Build Solaris 11 repository without network connection

Few days back had installed Oracle Solaris 11, and wanted to upgrade it to 11.1.

I came across IPS in Solaris 11 and I had to configure on the system. This system is not networked.

I hereby wanted to share as what is IPS and how to configure on the Solaris.

• The Image Packaging System (IPS) is a new network-eccentric software packaging and delivery system in Oracle Solaris 11. IPS allows efficient, observable, and controllable transitions between known configurations of software content providing administrators with safe system upgrade, environments and better control over planned system downtime schedules.

• The ZFS file system is integral to IPS, providing administrators the ability to perform updates on a file system clones on live production systems.

If you wish to download the ISO image, burn and insert into your CD/DVD and execute below as root.

#pkg set-publisher -G '*' -g file:///cdrom/sol11repo_full/repo solaris

If you like something more permanent while installing packages then you could configure as below

- After installing Solaris 11, download (on another system perhaps) the two files that make up the Solaris 11 repository from Oracle Solaris 11 Downloads

- Copy your files into the system

- Concatenate two files.

     # cat sol-11_1-repo-full.iso-a sol-11_1-repo-full.iso-b > sol-11_1-repo-full.iso 

- Mount ISO file to a location

    #mount -F hsfs sol-11-11-repo-full.iso /mnt

- Set the publisher to point to the /mnt/repo location, copy the repository from the mounted ISO image to a permanent, on disk location.

    #zfs create -o atime=off -o compression=on rpool/export/repoSolaris11

    #rsync -aP /mnt/repo /export/repoSolaris11

    #pkgrepo -s /export/repoSolaris11/repo refresh

    #pkg set-publisher -G '*' -g /export/repoSolaris11/repo solaris

- Check your publisher pointing to.

# pkg publisher

PUBLISHER                             TYPE     STATUS   URI

solaris                               origin   online   file:///export/repoSolaris11/repo/

#

- Now you can upgrade your system online without any internet connections.

IPS commands can be found here - click here