Installing, updating and verifying software with the Image Packaging System (pkg)

Goal

Query, install, update and verify software on Oracle Solaris 11.4 using the Image Packaging System (IPS) client, pkg, and know which publisher a package comes from.

Prerequisites

Network or local access to a package repository already configured as a publisher; root role or a profile with package-management rights for anything that changes the image (pkg list/info/search are unprivileged).

Steps

1. See what is configured: pkg publisher lists every publisher known to the image, its origin URI(s), and whether it is enabled — check this first on an unfamiliar host, since installs follow the publisher search order and stickiness shown there.
2. Search before installing: pkg search <term> looks up which package provides a file or FMRI; pkg list -a <pattern> shows installed and available versions without changing anything.
3. Inspect a specific package: pkg info <pkg_fmri_pattern> prints its version, publisher, and state; add -r to query the repository instead of only installed packages.
4. Install: pkg install <pkg_fmri_pattern>. For non-interactive/scripted use, add --accept to accept package licenses automatically instead of prompting.
5. Update: pkg update refreshes catalogs and updates matching packages, or the whole image with no operand. The image property be-policy (default create-backup) decides what happens: if any affected package requires a reboot — the case for an SRU update of the whole system — pkg clones a new boot environment, applies the changes there and activates it for the next boot, leaving the running system untouched until you reboot; if no reboot is needed, the change is applied to the live boot environment, with a backup BE only when content that could affect the kernel is modified. --be-name <name> forces and names a new BE, --require-backup-be forces a backup, --no-be-activate leaves the new BE inactive. See the boot-environments article in this series for what to do next.
6. Remove: pkg uninstall <pkg_fmri_pattern> (uninstall, not "remove", is the IPS subcommand name).
7. Verify installed content against packaging metadata: pkg verify <pkg_fmri_pattern> reports files that were modified, are missing, or have wrong permissions/ownership compared with what the package recorded.
8. Repair what verify found: pkg fix <pkg_fmri_pattern> reinstalls the affected files from the repository; this can also create a new boot environment, controllable with --deny-new-be/--require-new-be.

Expected result

pkg list <pkg> shows the intended version installed; pkg verify returns clean after pkg fix; a new boot environment created by update/fix appears in beadm list and can be activated or discarded independently of the one you booted from.

Limits and test basis

pkg update/install/fix can each create a new boot environment or refuse to proceed if disk space or image policy does not allow one; use pkg update -n for a dry run before committing on a host you cannot easily reboot. Uninstalls and small installs usually change the live boot environment directly; if no backup BE was created, the undo is pkg install of the removed package, so for a risky change pass --require-backup-be (or run beadm create first) and roll back with beadm activate if needed. This is specific to Oracle Solaris 11.4's pkg client; illumos distributions use IPS too but configure different default publishers.