Network & Academic Computing Services
nacs@uci.edu
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Departamental Computing Support
Installing Red Hat Patches
It is a good idea to create a location to keep patches.
The directory patch_dir will be used here for example purposes.
The directory can be called anything you like.
Get the appropriate patch name(s) from a known security source.
Patches can be obtained by ftp from one of Red Hat's mirrors.
NACS has a mirror at: ftp.uci.edu for the two most current releases of Red Hat.
In the following commands replace:
patch_dir with the patch directory name
patch_number with the actual patch number
FTP patches from ftp.uci.edu:
%cd patch_dir
%ftp -i ftp.uci.edu
login as an anonymous user
ftp>cd mirrors/redhat/updates
ftp>cd mirrors/redhat/linux/updates/x.x/en/os/ixxx
where x.x is the red hat version number
where ixxx is the appropriate architecture
ftp>mget patch_name*
ftp>quit
FTP patches from another Red Hat mirror:
%cd patch_dir
%ftp -i ftp site <- replace with one of Red Hat's mirrors.
login as an anonymous user
ftp>cd patch directory <- replace with directory listed for selected mirror
ftp>cd x.x/en/os/ixxx
where x.x is the red hat version number
where ixxx is the appropriate architecture
ftp>mget patch_name*
ftp>quit
Get patch information:
%rpm -qip patch_name.rpm
Get list of files included in patch:
%rpm -qlp patch_name.rpm
Check the list for system config files, sometimes they are included.
If you see a config file listed that you have customized, copy it to
another file. You will need to replace it after installing the patch.
Install patches:
%cd patch_dir
%rpm -Uvh patch_name.rpm
Reboot the machine after patch installation.
Verify patch installation:
%rpm -q -a
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Revised: July 24, 2003