This chapter shows you how use the Software Manager to install software products that you receive from Silicon Graphics. To install products from other vendors, please see the software installation instructions that accompany the products. In some cases, you can also install their products using the Software Manager.
Software from Silicon Graphics is distributed on compact discs (CDs). Typically you install software from a CD-ROM drive that's connected either to your own system or to another system from Silicon Graphics. In some cases a network administrator may use the CD to create a distribution directory on your own system or on another system on your network from which you can install the software.
This chapter contains these sections:
For more information on software installation or troubleshooting, see IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing .
The Software Manager lets you install and remove both operating system software and optional product software. Any user can use the Software Manager to view a list of installed software, but only the Administrator (or anyone who knows the password for the root account) can use it to install or remove software. You can start the Software Manager using any of these methods:
Choose “Software Manager” from the System toolchest.
In the System Manager, select the Software category and click “Software Manager.” To open the System Manager, choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest.
Double-click a CD drive icon that contains a CD with software on it.
If you are not logged in to the root account and the root account has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.
For more information, click a topic:
For help on a specific item or area in the Software Manager window, choose “Click for Help” from the Help menu, then click on the item or area.
The Software Manager has five menus. Click the menu name below for details on the menu choices:
The File menu contains these choices:
“Browse Directory” brings up a file browsing window from which you can choose a directory that contains software that you want to install. The directory then appears in the Available Software drop pocket.
“Open Distribution” brings up a window that lets you select the distribution that contains the software you want to install.
“Open Additional Distribution” brings up a window that lets you select and open another distribution which contains software that you want to install. The current distribution remains open; you will be able to install software from all opened distributions.
“Close Distribution” lets you select one of the currently opened distributions and close it.
“Load Selections” brings up a file browsing window from which you can open a file that contains a custom selection of software. Such files were previously created using Software Manager's “Save Selections” choice.
“Save Selections” saves the current custom selections of software in a file that you can later open by choosing “Load Selections.”
“Start Installation /Removal” starts the actual installation and/or removal of software. It is identical to the Start button that appears in the middle of the Software Manager window.
“Stop Installation/Removal” stops the installation or removal that is currently in progress. It is identical to the Stop button that appears in the middle of the Software Manager window.
“Manage Conflicts” brings up a window in which you can resolve problems that the Software Manager identifies while trying to install or remove software. It is identical to the Conflicts button that appears in the middle of the Software Manager window.
“Recalculate Disk Space” checks whether you have enough disk space to install the software you currently have selected for installation. The Software Manager automatically recalculates disk space each time you make a selection; use this menu choice when your amount of free disk space changes independent of the Software Manager (for example, when you remove some files using the desktop or a shell window while the Software Manager is running).
“Set Preferences” brings up a window in which you can modify standard behaviors of the Software Manager.
“Relocate Product” lets you move a product from its original location on a disk to a different filesystem. You may find this useful if the current filesystem does not have enough space for a particular product.
Note: Not every product can be relocated. If you select a product in the Software Inventory list and the “Relocate Product” menu item does not appear highlighted, then the product cannot be relocated. “Exit” exits the Software Manager.
The Start button starts the actual installation or removal of software. It is identical to the “Start Installation/Removal” choice in the File menu.
The Stop button stops the installation or removal that is currently in progress. It is identical to the “Stop Installation/Removal” choice in the File menu.
The Conflicts button brings up a window in which you can resolve problems that the Software Manager identifies while trying to install or remove software. It is identical to the “Manage Conflicts” choice in the File menu.
The Selected menu lets you select software for installation or removal, and find specific software in the Software Inventory list. Its choices become available when you click the Customize Installation or Manage Installed Software buttons. The menu contains these choices:
“Mark Install” places a check mark in the Install box next to the product that is selected in the Software Inventory list. The product will not be installed until you click the Start button.
“Mark Remove” places a check mark in the Remove box next to the product that is selected in the Software Inventory list. The product is not removed until you click the Start button.
“Unmark (Keep)” removes a check mark that may appear in the Install or Remove box next to the product that is selected in the Software Inventory list. When you click the Start button, the product is not installed or removed.
“Release Notes” displays the release notes that correspond to the product that is selected.
“Get Info” brings up a window that contains information about the selected product.
“Mark Upgrades to Install” places a check mark in the Install box next to all upgrade products (products that are newer versions of products that are currently installed) that are available.
“Mark New Products to Install” places a check mark in the Install box next to all new products (products that have never been installed on the system).
“Mark Related Upgrades” places a check mark next to all upgrade products and the related new products that are required by those upgrade products.
“Unmark All” removes all check marks from all Install and Remove boxes. The Start button is greyed out after you choose “Unmark All,” since no software is marked for installation or removal.
“Find” brings up a window that lets you search the Software Inventory list for each product, subsystem, or file that contains a specific combination of characters.
“Find and Mark” brings up a window that lets you search the Software Inventory list. Once all matches are found, you can mark all or some of the matches for installation or removal.
“Move to Parent” changes the selection from a particular subsystem or file to the product or subsystem that contains that original subsystem or file. For example, if a subsystem within the product IRIS Showcase were selected and you chose “Move to Parent,” the entire IRIS Showcase product would become selected. See also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files.”
The Software menu controls your view of the Software Inventory list. When you choose an item in the menu whose check box is empty, a check mark appears in the box to indicate that the item will now appear in the Software Inventory list. You can choose as many items as you like; the more you choose, the longer the list becomes. Most of the items become available when you click the Customize Installation or Manage Installed Software buttons.
The menu contains these choices:
“New Products” shows all available products that are new; a product is considered new when it or an older version of the product has never been installed on your system.
“Upgrade Products” shows all available products that are upgrades to (newer versions of) products that are already installed on your system.
“Patch Upgrade Products” shows all available products that contain bug fixes to products that are already installed on your system.
“Same Products” shows all available products that are identical to products that are already installed on your system.
“Downgrade Products” shows all available products that are older versions of products that are already installed on your system.
“Installed Products” shows all products that are currently installed on your system.
“Short Product Names” displays the abbreviated, hierarchical product name in the Product column.
“Subsystems Only” displays only subsystems (no products or files) in the Product column.
“Configuration Files Summary” brings up a window that shows every configuration file on the system, and gives you an option to view only those files that a Privileged User, Administrator, or network administrator has changed on your system using the System Manager interactive guides or a text editor. See also “Checking Configuration Files.”
The Panes menu lets you control which portions (called panes) of the Software Manager window are displayed. By default, the Available Software, Software Inventory, and Status/Disk Space panes are shown, so check marks appear next to these three items on the menu.
To hide one of the three default panes, choose it from the menu; the check mark disappears along with the pane; to view a pane that's not displayed, choose it from the menu. Software Manager retains your pane choices, so whatever panes are displayed when you quit Software Manager are displayed the next time you start Software Manager.
“Available Software” displays the Available Software drop pocket, pathname field, path bar, recycle button, and Lookup button. You specify the location of the available software in this pane; see “Specifying the Location of Available Software.”
“Software Inventory” displays only the Upgrade Products and New Products check boxes when the LED on the Default Installation button is lit. When you click the Customize Installation button, it displays a detailed list of all available software; when you click the Manage Installed Software button, it displays a detailed list of all installed software.
“Status/Disk Space” displays the Status area and the Disk Space menu button and graphical space representation.
“Command” displays a text field in which you can type a subset of the standard Inst (the command-line version of Software Manager) commands. For details, see “Using Inst Commands in the Command Pane.”
“Log” displays a detailed, scrolling log of Software Manager messages.
The Help menu contains these choices:
“Click for Help” turns your cursor into a question mark. When you click this cursor over any item or area of the Software Manager window, a help window appears that describes the specific item or area.
“Overview” starts a help window that gives you an overview of the Software Manager.
Each task-oriented topic starts a help window that covers the topic.
“Index” brings up a window that contains an index to all the help topics that are available for the Software Manager. When you double-click a topic in the Index window, the appropriate help window appears.
“Keys and Shortcuts” displays a window with information about keyboard shortcuts that you can use to navigate through and make selections in the Software Inventory list.
“Product Information” displays version information about the Software Manager.
If the root account has a password, you need to know it in order to install software. Installing software is a three step process:
Specify where the software is located; see “Specifying the Location of Available Software.”
Choose to install either
upgrade products and/or new products (see “Performing a Default Installation”)
a custom selection of products or parts of products (see “Performing a Custom Installation”)
For more information, see “About Default and Custom Installations.”
Start the installation by clicking the Start button.
Click a topic for more information:
The Software Manager lets you upgrade your workstation to a new version of the operating system. You can also use Inst as described briefly in your system's owner's guide, or as described in detail in IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing . In general, upgrading the operating system consists of these steps:
Shut down all running applications.
Have all remote users log off.
Make a full backup of all user and system files; see “Backing Up Files.”
Open the Software Manager by choosing “Software Manager” from the System toolchest.
Follow the instructions in “Specifying the Location of Available Software” to identify the location of the new operating system software.
Follow the instructions in “Performing a Default Installation” or “Performing a Custom Installation,” depending on what type of installation you want to do.
The Status area reports the progress of the system upgrade. When it has successfully completed, you'll see a message in the status area.
Depending in the type of installation you've performed, the system either restarts automatically or prompts you to restart after the installation is completed.
If the Software Manager encounters any problems or if an error occurs during the system upgrade, the Software Manager automatically transfers you to Inst. (This also happens if you click the Stop button during the system upgrade.) For brief descriptions of some common Inst commands, see “Using Inst Commands in the Command Pane.” See IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing for more information about using inst.
Silicon Graphics distributes software on compact disks (CDs). You typically access the new software from a CD drive that's connected to either your own system or to another system on your network whose CD drive allows software installation (see “Allowing Remote Users to Install Software From Your CD Drive”).
In some sites, a network administrator copies the contents of the CD into a distribution directory on a server system on your network so that you can access the new software from a directory rather than a CD. (See also “Setting Up a Distribution Directory.”)
The first step in installing software is to tell the Software Manager where the software is located. If the CD that contains the software distribution appears as an icon on your desktop, just double-click the icon. This launches the Software Manager and specifies the software's location.
If the CD icon is not on your desktop, you can specify the location of the software by following these steps:
If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Software Manager” from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager .
If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.
Place the software CD into a CD drive that's connected to your system or to another system on the network. If you're installing from a distribution directory, get the system's hostname and the full pathname of the directory from your network administrator.
Drag the CD or directory icon from your desktop into the Available Software drop pocket in the Software Manager window, then click the Lookup button.
If the CD drive is connected to another system, choose “On a Remote Workstation” from the Shared Resources rollover menu in the System toolchest. Type the name of the remote workstation and press <Enter>; the resources available on that workstation appear in the window. Drag the CD drive onto your desktop; you can then drag it into the Available Software drop pocket (in the System Manager window) and click the Lookup button.
If the software is in a directory that is on another system, click in the pathname field labeled Available Software, type the remote system's hostname, a colon (:), and the full pathname of the directory, then press <Enter> or click the Lookup button. For example, to specify a directory named /dist on a system named mars, enter
mars:/dist
Then click the Lookup button.
If the drop pocket or pathname field does not accept the CD or directory, the CD or directory does not contain installable software.
If you want to specify an additional distribution directory or CD, choose “Open Additional Distribution” from the File menu.
The “Open Additional Distribution” window appears. Select a distribution using one of these methods.
Select the name of a distribution that appears in the list of available ones and click the Add button.
If the software is in a directory that is on another system, click in Distribution field, type the remote system's name, a colon (:), and the full pathname of the directory, then click the Add button. (See Step 3 above for more information.)
Click the Browse button to open a file browsing window and then navigate through the system's directories to located the distribution directory. After you locate the distribution you want, select it and click the Add button.
Software Manager is now ready to do a default installation (see “Performing a Default Installation”).
To view all the available software or to install a custom selection of software instead, click Customize Installation (see “Performing a Custom Installation”).
Once you specify the location of software to the Software Manager, it makes these assumptions:
You want to automatically install the default set of products, so the LED is lit on the Default Installation button.
You want to install all products that are newer versions of software that is already installed).
You want to install all the default subsystems of the new software that is available but is not yet installed on your system.
Each product consists of several parts; some are required for the product to work, others are optional. See also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files.”
To install the default and required portions of the selected products, click the Start button; see “Performing a Default Installation.”
To set up a custom installation of software, click the Customize Installation button. The Software Inventory list displays a full listing of all software that is available from the CD or distribution directory, and lets you
install specific products (both new and upgrade) and/or subsystems by selecting them individually; you can expand products to view and select their various subsystems and can expand subsystems to view and select their various files.
install older versions of products that are already installed
| Note: For information about how to install and remove software at the same time, see “Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time.” |
Use the default installation to install all default subsystems of upgrade products and all default subsystems of new products. For more information, see “About Default and Custom Installations.”
If there is a password on the root account, only the Administrator can install software (or a user who has been granted the appropriate privileges; see “Overview of the Privilege Manager” for information.) If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Software Manager” from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager .
| Note: If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software. |
To install default software automatically, follow these steps:
Specify the location of the new software by dragging a CD or directory icon into the Available Software drop pocket, then clicking the Lookup button. See also “Specifying the Location of Available Software.”
If the drop pocket does not accept a CD or directory icon, the CD or directory does not contain installable software.
Make sure the yellow LED is lit on the Default Installation button.
To start the installation, click the Start button in the middle of the Software Manager window.
The Status area reports the progress of the installation in a series of stages: Initialize, Install, and Post Install. (If the Status area is not displayed, you can display it by choosing “Status/Disk Space” from the Panes menu.)
If the installation requires more than one CD, the Software Manager will prompt you for the next CD.
If Software Manager encounters any installation conflicts, it displays a Conflicts window in which you can resolve the conflict. See “Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts.”
If Software Manager reports that you do not have enough disk space to install the software you have selected, you can free disk space at this time by removing other software products (see “Removing Installed Software”) or by selecting fewer products or subsystems to install (see “Saving or Loading a Custom Selection of Software”). If this does not result in enough disk space, you may need to move some user files onto backup tapes, a second disk, or other systems on the network. See also “Freeing Disk Space.”
If Software Manager reports a different sort of problem, see “Troubleshooting Software Installation.”
When the installation is complete, a dialog reports that the installation was successful. This dialog may also report the following:
Desktop and Icon Catalog icons for the products will not appear until the next time you log in.
You must restart the system before the products will work.
At this time you can do the following:
Install more software from the same CD or distribution directory (see “Saving or Loading a Custom Selection of Software”), or specify a new location from which to install additional software; see “Specifying the Location of Available Software.”
View or remove installed software; click Manage Installed Software, and see “Viewing Installed and Available Software” or “Removing Installed Software.”
Stop using Software Manager; choose “Exit” from the File menu. The Status pane reports all exit commands, then the Software Manager window disappears.
To use your new software, see the documentation that came with the software. It tells you where on the system the software is located, and how to run it.
By clicking the Customize Installation button you can install
only some of the upgrade or new products that are available (rather than all of them)
only the required subsystems of a product, or the required subsystems plus some of the optional subsystems
older versions (downgrades) of products that are already installed
While making a custom selection of software, you can also
remove software at the same time; see “Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time”.
save your custom selections in a file that others can load directly into the Software Manager; see “Saving or Loading a Custom Selection of Software”.
When you click the Customize Installation button, you're requesting a more informative view of the software that's available.
If there is a password on the root account, only the Administrator can install software. If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Software Manager” from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager .
| Note: If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software. |
To install a custom selection of software, follow these steps:
Specify the location of the new software by dragging a CD or directory icon into the Available Software drop pocket, then click the Lookup button. See also “Specifying the Location of Available Software.”
If the drop pocket does not accept a CD or directory icon, the CD or directory does not contain installable software.
Click the Customize Installation button.
You'll see a wait cursor, and a series of progress indicators appear in the Status area as the Software Manager scans all the available software. After several seconds (or a few minutes if there are several products available), the Software Inventory pane displays all of the available software.
By default, when you click Customize Installation, the Software Inventory pane shows all available new products, upgrade products, patch upgrade products, same products, and downgrade products.
Change your view of the available software, if you like; for more information, see “Viewing Installed and Available Software.”
View fewer types of products in the Software Inventory list by choosing a type (which removes the checkmark) from the Software menu. For example, if you do not want the list to include downgrade products, choose “Downgrade Products” from the Software menu.
View the next level of product structure detail for a specific product by clicking the folded arrow icon next to the product's name in the list. See also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files.”
View only the smallest installable unit of the products by choosing (placing a checkmark next to) “Subsystems Only” from the Software menu.
Choose which products you want to install (or remove).
To choose one product at a time, either click to place a checkmark in the Install box next to the product, or select the product and choose “Mark Install” from the Selected menu.
To choose not to install a product, either remove the checkmark from the Install box, or select the product and choose “Unmark (Keep)” from the Selected menu.
To choose all upgrade products or all new products, choose “Mark Upgrades to Install” or “Mark New Products to Install” from the Selected menu.
To choose only part of a product (a subsystem), click the folded arrow icon next to the product to see its subsystems, then click the Install box next to those parts you want to install.
To choose a product or part of a product to remove, choose “Installed Products” from the Software menu to display installed products; then, in the Remove column, click in the check box next to the item.
Note: When you choose to install an upgrade product, a blue check mark appears in the Remove box next to the currently installed version of the product. This indicates that by installing the new version, the current version will be removed (replaced). See also “Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time.” After you've made all your selections, make sure they do not cause any installation conflicts.
If you select a combination of software that cannot be safely installed on the system (for example, prerequisite products are missing, or you did not select a required part of a product), the Software Manager reports this in the Status area, and the Conflicts button in the middle of the window becomes active.
To resolve conflicts, click the Conflicts button, and see “Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts.”
Make sure you're comfortable with how much disk space the new software uses. The Disk Space area shows existing disk space that's in use, and shows in blue how much additional space the new software requires. See also “Checking Available Disk Space.”
If the Disk Space area is not displayed, you can display it by choosing “Status/Disk Space” from the Panes menu.
If you do not have enough disk space to install the software you have selected, the disk space pie turns red. You can free up disk space at this time by removing other software products; see “Removing Installed Software.” If this does not result in enough disk space, you may need to move some user files onto backup tapes, a second disk, or other systems on the network. See also “Freeing Disk Space.”
To start the installation, click the Start button in the middle of the Software Manager window.
The Status area reports the progress of the installation; if this area is not displayed, you can display it by choosing “Status/Disk Space” from the Panes menu. When it has successfully completed, you'll see a message in the status area.
If the software manager encounters a problem, it displays a notifier; see “Installation Ends Before It Is Complete.”
When the installation is complete, a dialog reports that the installation was successful. This dialog may also report the following:
Desktop and Icon Catalog icons for the products will not appear until the next time you log in.
You must restart the system before the products will work.
At this time, you can do any of the following:
Install more software from the same CD or distribution directory, or specify a new location from which to install additional software; see “Specifying the Location of Available Software.”
View or remove installed software; click Manage Installed Software, and see “Viewing Installed and Available Software” or “Removing Installed Software.”
Stop using Software Manager; choose “Exit” from the File menu.
To use your new software, see the documentation that came with the software. It tells you where on the system the software is located, and how to start it up.
The Software Manager displays the amount of disk space that is currently used and free (available) for each disk on your system. If the Disk Space area is not currently shown, you can display it by choosing “Status/Disk Space” from the Panes window.
The Software Manager automatically recalculates disk space when you click the Customize Installation or Manage Installed Software button, and updates the disk space pie chart. When your amount of free disk space changes independent of the Software Manager (for example, when you remove some files using the desktop or a shell window while the Software Manager is running), you can force Software Manager to recalculate the disk space by choosing “Recalculate Disk Space” from the File menu.
The disk space pie chart represents the total amount of space that's available on the disk directory whose name is displayed on the Disk Space menu button. See also “Viewing Space on Different Disks or Disk Directories.”
The dark grey portion of the disk space pie chart shows the relative amount of space that is currently being used; the precise amount in KB is shown to the right of the pie chart and the dark grey square that is labeled Used. The white portion shows the relative amount of free space; the precise amount in KB is shown to the right of the pie chart and the white box that is labeled Free.
When you choose items for installation or removal, a new wedge appears in the pie chart. This wedge shows the change in disk space use that takes place once you install or remove the items you selected. The color of the wedge and its corresponding Net Change box indicate the positive or negative effects of your selections:
A light green wedge and box show that your selections will use up some of your free space. The precise amount in kilobytes (KB) is shown to the right of the Net Change box, and is always a positive number.
A dark blue wedge and box show that your selections will free some of your used space. The precise amount in kilobytes (KB) is shown to the right of the Net Change box, and is always a negative number.
A red wedge and box show that your selections require more disk space than you have available. The precise amount of additional disk space you need to install all of your selections is shown next to the Needs extra box.
The Overhead box displays additional, temporary disk space the Software Manager requires to perform the installation. This “overhead” disk space will become available again after you complete the installation.
The menu button next to Disk Space is labeled with the name of the disk or disk directory (partition) that is displayed in the Disk Space area. New systems with one disk have only one disk directory called / (root); this is the default disk directory that is shown in the Disk Space area. Even when you have more than one disk, new software is installed onto /.
If your system has more than one disk, or if your disk is divided into several disk directories, choose the disk directory whose space you want to check from the menu button.
All software that the Software Manager can install is made up of several hierarchical parts:
The product is the largest unit that you can display in the Software Inventory pane. The operating system consists of several products that are required for the system to work. You can also install several optional products.
Every product contains at least one subsystem. Each subsystem is a logical grouping of product parts. For example, a product may have three subsystems; one that contains online books, one that contains all software that is required for the product to work, and one that contains all optional components of the product. The subsystem is the smallest installable component of a product.
Each subsystem contains at least one file. You can view the list of files that make up a subsystem, but you cannot install or remove individual files using the Software Manager.
| Note: Some advanced users may want to view a fourth structural component, called an image; for information on viewing images, see “Setting Advanced Preferences.” |
By default, the Software Inventory pane shows only products. To display the subsystems that make up a product, click the folded arrow icon next to the product. To display the files that make up a subsystem, click the folded arrow icon next to the subsystem. To re-fold the arrow and hide the smaller components, click the unfolded arrow icon.
To view only subsystems (no products), choose “Subsystems Only” from the Software menu. When only subsystems are displayed, you can still expand them to view the files they contain.
In a hierarchical structure like this one, a unit that contains other units is called a parent, and each unit it contains is called a child. The parent of a file is a subsystem, and the parent of a subsystem is a product. To locate the parent of a specific child, select the child, then choose “Move to Parent” from the Selected menu. For example, when you are viewing a long list of subsystems, you can select a subsystem, then choose “Move to Parent” from the Selected menu to find the product that contains the subsystem. The parent becomes highlighted (selected) in the Software Inventory list.
When you install a product, the product often includes some files that you customize (or configure) either from within the application, or by editing the files using a text editor. A file that you customize for your specific system or site is called a configuration file.
When you install upgrade products, the Software Manager does not destroy the information in your configuration files. It either
saves your old configuration file, but renames the old version (filename.O) and uses a new version
saves your old configuration file and uses it, but also installs the new version under a new name (filename.N)
To view the list of all configuration files on your system, or a list of all configuration files that have been changed, follow these steps:
Click the Manage Installed Software button.
Choose “Configuration Files Summary” from the Software menu.
In the Configuration Files window, specify which files you want to list.
To see a list of all configuration files on your system, click the radio button next to All Files.
To see a list of only those configuration files that you have changed and for which another version may be installed (for example, where both filename and filename.N exist on the system), click the radio button next to Modified Files.
When your system shows changed configuration files, you can ignore the new configuration files; check the two different versions and decide to use one version as is; or merge the contents of both versions. For details, see “Understanding and Merging Configuration Files.”
To close the window, click the Close button.
The Software Manager offers two standard views:
Click Manage Installed Software to view all software that is currently installed on your system; it is displayed in the Software Inventory list. In this default view, you will not see any software that is available for installation.
Click Customize Installation to view software that is available from the CD or distribution directory that is specified in the Available Software pathname field; it is displayed in the Software Inventory list. By default, this shows new products, upgrade products, patch upgrade products, same products, downgrade products, and not installed products. It does not show any products that are already installed.
Regardless of which standard view you start with, you can change it using the Software menu. Click a topic for more information:
You can change your view using the Software menu in these ways:
Add or remove checkmarks on the Software menu next to “New Products,” “Upgrade Products,” “Patch Upgrade Products,” “Same Products,” “Downgrade Products,” or “Not Installed Products” to view or hide these types of available software.
Add or remove the checkmark on the Software menu next to “Installed Products” to view or hide the complete list of software that is currently installed.
Add or remove the checkmark on the Software menu next to “History” to view or hide the complete list of software that was at one time installed but is not currently installed.
Place a checkmark next to “Short Product Names” to see abbreviated names in the Product column; remove the checkmark to see the full names.
Place a checkmark next to “Subsystems Only” to view only the smallest installable or removable part of the products (the subsystems); remove the checkmark to see the top-level products. See also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files.”
Choose “Configuration Files Summary” to see a separate window that contains a list of every site- and user-specific configuration file contained in the products. See also “Checking Configuration Files.”
By using the Software menu in these ways, you can make your view of available and installed software as simple or comprehensive as you like. You can also view more detail about the structure of each product by clicking the folded arrow icon next to the product's name in the list; see also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files.”
You can control the contents of the Software Inventory list using the Software menu (see “Viewing Installed and Available Software”). For details on the information shown in each column, click a column name:
You can also use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the list and make selections; see “Keyboard Shortcuts in the Software Inventory List.”
The Remove column contains check boxes that correspond to the item shown in the Product column. When you place a checkmark in a Remove check box, you are selecting that item for removal.
You can place a checkmark in a Remove check box by either clicking in the box, or selecting the item in the Product column and choosing “Mark Remove” from the Selected menu.
When you select for installation a newer version of a product that is already installed (that is, when you choose to replace an installed product with an upgrade product), a blue checkmark (rather than a red checkmark) automatically appears in the Remove check box next to the installed product. See also “Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time.”
The Install column contains check boxes that correspond to the item shown in the Product column. When you place a checkmark in an Install check box, you are selecting that item for installation.
You can place a checkmark in an Install check box by either clicking in the box, or selecting the item in the Product column and choosing “Mark Install” from the Selected menu.
The Product column shows whether an item is a product, subsystem, or file (see also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files”), and displays the item's full name. When you select an item by clicking on it, the name of the product that contains the selected item appears in the text field next to the Product column label.
Immediately to the left of the item's description (Product, Sub, or File) is a folded arrow icon. To see what the item contains, click this icon. When the arrow is expanded the column displays more detail about a product's content. You can eliminate the detail and re-fold the arrow icon by clicking it.
The Status column describes the item relative to the software that is currently installed. Descriptions that appear in boldface type indicate that the item is available for installation (is on the CD or in the distribution directory). Descriptions that appear in normal type indicate that the item is not available for installation; it is either installed on the system or has been removed.
New (in boldface type) indicates that the item is available for installation, and that it or an older version of the product has never been installed on your system.
Upgrade (in boldface type) indicates that the item is available for installation, and is part of an upgrade product; it is a newer version of a product that is already installed.
Patch Upgrade (in boldface type) indicates that the item is available for installation, and is part of a patch upgrade product; it contains bug fixes for a version of a product that is already installed.
Same Version (in boldface type) indicates that the item is available for installation, and is the same version of a product that is already installed.
Older Version (in boldface type) indicates that the item is available for installation, and is part of a product that is older than the version of the product that is already installed; it is a downgrade product.
Not Installed (in boldface type) indicates that the item is available for installation, and that it has been available for installation before but has never been installed; this description only appears in the Managed Installed view.
Installed (in normal type) indicates that the item is already installed on the system.
The Size column shows how much disk space (in kilobytes) an installed item occupies, and shows how much disk space an uninstalled item will occupy once it is installed.
The Type column uses character codes to provide additional information about each subsystem that may help you decide which subsystems to install or remove. The character codes do not appear next to the product or a file. To see the codes, you must click the folded arrow icon next to a product, or you can choose “Subsystems Only” from the Software menu.
More than one character code may appear next to a subsystem. This list describes each code:
| R | The subsystem is required for the basic operating system (IRIX) to run. | |
| D | The subsystem is not required for IRIX to run, but the manufacturer recommends installing it; it is selected for installation by default. An example of default subsystems are those that provide the graphical Indigo Magic Desktop; if you choose not to install these, your system will provide only IRIX shells as an interface. | |
| B | You must restart the system after installing the subsystem. | |
| O | The subsystem was installed as part of a maintenance release. | |
| E | The subsystem is empty and therefore should not be installed. | |
| C | The subsystem can be installed only by a diskless client system. |
If no character codes appear next to a subsystem, it is probably (but not always) an optional component of the product. For example, most manufacturers do not designate subsystems that contain clip art as default, since they often are unwanted and occupy large amounts of disk space.
You can navigate through the Software Inventory list and make selections by clicking in the list, then using these keyboard shortcuts:
| <Home> | Go to the top of the list and select the first item. | |
| <End> | Go to the bottom of the list and select the last item. | |
| <Page Up> | Scroll the contents of the list one up one windowful. | |
| <Page Down> | Scroll the contents of the list down one windowful. | |
| <-> or up arrow |
| |
| <Enter> or down arrow |
| |
| <i> | Mark selected item for installation. | |
| <r> | Mark selected item for removal. | |
| <k> | Unmark (keep) selected item so it will not be installed or removed. |
The similar keyboard shortcuts that are available from the Selected menu work at any time; you do not need to first click in the Software Inventory list.
The Software Manager displays an R in the Type column next to each subsystem that is required for the operating system (IRIX) to run, and places a D in this column next to all subsystems that are selected for installation by default (that the manufacturer recommends installing); it does not place these codes next to the product or files. See also “The Type Column.”
To check whether a subsystem is required or recommended for the operating system to run, you can do one of the following:
Click the folded arrow icon next to a product to display the subsystems.
Choose “Subsystems Only” from the Software menu to view only the subsystems.
At this time the Software Manager does not indicate conclusively whether a specific subsystem of an optional product is required for the product to run. If no character code appears next to a subsystem, it is likely that the subsystem is not required. For conclusive information, view the product's release notes by following these steps:
Select the product from the Software Inventory list.
Choose “Release Notes” from the Selected menu.
Use the scroll bar and the Prev Chapter and Next Chapter buttons to read through the release notes. See Chapter 2 for information about which subsystems are required.
To find specific software, such as a product, subsystem, or file (see also “About Product Structure: Products, Subsystems, and Files”), choose either “Find” or “Find and Mark” from the Selected menu.
The Find window lets you search for strings within products, subsystems, and files; see “Finding Strings Within Products, Subsystems, and Files.”
The Find and Mark window lets you search for products and subsystems and mark or unmark them for installation or removal; see “Finding and Marking Products and Subsystems.”
To use the Find window, choose “Find” from the Selected menu, then follow these steps:
In the Find field, type the name or a part of the name of the software that you want to find.
For example, to find all the products or subsystems that contain Release Notes, enter Release Notes. To find all products or subsystems that contain the string Exe, enter Exe (you do not need to use a wildcard character such as *).
The string you enter is compared to either the long or short names, depending on which view of the names you selected from the Software menu.
Customize the way the Find window searches for the name. By default, it searches each product and subsystem for the exact string that you enter in the field.
Click the box next to Search Files if you also want to search all files that make up all the products.
Click in the box next to Ignore Case if you want to find all instances of the string, regardless of whether characters in the string are uppercase or lowercase. By default, there is a check mark in this box.
Click the Search button to start the search.
When the search is complete, the window reports how many matches it found, and the first matching item in the Software Inventory list is selected.
To stop the search before it is complete, click the Stop Search button.
Browse through all the matches.
To move forward through the list, click the Search button.
To move backward through the list, click the Previous button.
Search for a different string, or close the window.
To search for a different string, type a new string in the Find field, then click the Search button.
To close the Find window, click the Close button.
To use the Find and Mark window, choose “Find and Mark” from the Selected menu, then follow these steps:
In the Find field, type the name or a part of the name of the product or subsystem that you want to find.
For example, to find all the products or subsystems that contain release notes, enter release notes. To find all products or subsystems that contain the string Exe, enter Exe (you do not need to use a wildcard character such as *).
The string you enter is compared to either the long or short names, depending on which view of the names you selected from the Software menu.
Customize the way the Find window searches for the name. By default, it searches each product and subsystem for the exact string that you enter in the field.
Click in the box next to Ignore Case if you want to find all instances of the string, regardless of whether characters in the string are uppercase or lowercase. By default, there is a check mark in this box.
Click the Search button to start the search.
When the search is complete, the window reports how many matches it found, and the first matching item in the Software Inventory list is selected.
Browse through all the matches.
To move forward through the list, click the Search button.
To move backward through the list, click the Previous button.
Mark or unmark for installation or removal some or all of the matches.
When you mark a product or subsystem that's already installed, it is marked for removal (a checkmark appears in its Remove column); when you mark an available product or subsystem, it is marked for installation (a checkmark appears in its Install column.)
To mark or unmark only the match that's selected in the Software Inventory list, click the Mark or Unmark button. After you click the button, the next match becomes selected. Use the Search and Previous buttons to find other specific matches to mark or unmark.
To mark or unmark all matches, click the Mark Matches or Unmark Matches button.
Search for a different string, or close the window.
To search for a different string, type a new string in the Find field, then click the Search button.
To close the Find window, click the Close button.
The Administrator can use the Software Manager to remove only software that was installed using the Software Manager or Inst. You can remove software while installing other software (see “Removing and Installing Software at the Same Time”) or in an independent removal session.
To remove software, follow these steps:
If the Software Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Software Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Software Manager .
If the root account on your system has a password, a dialog box appears that requests the password. If you do not know the password, click the Continue button, and Software Manager starts in read-only mode where you can view available and installed software, but cannot install or remove software.
In the Software Manager window, click Manage Installed Software.
You'll see a wait cursor, and a series of progress indicators appear in the Status area as the Software Manager locates all the installed software. After several seconds or minutes, the Software Inventory pane displays all software that was installed using the Software Manager.
Find and identify the products or parts of products that you want to remove.
To find an item by searching for a specific string, choose “Find” from the Selected menu.
To determine whether an item is required for the operating system or an optional product to work properly.
In the Remove column, click in the check box next to each item that you want to remove.
To remove an entire product, click in the Remove check box in the line where the word Product appears in the Product column. This automatically selects each subsystem that makes up the product.
To remove part of a product (a subsystem), click the folded arrow icon that appears next to the product that contains the item you want to remove, then click in the Remove check box that's next to the item.
Check for removal conflicts.
If you select a combination of software that cannot be safely removed (for example, if you selected an item that is required for the operating system or an optional product to work), the Software Manager reports this in the Status area, and the Conflicts button in the middle of the window becomes active.
To resolve conflicts, click the Conflicts button.
To remove the selected software, click the Start button in the middle of the Software Manager window.
When the removals are complete, a dialog reports that the removals were successful. At this time you can do any of the following:
Remove other products.
Install software by specifying a location
Stop using Software Manager; choose “Exit” from the File menu.
You can remove and install software simultaneously in three different cases:
When available upgrade products (newer versions of installed products) are selected for installation, the appropriate subsystems of the installed (older) versions of the products will be automatically removed and replaced by the newer versions. You do not have to explicitly request that the installed versions be removed. The Software Manager places a blue checkmark in the Remove box of the installed version.
You can click the Manage Installed Software button to view these checkmarks, and can then click Customize Installation to continue your customization. All selections that you make are retained.
When you click Customize Installation, select some items for installation, choose “Installed Software” from the Software menu, and explicitly select some installed items for removal, both installations and removals take place when you click the Start button.
When your selections cause a conflict, the Conflicts window lets you select items for installation or removal that can resolve the conflict. The installation or removal takes place when you click the Start button.
In all cases, the Disk Space area predicts the net change in disk space use that occurs after all installations and removals are complete.
| Note: If you need to remove software because you don't have enough disk space to perform a desired installation, see “Troubleshooting Software Installation” for instructions. |
The Software Manager lets you save your custom selections of software in a file so that the same custom installation can be performed again at a later time. This is especially useful in sites where a network administrator loads software on all systems, and wants all systems to have an identical inventory of software.
The custom selection that you save is unique to the distribution directory or CD that you specified in the Available Software field. In other words, other users can use the custom selection file only if they specify a distribution directory or CD that contains the same software that yours did when you saved the selections.
| Note: You must save the custom selections before you start the software installation. |
To save your custom selections, follow these steps:
Choose “Save Selections” from the File menu.
In the Save Selections window, enter a full pathname for the file in the Selection field.
Click the OK button.
To load a file that contains custom selections, follow these steps:
In the Available Software field, specify a distribution directory or CD that contains the same software as was specified when the custom selections were saved.
Choose “Load Selections” from the File menu.
In the Load Selections window, enter a full pathname for the file in the Selection field.
Click the OK button.
You can customize many aspects of the Software Manager's behavior using the Preferences window. Most of the customizations are useful only for a network administrator or very advanced users. See also “Setting Advanced Preferences” in this guide; also see the IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing .
To customize the Software Manager's behavior, follow these steps:
Choose “Set Preferences” from the File menu.
Select a preference that you want to set or learn about.
A description of the preference appears in the Preference Description pane, and any controls you need to use to set the preference appear below the pane.
Adjust the controls below the Preference Description pane, then set the preference by clicking the Apply button.
Close the window by clicking the Close button.
The Software Manager has several built-in troubleshooting tools:
Informative dialogs provide status information and warnings.
The Conflicts window reports installation conflicts and helps you resolve them; see “Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts.”
The Status area and Log pane provide information throughout an installation and/or removal session; see “Viewing Status and Log Information.”
The system file /var/inst/INSTLOG contains all status and error messages from each Software Manager and inst session.
Click a problem for information on solving it.
For comprehensive, advanced troubleshooting information, see IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing .
When you are customizing an installation, Software Manager monitors your installation and removal choices as you make them. When it detects that you have selected a combination of software that cannot be safely installed or removed, it alerts you by making the Conflicts button active. When you click the Conflicts button, the Conflicts window appears in which you can resolve the problem. In an automatic installation, the Conflicts button does not become active; Software Manager automatically displays the Conflicts window.
| Note: In many cases, as you customize your installation, you can create and resolve conflicts as you click in the Install and Remove check boxes. You may want to wait to view the Conflicts window until you have made all your selections. |
Click a topic for more information:
Conflicts usually arise when on e of the following occurs:
Your selections do not include one or more products that are required for the operating system to run. This can happen when you do not select a required product for installation, or when you select a required, installed product for removal.
The system is missing one or more prerequisite products. This can happen when a prerequisite product is not currently installed, when you select a product for installation and then select a prerequisite product for removal, or when you select a product for removal that is a prerequisite product for other products that are already installed.
You select incompatible products. This can happen when you choose to install a version of a product that cannot work on (is incompatible with) the current version of the operating system software, or when you choose to install two different versions of the same product.
You select a product for installation that is an older version of a product that is already installed.
You select a patch upgrade product (a product that corrects problems with a base product) for installation, and select its base product for removal.
The Conflicts window describes each conflict (see also “Understanding Different Types of Conflicts”), and gives you several options for resolving the conflict; choose only one of these options. If software that you need to install to resolve a conflict is not available, the option is shown, but is not active; see “Switching Distributions to Resolve a Conflict.”
Note the total number of conflicts. Often when you resolve one conflict, it either resolves or creates many other conflicts. As you proceed, note how the total number of conflicts at the top of the window changes.
Read the description of each conflict and its resolution options, then choose an option using these guidelines:
When you have selected an optional product that is incompatible with the rest of the operating system, do not install it.
When you have selected incompatible products, choose to install the newer version of a product.
When the system is missing one or more prerequisite products or subsystems, choose to install the prerequisites.
If the prerequisite is not available (that is, it is not located on the CD or in the distribution directory that's specified in the Available Software field) the option is shown but is not active; to install the software, see “Switching Distributions to Resolve a Conflict.”
When you have resolved all conflicts, the Conflicts window closes automatically.
In the Software Manager window, the Start button should now be active; click it to start the software installation or removal.
When you want to resolve a conflict by installing a product that is not available (that is, it is not located on the CD or in the distribution directory that's specified in the Available Software field), follow these steps:
In the Conflicts window, choose “Open Additional Distribution” from the File menu.
The “Open Additional Distribution” dialog box appears and prompts you to enter another distribution.
Remove the existing CD from the CD drive.
Place the new CD into the drive that's connected to your own system or to another system on the network. If you're installing from a distribution directory, get the system's hostname and the full pathname of the directory from your network administrator.
In the “Open Additional Distribution” window, select a distribution using one of these methods.
Select the name of a distribution that appears in the list of available ones and click the Add button.
If the software is in a directory that is on another system, click in Distribution field, type the remote system's name, a colon (:), and the full pathname of the directory, then click the Add button.
Click the Browse button to open a file browsing window and then navigate through the system's directories to located the distribution directory. After you locate the distribution you want, select it and click the Add button.
Both the Status area and the Log pane provide information throughout an installation and/or removal session.
The Status area provides high level, easy to understand information and warnings. To view it, choose “Status/Disk Space” from the Panes menu.
The Log pane provides very detailed information which is especially useful when you encounter problems (other than installation conflicts) during an installation. To view it, choose “Log” from the Panes menu.
The system cannot find the software when any of the following occurs:
There is no CD in a drive that you specified.
The remote CD drive that you specified is not enabled for remote software installations. Contact the Administrator of the system to check whether this is the case. (See also “Allowing Remote Users to Install Software From Your CD Drive.”)
Your system cannot contact the system on the network that has the software. See “Troubleshooting General Network Errors.”
You entered an incorrect distribution directory name.
This typically happens when you are installing from a remote CD drive, and the drive is not accessible from (is not mounted at) the /CDROM directory.
Choose “Shared Resources” from the Desktop toolchest and then choose “On a Remote Workstation” from the rollover menu. Type the name of the remote workstation to which the CD drive is connected. A list of the available devices appears. Drag the /CDROM folder icon from the window into the Available Software drop pocket in the Software Manager.
Also, be sure to complete the full pathname with /dist, which is the name of the directory on the CD in which the software is stored. For example, the full pathname for new software on a CD whose pathname is /drives/cdrom on a system named mars is mars:/drives/cdrom/dist.
If an installation ends before it is complete (for example, if the Software Manager unexpectedly quits), you can attempt to finish the installation session by following these steps:
If the Software Manager window is still available, choose “Exit” from the File menu.
Restart the Software Manager by choosing Software Manager from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager now.
Before the main Software Manager window appears, you see a notifier that describes the location of the software, lists products that were selected for installation but were not installed, and gives you several choices. Review these options:
Retry the previous installation. This is the default selection; the Software Manager window appears, and the Software Manager attempts to complete the installation.
Restore the previous installation session. This starts up Software Manager so you can review the installed and uninstalled software. You can then either quit Software Manager without completing the installation, or resume the installation by clicking the Start button.
Ignore the previous installation session. This starts up Software Manager with no history of the previous installation.
Note: When you choose to ignore the session, the Software Manager saves the session information in the file /var/inst/.checkpoint.O. If you ever want to complete the session, choose “Load Selections” from the File menu, and enter this filename.
Choose an option, then click the OK button.
If you chose to resume or view the installation session and you see an error message, see “Resolving Errors During a Resumed Installation Session.”
If the installation of a new operating system ends before it is complete (either because you clicked Stop or because the system encountered errors), the Inst prompt appears. You must now use Inst commands to resume, quit, or troubleshoot the installation. For more information, see IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing .
When you resume an installation session that ended unexpectedly (before it was complete), you may encounter these errors:
The distribution <pathname> does not exist. The distribution that was in place for the initial installation session is no longer there. This could happen when a network administrator removes a distribution directory.
Invalid product <product> in selections file. The distribution directory or CD still exists, but it contains a set of products that is different from the set that was there during the initial installation. This typically happens when the original CD was removed and replaced with a different one.
Conflicts must be resolved. Conflicts that didn't exist during the initial installation now exist. If the Conflicts window is not displayed, click the Conflicts button to resolve them, and see “Resolving Installation or Removal Conflicts.”
Installation requires too much space. The system no longer has enough disk space to complete the installation. Select fewer products or subsystems to install, or remove other data from your disk; see “Freeing Disk Space.”
If you need to free up disk space to perform an installation, you can use one of these methods:
Remove products by following these steps:
Choose “Save Selections” from the File menu to save your current selections in a file.
Choose “Unmark All” from the Selected menu to clear all current selections.
Click Manage Installed Software.
Select products for removal and click Start.
See “Removing Installed Software” for more information about removing products.
When the products have been removed, choose “Load Selections” from the File menu to restore your original selections.
Relocate products by following these steps:
Click Manage Installed Software.
Choose “Relocate Products” from the File menu.
If this item is not available in the menu, it means that your system does not contain any products that can be relocated.
In the “Relocate Products” window, look for products that are located on filesystems with small amounts of free disk space.
Look at the “Filesystems” column in the window for information.
Select the products you want to relocate (you can select more than one) and then click the Apply button.
Depending on the size of the products being relocated, the operation may take awhile.
This section contains information for experienced system or network administrators. For comprehensive advanced information, see IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing , available online.
Click a topic for more information:
To copy new software from a distribution CD into a directory on a server system so users can install from this distribution directory across the network, follow these steps:
Copy the dist directory from the CD onto a server system.
On the server system, allow remote installations by editing /usr/etc/inetd.conf.
Provide the server's hostname and the full pathname of the dist directory to all users who need to install the software.
For more details, see “Setting Up an Installation Server” in IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing.
The command line version of Software Manager is called Inst. You can run Inst from either a shell window or from a limited version of the operating system called the miniroot. Inst commands are fully documented in IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing .
If you use both Software Manager and Inst, you may find it convenient at times to use a subset of the more complex but often more powerful Inst commands while using Software Manager. To issue Inst commands, follow these steps:
Choose “Log” from the Panes menu. All output from the commands you type in the Command field appears in the Log pane.
Choose “Command” from the Panes window.
In the Command text field that appears above the Log pane, enter the command; then press <Enter>.
The Command pane supports these inst commands:
| install <string> |
| |
| remove <string> |
| |
| keep <string> | The string is the name of a product, image, or subsystem that you want to keep in its current installation state; you do not want to install or remove the item. The string can also contain the wildcard character * (asterisk). | |
| set <preference> |
| |
| files <product> |
| |
| space | Calculates disk space and displays it in the Disk Space pane. | |
| recalculate | Recalculates the disk space and displays it in the Disk Space pane. This is the same as choosing “Recalculate Disk Space” from the File menu. | |
| save <filename> |
| |
| load <filename> |
| |
| from <distribution> |
| |
| open <distribution> | | |
| close <distribution> | | |
| config | Lists every configuration file, and places an m next to those that have changed. | |
| hardware | Displays a brief summary of your system's hardware configuration. | |
| filter <type> |
| |
| show | Describes the current view shown in the Software Inventory list. | |
| sort <field> | When a subsequent list command is given, the list will be sorted with the specified field (for example, product, size) first. | |
| list | Shows available software products. | |
| help | Lists help topics. | |
| go | Starts the installation. | |
| quit | Quits the Software Manager. |
For a summary of all Inst commands, see IRIX Admin: Software Installation and Licensing .
The Set Preferences window supports three levels of preferences. By default, it shows a small, often-used set of preferences. You can also view advanced preferences and hidden preferences.
To view and set advanced preferences, follow these steps:
Choose “Set Preferences” from the File menu.
Select swmgr_visible_resources from the Swmgr Preferences list, then choose to view transient (those that last for this session only) and/or expert (those that are for experienced system administrators) preferences by clicking in the appropriate check box.
Click the Set button. This displays all advanced preferences in the Swmgr Preferences list.
Select a preference to see its description in the Preference Description pane, and to make buttons appear that help you set the preference.
Note: For people familiar with using Inst, you can view images that make up products by setting the expert resource hide_image_products to FALSE. Choose values using the buttons, then click the Set button.
To view hidden preferences, follow these steps:
Choose “Set Preferences” from the File menu.
Select swmgr_visible_resources from the Swmgr Preferences list, choose to view expert preferences by clicking in the expert check box, then click the Set button.
Select show_hidden_resources from the Swmgr Preferences list, click the radio button next to TRUE, then click the Set button. All hidden preferences are now displayed in the list.
When you install upgrade products, the Software Manager does not destroy the information in your configuration files. It does one of the following:
saves your old configuration file, but renames the old version (filename.O) and uses a new version
saves your old configuration file and uses it, but also installs the new version under a new name (filename.N)
You need to identify the configuration files that have changed, then decide whether you want to
use the new version and risk losing some configuration changes you made in the past
use your old version and ignore possible enhanced features contained in the new version
merge the old and new versions by adding previous changes to the new version and naming it filename (rather than filename.O or filename.N)
Follow these steps:
Identify configuration files that have changed.
Click the Manage Installed Software button.
Choose “Configuration Files Summary” from the Software menu.
Click the radio button next to Modified Files.
The list shows all changed configuration files, and places an m next to the version of the file that was in use prior to the installation.
Compare the two versions of the file using the gdiff command.
Choose “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
In the shell window, type
gdiff <filename1> <filename2>
Decide whether you want to use either file as is to merge them.
To use a file as is, you may need to rename it. For example, to use filename.N, rename it filename.
To merge files, carefully transfer past edits from your old configuration file to the newer version of the file. If you are unfamiliar with the configuration files or are uncomfortable about the risks associated with damaging a configuration file, contact an experienced IRIX administrator to help you merge the files.