Keeping any computer system patched is critical to functionality and security. Sun takes patching very seriously and has rigorous testing mechanisms in place to ensure that patches are safe to implement. They also make it easy to apply and manage patches so there are no excuses!
Patches usually come in a ZIP archive. To unzip the archive, put the file in a temporary directory and run the following:
unzip patchfile.zip
replacing patchfile with the specific patch you are applying, for example, 116012-01. This will create a subdirectory called 116012-01 with the patch contents inside.
Once the patch archive is unzipped, you should read through the README file in the new directory. The README, if it exists, will provide details about the patch and any special requirements for its application to the system. Follow the README directions if they differ from the standard method. To apply a typical patch to the system, as superuser run the following:
patchadd 116012-01
This will save the files required for backing out (removing) the patch in the default location and apply patch 116012-01. The reference to the patch in the command is the name of the directory created with unzip. Thus, you must either be in the directory in which you ran unzip, or you must specify the fully qualified path to the patch directory, for example /var/tmp/116012-01.
Warning: The -d option which is used when adding packages to the system to specify the location of the packages means something very different in patchadd. If you specify -d in patchadd, the existing files will not be preserved and the new patch cannot be backed out.
