click the icon. This both starts the Software Manager and specifies the software's location.

If the CD icon is not on your desktop, you can specify the location of the software by following these steps:

    If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing "Software Manager" from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager now.

    If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.

    Place the software CD into a CD drive that's connected to your own system or to another system on the network. If you're installing from a distribution directory, get the system's hostname and the full pathname of the directory from your network administrator.

    Drag the CD or directory icon from your desktop into the Available Softwaredrop pocket in the Software Manager window, then click the Lookup button.

    If the drop pocket or pathname field does not accept the CD or directory, the CD or directory does not contain installable software.

    Software Manager is now ready to do an automatic installation (see "Installing Software Automatically.")

    To view all the available software and/or to install a custom selection of software instead, click Customize Installation (see "Installing a Custom Selection of Software").

About Automatic and Custom Installation

Once you specify the location of software to the Software Manager, it makes these assumptions:

Each product consists of several parts; some are required for the product to work, others are optional; see also "About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files."

To install the default and required portions of upgrade and/or new products, place a checkmark in one or both of the boxes, then click the Start button; see "Installing Software Automatically."

To install a custom selection of software, click the Customize Installation button. This shows a full listing of all software that is available from the CD or distribution directory, and lets you:

Installing Software Automatically

Use automatic installation to install all default subsystems of upgrade products, all default subsystems of new products, or both; for more information, see "About Automatic and Custom Installation."

If there is a password on the root account, only the Administrator can install software. If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing "Software Manager" from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager now.

Note: If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.

To install software automatically, follow these steps:

    Specify the location of the new software by dragging a CD or directory icon into the the Available Softwaredrop pocket, then clicking the Lookup button. See also "Specifying the Location of Available Software."

    If the drop pocket does not accept a CD or directory icon, the CD or directory does not contain installable software.

    Make sure the yellow LED is lit on the Install Automatically button.

    In the Software Inventory pane, you can choose to install only upgrade products, only new products, or both upgrade and new products. By default, only upgrade products are selected for installation (the check box next to Upgrade Products has a red check mark, unless you removed the check mark in a previous session).


    To start the installation, click the Start button in the middle of the Software Manager window.

    The Status area reports the progress of the installation; if this area is not displayed, you can display it by choosing "Status/Disk Space" from the Panes menu. When it has successfully completed, you'll see a message in the status area, and the Start button will be inactive.


    When the installation is complete, a dialog reports that the installation was successful. This dialog may also report that


    At this time you can:


    To use your new software, see the documentation that came with the software. It will tell you where on the the system the software is located, and how to start it up.

Installing a Custom Selection of Software

By clicking the Customize Installation button you can install:

While making a custom selection of software, you can also:

When you click the Customize Installation button, you're requesting a more informative view of the software that's available. If a checkmark appeared in the Upgrade Products and/or New Products check boxes in the Install Automatically view, these products and their default subsystems remain selected for installation; see also "About Automatic and Custom Installation."

If there is a password on the root account, only the Administrator can install software. If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing "Software Manager" from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager now.

Note: If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.

To install a custom selection of software, follow these steps:

    Specify the location of the new software by dragging a CD or directory icon into the the Available Softwaredrop pocket, then click the Lookup button. See also "Specifying the Location of Available Software."

    If the drop pocket does not accept a CD or directory icon, the CD or directory does not contain installable software.

    Click the CustomizeInstallation button.

    You'll see a wait cursor, and a series of progress indicators appear in the Status area as the Software Manager scans all the available software. After several seconds (or a few minutes if there are several products available), the Software Inventory pane displays all of the available software.

    By default, when you click Customize Installation, the Software Inventory pane shows all available new products, upgrade products, patch upgrade products, same products, downgrade products, and not installed products. If a checkmark appeared in the Upgrade Products and/or New Products check boxes in the Install Automatically view, these remain selected for installation (the check boxes in the Install column next to the default subsystems of these products have red check marks).

    Change your view of the available software if you like; for more information, see "Viewing Installed and Available Software."


    Choose which products you want to install (or remove).

    Note: When you choose to install an upgrade product, a blue check mark appears in the Remove box next to the currently installed version of the product. This indicates that by installing the new version, the current version will be removed (replaced). See also "Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time."

    After you've made all your selections, make sure they do not cause any installation conflicts.

    If you select a combination of software that cannot be safely installed on the system (for example, prerequisite products are missing or you did not select a required part of a product), the Software Manager reports this in the Status area, and the Conflicts button in the middle of the window becomes active.

    To resolve conflicts, click the Conflicts button, and see "Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts."

    Make sure you're comfortable with how much disk space the new software will use. The Disk Space area shows existing disk space that's in use, and shows in blue how much additional space the new software will require. See also "Checking Available Disk Space."

    If the Disk Space area is not displayed, you can display it by choosing "Status/Disk Space" from the Panes menu.

    If you do not have enough disk space to install the software you have selected, the disk space pie turns red. You can free up disk space at this time by removing other software products; see "Removing Installed Software." If this does not result in enough disk space, you may need to move some user files onto backup tapes, a second disk, or other systems on the network. See also "Freeing Up Disk Space."

    To start the installation, click the Start button in the middle of the Software Manager window.

    The Status area will report the progress of the installation; if this area is not displayed, you can display it by choosing "Status/Disk Space" from the Panes menu. When it has successfully completed, you'll see a message in the status area.

    If the software manager encounters a problem, it displays a notifier; see "Installation Ends Before it is Complete."

    When the installation is complete, a dialog reports that the installation was successful. This dialog may also report that:


    At this time you can:


    To use your new software, see the documentation that came with the software. It will tell you where on the the system the software is located, and how to start it up.

Checking Available Disk Space

The Software Manager displays the amount of disk space that is currently used and free (available) for each disk on your system. If the Disk Space area is not currently shown, you can display it by choosing "Status/Disk Space" from the Panes window.

The Software Manager automatically recalculates disk space when you click the Customize Installation or Manage Installed Software button, and updates the disk space pie chart. When your amount of free disk space changes independent of the Software Manager (for example, when you remove some files using the desktop or a shell window while the Software Manager is running), you can force Software Manager to recalculate the disk space by choosing "Recalculate Disk Space" from the File menu.

Understanding the Disk Space Pie Chart

The disk space pie chart represents the total amount of space that's available on the disk directory whose name is displayed on the Disk Spacemenu button. See also "Viewing Space on Different Disks or Disk Directories."

The dark grey portion of the disk space pie chart shows the relative amount of space that is currently being used; the precise amount in KB is shown to the right of the pie chart and the dark grey square that is labeled Used. The white portion shows the relative amount of free space; the precise amount in KB is shown to the right of the pie chart and the white box that is labeled Free.

When you choose items for installation or removal, a new wedge appears in the pie chart. This wedge shows the change in disk space use that will take place once you install or remove the items you selected. The color of the wedge and its corresponding Net Change box indicate the positive or negative effects of your selections:

Viewing Space on Different Disks or Disk Directories

The menu button next to Disk Space is labeled with the name of the disk or disk directory (partition) that is displayed in the Disk Space area. New systems with one disk have only one disk directory called / (root); this is the default disk directory that is shown in the Disk Space area. Even when you have more than one disk, new software is installed onto /.

If your system has more than one disk, or if your disk is divided into several disk directories, choose the disk directory whose space you want to check from the menu button.

About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files

All software that the Software Manager can install is made up of several hierarchical parts:

Note: Some advanced users may want to view a fourth structural component called an image; for information on viewing images, see "Setting Advanced Preferences."

By default, the Software Inventory pane shows only products. To display the subsystems that make up a product, click the folded arrow icon next to the product. To display the files that make up a subsystem, click the folded arrow icon next to the subsystem. To re-fold the arrow and hide the smaller components, click the unfolded arrow icon.

To view only subsystems (no products), choose "Subsystems Only" from the Software menu. When only subsystems are displayed, you can still expand them to view the files they contain.

In a hierarchical structure like this one, a unit that contains other units is called a parent, and each unit it contains is called a child. The parent of a file is a subsystem, and the parent of a subsystem is a product. To locate the parent of a specific child, select the child, then choose "Move to Parent" from the Selected menu. For example, when you are viewing a long list of subsystems, you can select a subsystem, then choose "Move to Parent" from the Selected menu to find the product that contains the subsystem. The parent becomes highlighted (selected) in the Software Inventory list.

Checking Configuration Files

When you install a product, the product often includes some files that you customize (or configure) either from within the application, or by editing the files using a text editor. A file that you customize for your specific system or site is called a configuration file.

When you install upgrade products, the Software Manager does not destroy the information in your configuration files. It either:

To view the list of all configuration files on your system, or a list of all configuration files that have been changed, follow these steps:

    Click the Manage Installed Software button.

    Choose "Configuration Files Summary" from the Software menu.

    In the Configuration Files window, specify which files you want to list.


    To close the window, click the Close button.

About Installing a New Operating System

The Software Manager does not support upgrading to a new version of the operating system. You must use inst as described briefly in your system's Owner's Guide, or as described in detail in the Software Installation Administrator's Guide. In general, upgrading the operating system requires these steps:

    Shut down all running applications.

    Have all remote users log off.

    Make a full backup of all user and system files; see "Backing Up Files."

    Shut down the system by choosing "System Shutdown" from the System toolchest.

    See the instructions in your system's Owner's Guide to start up inst.

Viewing Installed and Available Software

The Software Manager offers two standard views:

Regardless of which standard view you start with, you can change it using the Software menu. Click a topic for more information.

Changing Your View of Installed and Available Software

You can change your view using the Software menu in these ways:

By using the Software menu in these ways, you can make your view of available and installed software as simple or comprehensive as you like. You can also view more detail about the structure of each product by clicking the folded arrow icon next to the product's name in the list; see also "About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files."

Understanding the Software Inventory List

You can control the contents of the Software Inventory list using the Software menu (see "Viewing Installed and Available Software"). For details on the information shown in each column, click a column name.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the list and make selections; see "Keyboard Shortcuts in the Software Inventory List."

The Remove Column

The Remove column contains check boxes that correspond to the item shown in the Product column. When you place a checkmark in a Remove check box, you are selecting that item for removal.

You can place a checkmark in a Remove check box by either clicking in the box, or selecting the item in the Product column and choosing "Mark Remove" from the Selected menu.

When you select for installation a newer version of a product that is already installed (that is, when you choose to replace an installed product with an upgrade product), a blue checkmark (rather than a red checkmark) automatically appears in the Remove check box next to the installed product. See also "Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time."

The Install Column

The Install column contains check boxes that correspond to the item shown in the Product column. When you place a checkmark in an Install check box, you are selecting that item for installation.

You can place a checkmark in an Install check box by either clicking in the box, or selecting the item in the Product column and choosing "Mark Install" from the Selected menu.

The Product Column

The Product column shows whether an item is a product, subsystem, or file (see also "About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files"), and displays the item's full name. When you select an item by clicking on it, the name of the product that contains the selected item appears in the text field next to the Product column label.

Immediately to the left of the item's description (Product, Sub, or File) is a folded arrow icon. To see what the item contains, click this icon. When the arrow is expanded the column displays more detail about a product's content. You can eliminate the detail and re-fold the arrow icon by clicking it.

The Status Column

The Status column describes the item relative to the software that is currently installed. Descriptions that appear in boldface type indicate that the item is available for installation (is on the CD or in the distribution directory). Descriptions that appear in normal type indicate that the item is not available for installation; it is either installed on the system or has been removed.

The Size Column

The Size column shows how much disk space (in KB) an installed item occupies, and shows how much disk space an uninstalled item will occupy once it is installed.

The Type Column

The Type column uses character codes to provide additional information about each subsystem that may help you decide which subsystems to install or remove. The character codes do not appear next to the product or a file. To see the codes, you must click the folded arrow icon next to a product; or, you can choose "Subsystems Only" from the Software menu.

More than one character code may appear next to a subsystem. This list describes each code:

R

The subsystem is required for the basic operating system (IRIX) to run.

D

The subsystem is not required for IRIX to run, but the manufacturer recommends installing it; it is selected for installation by default. An example of default subsystems are those that provide the graphical Indigo Magic Desktop; if you choose not to install these, your system will provide only IRIX shells as an interface.

B

You must restart the system after installing the subsystem.

O

The subsystem was installed as part of a maintenance release.

E

The subsystem is empty and therefore should not be installed.

C

The subsystem can be installed only by a diskless client system.

If no character codes appear next to a subsystem, it is probably (but not always) an optional component of the product. For example, most manufacturers do not designate subsystems that contain clip art as default, since they often are unwanted and occupy large amounts of disk space.

Keyboard Shortcuts in the Software Inventory List

You can navigate through the Software Inventory list and make selections by clicking in the list, then using these keyboard shortcuts:

<Home>

Go to the top of the list and select the first item.

<End>

Go to the bottom of the list and select the last item.

<Page Up>

Scroll the contents of the list one up one windowful.

<Page Down>

Scroll the contents of the list down one windowful.

<-> or up arrow


Select the item that is immediately above the current selection.

<Enter> or down arrow


Select the item that is immediately below the current selection.

<i>

Mark selected item for installation.

<r>

Mark selected item for removal.

<k>

Unmark (keep) selected item so it will not be installed or removed.

The similar keyboard shortcuts that are available from the Selected menu work at any time; you do not need to first click in the Software Inventory list.

Viewing Required and Optional Software

The Software Manager displays an R in the Type column next to each subsystem that is required for the operating system (IRIX) to run, and places a D in this column next to all subsystems that are selected for installation by default (that the manufacturer recommends installing); it does not place these codes next to the product or files. See also "The Type Column."

To check whether a subsystem is required or recommended for the operating system to run, you can either:

At this time the Software Manager does not indicate conclusively whether a specific subsystem of an optional product is required for the product to run. If no character code appears next to a subsystem, it is likely that the subsystem is not required. For conclusive information, view the product's release notes by following these steps:

    Select the product from the Software Inventory list.

    Choose "Release Notes" from the Selected menu.

    Use the scroll bar and the Prev Chapter and Next Chapter buttons to read through the release notes. Typically the information about which subsystems are required appears in Chapter 2.

Finding Specific Software

To find specific software, such as a product, subsystem, or file (see also "About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files"), choose either "Find" or "Find and Mark" from the Selected menu.

The Find window lets you search for strings within products, subsystems, and files; see "Finding Strings within Products, Subsystems, and Files."

The Find and Mark window lets you search for products and subsystems, and mark or unmark them for installation or removal; see "Finding and Marking Products and Subsystems."

Finding Strings within Products, Subsystems, and Files

To use the Find window, choose "Find" from the Selected menu, then follow these steps:

    In the Find field, type the name or a part of the name of the software that you want to find.

    For example, to find all the products or subsystems that contain Release Notes, enter Release Notes. To find all products or subsystems that contain the string Exe, enter Exe (you do not need to use a wildcard character such as *).

    The string you enter will be compared to either the long or short names, depending on which view of the names you selected from the Software menu.

    Customize the way the Find window searches for the name. By default, it will search each product and subsystem for the exact string that you enter in the field.


    Click the Search button to start the search.

    When the search is complete, the window reports how many matches it found, and the first matching item in the Software Inventory list is selected.

    To stop the search before it is complete, click the Stop Search button.

    Browse through all the matches.


    Search for a different string, or close the window.

Finding and Marking Products and Subsystems

To use the Find and Mark window, choose "Find and Mark" from the Selected menu, then follow these steps:

    In the Find field, type the name or a part of the name of the product or subsystem that you want to find.

    For example, to find all the products or subsystems that contain Release Notes, enter Release Notes. To find all products or subsystems that contain the string Exe, enter Exe (you do not need to use a wildcard character such as *).

    The string you enter will be compared to either the long or short names, depending on which view of the names you selected from the Software menu.

    Customize the way the Find window searches for the name. By default, it will search each product and subsystem for the exact string that you enter in the field.

    Click in the box next to Ignore Case if you want to find all instances of the string, regardless of whether characters in the string are upper- or lower-case. By default, there is a check mark in this box.

    Click the Search button to start the search.

    When the search is complete, the window reports how many matches it found, and the first matching item in the Software Inventory list is selected.

    Browse through all the matches.


    Mark or unmark for installation or removal some or all of the matches.

    When you mark a product or subsystem that's already installed, it is marked for removal (a checkmark appears in its Remove column); when you mark an available product or subsystem, it is marked for installation (a checkmark appears in its Install column.)


    Search for a different string, or close the window.

Removing Installed Software

The Administrator can use the Software Manager to remove only software that was installed using the Software Manager or inst. You can remove software while installing other software (see "Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time") or in an independent removal session.

To remove software, follow these steps:

    If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing "Software Manager" from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Software Manager now.

    If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.

    In the Software Manager window, click Manage Installed Software.

    You'll see a wait cursor, and a series of progress indicators appear in the Status area as the Software Manager locates all the installed software. After several seconds or minutes, the Software Inventory pane displays all software that was installed using the Software Manager.

    Find and identify the products or parts of products that you want to remove; see also "About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files."


    In the Remove column, click in the check box next to each item that you want to remove.


    Check for removal conflicts.

    If you select a combination of software that cannot be safely removed (for example, if you selected an item that is required for the operating system or an optional product to work), the Software Manager reports this in the Status area, and the Conflicts button in the middle of the window becomes active.

    To resolve conflicts, click the Conflicts button, and see "Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts."

    To remove the selected software, click the Start button in the middle of the Software Manager window.

    When the removals are complete, a dialog reports that the removals were successful. At this time you can:

Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time

You can remove and install software simultaneously in three different cases:

In all cases, the Disk Space area predicts the net change in disk space use that will occur after all installations and removals are complete.

Saving or Loading a Custom Selection of Software

The Software Manager lets you save your custom selections of software in a file so that other users can perform exactly the same custom installation at a later time. This is especially useful in sites where a network administrator loads software on all systems, and wants all systems to have an identical inventory of software.

The custom selection that you save is unique to the distribution directory or CD that you specified in the Available Software field. In other words, other users can use the custom selection file only if they specify a distribution directory or CD that contains the same software that yours did when you saved the selections.

Note: You must save the custom selections before you start the software installation.

To save your custom selections, follow these steps:

    Choose "Save Selections" from the File menu.

    In the Save Selections window, enter a full pathname for the file in the Selection field.

    Click the OK button.

To load a file that contains custom selections, follow these steps:

    In the Available Software field, specify a distribution directory or CD that contains the same software as was specified when the custom selections were saved.

    Choose "Load Selections" from the File menu.

    In the Load Selections window, enter a full pathname for the file in the Selection field.

    Click the OK button.

Setting Software Manager Preferences

You can customize many aspects of the the Software Manager's behavior using the Preferences window. Most of the customizations are useful only for a network administrator or very advanced users. See also "Setting Advanced Preferences" in this guide, and Chapter 8 in the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

To customize the Software Manager's behavior, follow these steps:

    Choose "Set Preferences" from the File menu.

    Select a preference that you want to set or learn about.

    A description of the preference appears in the Preference Description pane, and any controls you need to use to set the preference appear below the pane.

    Adjust the controls below the Preference Description pane, then set the preference by clicking the Set button.

    Close the window by clicking the Close button.

Troubleshooting Software Installation

The Software Manager has several built-in troubleshooting tools:

Click a problem for information on solving it.

For comprehensive, advanced troubleshooting information, see Appendix A in the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts

When you are customizing an installation, Software Manager monitors your installation and removal choices as you make them. When it detects that you have selected a combination of software that cannot be safely installed or removed it alerts you by making the Conflicts button active. When you click the Conflicts button, the Conflicts window appears in which you can resolve the problem. In an automatic installation, the Conflicts button does not become active; Software Manager automatically displays the Conflicts window.

Note: In many cases, as you customize your installation, you will create and resolve conflicts as you click in the Install and Remove check boxes. You may want to wait to view the Conflicts window until you have made all your selections.

Click a topic for more information:

Understanding Different Types of Conflicts

Conflicts usually arise when:

Making Your Conflict Resolution Choices

The Conflicts window describes each conflict (see also "Understanding Different Types of Conflicts"), and gives you several options for resolving the conflict; choose only one of these options. If software that you need to install to resolve a conflict is not available, the option will be shown, but will not be active; see "Switching Distributions to Resolve a Conflict."

    Note the total number of conflicts. Often when you resolve one conflict, it either resolves or creates many other conflicts. As you proceed, note how the total number of conflicts at the top of the window changes.

    Read the description of each conflict and its resolution options, then choose an option using these guidelines:


    When you have resolved all conflicts, the Conflicts window closes automatically.

    In the Software Manager window, the Start button should now be active; click it to start the software installation or removal.

Switching Distributions to Resolve a Conflict

When you want to resolve a conflict by installing a product that is not available (i.e., it is not located on the CD or in the distribution directory that's specified in the Available Software field), follow these steps:

    In the Conflicts window, check the total number of remaining conflicts, and resolve as many as possible. Then click the Close button.

    In the Software Manager window, the Conflicts button will still be active.

    Save your current installation and removal selections by choosing "Save Selections" from the File menu, entering a full pathname for the file in the Selection field of the Save Selections window, and then clicking the OK button.

    In the Available Software field, specify the location of the missing software, then click the Lookup button; see "Specifying the Location of Available Software."

    In most cases you will need to insert a different CD into a CD drive, or obtain the full pathname of the appropriate distribution directory from a network administrator.

    Install the software that will resolve the conflict; see "Installing Software."

    In the Available Software field, specify the location of the software you were installing when you encountered the conflict, then click the Lookup button.

    Reload the installation and removal selections you made previously by choosing "Load Selections" from the File menu, entering the full pathname of the saved selections in the Load Selections window, and then clicking the OK button.

    Install the software, or resolve other conflicts.

Viewing Status and Log Information

Both the Status area and the Log pane provide information throughout an installation and/or removal session.

The Status area provides high level, easy to understand information and warnings. To view it, choose "Status/Disk Space" from the Panes menu.

The Log pane provides very detailed information which is especially useful when you encounter problems (other than installation conflicts) during an installation. To view it, choose "Log" from the Panes menu.

System Cannot Find the New Software

The system cannot find the software when:

Installation Ends Before it is Complete

If an installation ends before it is complete (for example, if the Software Manager unexpectedly quits), you can attempt to finish the installation session by following these steps:

    If the Software Manager window is still available, choose "Quit" from the File menu.

    Restart the Software Manager by choosing Software Manager from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager now.

    Before the main Software Manager window appears, you see a notifier that describes the location of the software, lists products that were selected for installation but were not installed, and gives you several choices. Review these options:


    Choose an option, then click the OK button.

    If you chose to resume or view the installation session and you see an error message, see "Resolving Errors During a Resumed Installation Session."

Resolving Errors During a Resumed Installation Session

When you resume an installation session that ended unexpectedly (before it was complete), you may encounter these errors:

Advanced Topics

This section contains information for experienced system or network administrators. For comprehensive advanced information, see the online Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

Click a topic for more information:

Setting Up a Distribution Directory

To copy new software from a distribution CD into a directory on a server system so users can install from this distribution directory across the network, follow these steps:

    Copy the dist directory from the CD onto a server system.

    On the server system, allow remote installations by editing /usr/etc/inetd.conf; see "Setting Up an Installation Server" in the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

    Provide the server's hostname and the full pathname of the dist directory to all users who need to install the software.

For more details, see "Setting Up an Installation Server" in the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

Using inst Commands in the Command Pane

The command line version of Software Manager is called inst. You can run inst from either a shell window or from a limited version of the operating system called the miniroot. inst commands are fully documented in Chapter 9 of the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

If you use both Software Manager and inst, you may find it convenient at times to use a subset of the more complex but often more powerful inst commands while using Software Manager. To issue inst commands, follow these steps:

    Choose "Log" from the Panes menu. All output from the commands you type in the Command field appears in the Log pane.

    Choose "Command" from the Panes window.

    In the Command text field that appears above the Log pane, enter the command; then press <Enter>.

The Command pane supports these inst commands:

install <string>

The string is the name of a product, image, or subsystem that you want to mark for installation. It can contain the wildcard character * (asterisk). This way you can choose to install, for example, all subsystems that contain man pages by typing: install *.man

remove <string>

The string is the name of a product, image, or subsystem that you want to mark for removal. It can also contain the wildcard character * (asterisk).

keep <string>

The string is the name of a product, image, or subsystem that you want to keep in its current installation state; you do not want to install or remove the item. The string can also contain the wildcard character * (asterisk).

set <preference>

The preference is a preference listed in the Set Preferences window.

files <product>

Lists all files in the product.

space

Calculates disk space and displays it in the Disk Space pane.

recalculate

Recalculates the disk space and displays it in the Disk Space pane. This is the same as choosing "Recalculate Disk Space" from the File menu.

save <filename>

This is the same as choosing "Save Selections" from the File menu and typing a filename in the window that appears.

load <filename>

This is the same as choosing "Load Selections" from the File menu and typing a filename in the window that appears.

config

Lists every configuration file, and places an m next to those that have changed.

hardware

Displays a brief summary of your system's hardware configuration.

filter <type>

Selects the type of products (e.g., new, upgrade) to be displayed.

show

Describes the current view shown in the Software Inventory list.

sort <field>

When a subsequent list command is given, the list will be sorted with the specified field (e.g., product, size) first.

list

Shows available software products.

help

Lists help topics.

go

Start the installation.

quit

Quit the Software Manager.

For a summary of all inst commands, see Chapter 9 of the Software Installation Administrator's Guide.

Setting Advanced Preferences

The Set Preferences window supports three levels of preferences. By default, it shows a small, often-used set of preferences. You can also view advanced preferences and hidden preferences.

To view and set advanced preferences, follow these steps:

    Choose "Set Preferences" from the File menu.

    Select swmgr_visible_resources from the Swmgr Preferences list, then choose to view transient (those that last for this session only) and/or expert (those that are for experienced system administrators) preferences by clicking in the appropriate check box.

    Click the Set button. This displays all advanced preferences in the Swmgr Preferences list.

    Select a preference to see its description in the Preference Description pane, and to make buttons appear that help you set the preference.

    Note: For people familiar with using inst, you can view images that make up products by setting the expert resource hide_image_products to FALSE.

    Choose values using the buttons, then click the Set button.

To view hidden preferences, follow these steps:

    Choose "Set Preferences" from the File menu.

    Select swmgr_visible_resources from the Swmgr Preferences list, choose to view expert preferences by clicking in the expert check box, then click the Set button.

    Select show_hidden_resources from the Swmgr Preferences list, click the radio button next to TRUE, then click the Set button. All hidden preferences are now displayed in the list.

Understanding and Merging Configuration Files

When you install upgrade products, the Software Manager does not destroy the information in your configuration files. It either:

You need to identify the configuration files that have changed, then decide whether you want to:

Follow these steps:

    Identify configuration files that have changed.


    Compare the two versions of the file using the gdiff command.


    Decide whether you want to use either file as is, or whether you want to merge them.

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