Installation Guide and Reference

Software Product Packaging Concepts

This chapter discusses concepts regarding additional software product packaging. This chapter includes information on the following topics:

Fileset Installation Packaging

The installation packaging of each fileset in a product can be divided into three parts. These parts include the usr, root, and share parts. Although this can add further complexity to the understanding of the packaging, this parceling of a software product is necessary for the product to be used by diskless and dataless clients in AIX 5.1 and later. Because they are parceled, a product can be installed on one machine (called the server) and then be used remotely by other machines on a network (called the clients).

Note: The usr and root parts of a product are packaged in the same installable package.

usr part

The usr part of a software product contains the part of the product that can be shared by machines that have the same hardware architecture. Most of the software that is part of a product usually falls into this category.

In a standard system, the usr parts of products are stored in the /usr file tree. For example, the ls command would be in the /usr/bin/ls file.

root part

Every product has a usr part. The root part of a software product contains the part of the product that cannot be shared. The root part of a product is optional because many products may not have any files that need to be specific to each individual machine.

In a client/server environment, these are the files for which there must be a unique copy for each client of a server. Most of the root software is associated with the configuration of the machine or product.

In a standard system, the root parts of a product are stored in the root (/) file tree. The /etc/objrepos directory contains the root part of an installable software product's vital product data (VPD).

share part

The share part of a software product contains the part of the product that can be shared among machines, even if they have different hardware architectures, which can include nonexecutable text or data files. For example, the share part of a product might contain documentation written in ASCII text or data files containing special fonts.

The share part of a product is optional because many products might not have any files that can be shared among different hardware platforms. The share part of a product is always packaged in a separately installable package.

In a standard system, the share parts of products are usually stored in the /usr/share file tree. For example, a dictionary database might be stored in the /usr/share/dict/words file.

Package Formats

Beginning in AIX 5L, you can not only install installp formatted packages, but also RPM and Install Shield Mutli-Platform (ISMP) formatted packages. Use the Web-based System Manager, SMIT, or the geninstall command to install and uninstall these types of packages. The geninstall command is designed to detect the format type of a specified package and run the appropriate install command.

The AIX 5L product media contains installp packages and RPM packages that are installed during a BOS installation. The installp packages are located in the following path:

/mount_point/installp/ppc

The RPM packages are located in the following path:

/mount_point/RPMS/ppc

If you have media that contains ISMP packages for AIX 5L, the ISMP packages are located in the following path:

/mount_point/ISMP/ppc

If you using the geninstall command to install RPM or ISMP packages, use the prefix type to designate to the geninstall command the type of package you are installing. In AIX 5L, the package prefix types are the following:

I:	installp format
R:	RPM format
J:	ISMP format

For example, to install the cdrecord RPM package and the bos.games installp package, type the following:

# geninstall -d/dev/cd0 R:cdrecord I:bos.games

The geninstall command detects that the cdrecord package is an RPM package type and runs the rpm command to install cdrecord. The geninstall command then detects that bos.games is an installp package type and runs the installp command to install bos.games. The process for uninstallation is similar to the installation process.

In Web-based System Manager and SMIT, you do not need to specify the prefix type if you are selecting the packages from a software list.

Bundle Packaging

The Web-based System Manager and the SMIT Install application look for bundles in /usr/sys/inst.data/sys_bundles and in /usr/sys/inst.data/user_bundles. The sys_bundles location is typically reserved for system-defined bundles (those which come with AIX). Users can create their own bundle files in the user_bundles directory.

The bundle definition file name must end in .bnd, because the AIX installation interfaces that process bundles recognize only bundle files that end in .bnd. Use any editor to create bundle files, which can contain comments and fileset names. Lines beginning with the pound sign (#) are recognized as comments and are ignored by the bundle processing code. When you have completed your list of filesets, save the file and make sure the file has the appropriate read permission. Invoking a bundle installation interface displays your bundle without the .bnd extension.

The following are examples of the predefined bundles:

Server Bundle. A collection of software packages for machines running AIX in a multiuser standalone or networked environment. This bundle emphasizes functionality over disk utilization.

Graphics Bundle. A collection of software packages that provides support of graphical environments. Graphical support may be automatically installed on some systems during BOS installation.

Migration Bundle. This bundle is created when there was not enough disk space available to complete a Migration Installation during the BOS installation process. The bundle consists of a collection of software packages that must be installed to complete your migration. You must install this bundle to complete the Migration Installation. Install the bundle using the smit update_all fast path.
You may also need to install the Graphics Bundle.

Some system bundles might refer to installation images that are spread across multiple media. If you see errors indicating that filesets could not be found on the media you are using, insert the media containing the missing filesets and retry the bundle installation. Some system bundles contain the following comment:

# MEDIA = "CD_Location"

This is used to designate the location of the filesets or packages in the bundle. For example, the Netscape Bundle might contain the following information:

# Install a browser
# MEDIA = "Expansion Pack"
I:Netscape.communicator

This informs the geninstall command that the Netscape.communicator installp package is located on the Expansion Pack CD.

The system bundles are located in the /usr/sys/inst.data/sys_bundles directory. To list the system bundles, type the following:

ls /usr/sys/inst.data/sys_bundles/*.bnd

You can also use the SMIT list_bundle fast path to list the system bundles.