[pca] Oracle removed support from patchdiag.xref for --minimal option in pca?

[Martin Paul]

Jeff wrote:
> It does reduce the number of patches to 100, but the problem still exists
> that pca doesn't verify the packages are installed that the patches applies
> to if a specific revision is requested.  So in the case of the server I'm
> testing, it was built with the SUNWCrnet cluster, so it has minimal packages
> and the actual number that would be applied is around 10.

I see, you're right. It only makes sense if you stick to the "Entire 
Distribution" cluster.

> I really think the best solution is to either convince Oracle to package a
> patchdiag.xref that cooresponds with the revisions in the CPU within the CPU
> bundle, or for me to grab patchdiag.xrefs around the release date until I
> find one that cooresponds with the bundle.

Agreed, it would be best if Oracle provided a matching patchdiag.xref with each 
CPU. Chances for that are pretty low, I guess. Same for finding an xref file 
from a certain date which matches the CPU exactly.

As Don already mentioned, the ultimate solution would be to create a new 
patchdiag.xref from scratch with the data from the patches in the CPU. All the 
required information should be in patchinfo (PATCHID, PATCH_ARCH, 
PATCH_REQUIRES), the README (Synopsis, Date) and the SUNW*/pkginfo files 
(VERSION). The R/S flags aren't in there, but they won't matter.

Anybody want to try it? :) I guess I could come up with a rough script, it's the 
fine-tuning and testing which scares me off, as it will take a lot of time.

> All I have to say is keep up the good work Martin, you are
> keeping a lot of Solaris shops afloat.

Thanks for that!

Martin.