RHEL 5 .1 to 5.8 patching

Usage and Config Patch
1

can i patch RHEL 5.1 to 5.8 via bigfix or Bigfix will upgrade to latest RHEL 5 version which may be at 5.11 or 5.12?

do i need to configure offline repo or from the download plug-in method i can control over version specific?

2

@mail2vij,

As long as the manufacturer still provides patches and support for the OS variant and version in question, then you should be covered. Just make sure the use the “Native Tools” patch site in BigFix and properly configure the applicable DownloadPlugin. For RHEL this will include a username and password from your RHEL subscription so that the DownloadPlugin can access files, etc. on the RHEL patch sites.

If you run into any download issues, make sure to check the RHELProtocol DownloadPlugin logs on your root BES server. When you first start with DownloadPlugins for RHEL and/or SLES you’ll need to make sure and login to the respective support site with the applicable credentials and accept any ELUA, etc. that the DownloadPlugin can’t negotiate.

2 Likes
3

Thanks for your reply, but my question is related to specific version RHEL 5.1 to 5.8 upgrade? is it possible or Bigfix would install the latest version only may be 5.11 or 5.12 etc.

4

@mail2vij BigFix Fixlets are released based on the Erratas. They are not tied to any specific version of Red Hat. As such, if you just applied all the latest Fixlets in the site, then you may get moved up to the latest 5.x inadvertently.

However, if you pick and choose only those Erratas that were released up to the release date of a minor version, and then only apply the specific Kernel update and redhat-release package for the target minor version, it will be the same as a minor version upgrade.

For example, you could create a Baseline that included only those Fixlets that fit the criteria for the minor version upgrade and use that to upgrade your endpoints to the target minor release.

1 Like
5

Thanks for the explanation.

Is there any way to figure out what fixlets we should select for minor upgrade for instance : RHEL 5.1 to RHEL 5.3

Or we need to check only vendor site?

Thanks

6

Right now, the only way is to check the Vendor’s site and match it to the FIxlet’s Source Release Date. Fixlets currently do not contain any minor version reference.