Re: [PLUG] patching rhel 3 or 4

[JP Vossen <jp@jpsdomain.org>]

 > Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:52:31 -0600 (CST)
 > From: Ron Kaye Jr <rekaye1005@verizon.net>

Note: '#' is usually a comment, but in a prompt can also mean you need 
to be running as root, while $ as a prompt means you are running as a 
normal user (best practice unless you ad being administrative :).  In 
this message, all but one prompt as as a regular user, but you need to 
be as root in upgrade or install anything.  And there are no '#' 
comments in here.


 > only familiar with patching in the wintel world.
 > major revisions through service packs.
 > regular updates- grab from microsoft through various means
 >
 > i have rhel 3 or 4 running on a hp proliant server.

OK, first find out which, e.g.:
	$ cat /etc/redhat-release
	CentOS release 4.6 (Final)


 > how do we do this in the linux world.

It depends.  If you have paid Red Hat for support and updates you will 
have what is known as an "entitlement."  You log in to some Red Hat site 
and register same, then use their up2date tool to download and install 
updates on the server itself.  I don't know how to do that as I'm not in 
charge of any official RHEL servers.

If you are running illegally, don't.  Just switch to CentOS, which is a 
rebuild of RHEL from Red Hat's SRPMs (source RPMs), which 
(oversimplifying) are required by the GPL to be released.  Switching 
isn't trivial, but it's not too bad.  From your questions, at this point 
I'd advise hiring someone from this list to come and do it for you, and 
maybe provide some training, if this is a production box.  If not, we 
can help you wing it.  :-)


 > how do a find what has been installed?

Use this command:
	# rpm -qa | sort | less

Or to save that to a file:
	$ rpm -qa | sort > some_file

Or to see how many things you have installed:
	$ rpm -qa | wc -l


 > how do i find a patch number or level?

Well...  Insofar as what you mean exists for the system as a whole, it's 
in /etc/redhat-release.  Otherwise, for each "package" (which consists 
of 1 or more (sort of) RPMs, the above RPM command, or this will tell you:
	$ rpm -qa | grep -i <some name>

Also try:
	$ rpm -qi <package, like binutils>


 > what do i do, where do i go to install patches.

If using for-real RHEL, figure out the web-site and up2date and you've 
got it.

If using CentOS, "# yum upgrade" will do it, assuming that all the other 
moving parts are working, like Internet connectivity and the list of 
package repositories.


If I may say so, it sounds like you just got a Linux box dropped in your 
lap.  We'll be more than happy to help out, but time and the email 
format will leave out a lot of context, so you may want to grab some 
books.  I haven't followed "Intro to Linux" or even "Linux for <Other OS 
here> Admin" type books in a long time, but O'Reilly's _Running Linux_ 
was my first and is well well thought of.  Ping the list for other 
suggestions, especially if you can give us more context, like your 
experience, background and goals.

Good luck,
JP
----------------------------|:::======|-------------------------------
JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|        jp{at}jpsdomain{dot}org
My Account, My Opinions     |=========|      http://www.jpsdomain.org/
----------------------------|=========|-------------------------------
Microsoft has single-handedly nullified Moore's Law.
Innate design flaws of Windows make a personal firewall, anti-virus
and anti-malware software mandatory. The resulting software arms race
has effectively flattened Moore's Law on hardware running Windows.
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