error updating from 11.22 to 11.23

[Mister_Z]

Hi,

I'd be most grateful if someone could give me a hint about how to overcome this issue.

When upgrading a server from 11.22 to 11.23 using the update-ux command as stated in http://docs.hp.com/hpux/pdf/5187-2725.pdf the following error prompts aborting the process:

../catalog/OS-core.2/CORE2-krn/postinstall[250]: nproc: the specified number is not valid for this command.

Many thanks.

[john leavens_1]

This is known problem in the upgrade script. I ran into the same problem. I worked with HP engineers for over a week before giving up and doing a cold install because I could not wait any longer for HP to finish troubleshooting the problem.

The root of the problem is the deletion of the /usr/conf/master.d directory prior to the rebuild of the kernel.

Good Luck

[Mike Myers_5]

I know this thread is a little stale, but I just ran into this as well -- obviously there's a huge rush to upgrade to 11.23, eh?

According to my contacts at HP, this is a known issue that's slated to be fixed in the December 05 release of the 11.23 media.

The problem is that any kernel parameter that's "computed" with multiplication gets mangled by a script which thinks the "*" is a comment character (which is legit when it's the first character on the line).

Thus, entries like

nproc (((10*MAXUSERS)/3)+128)

become

nproc (((10

which triggers an error.

The work around for now is to replace all such computed values with fixed values.

Unfortunately, the error happens late enough in the upgrade they the update-ux process appears unable to resume, so a restore from your backup (you did take a backup, right? :) is the first step.

Hope that helps someone else out!

[Mike Myers_5]

Ah, replying to my own thread. The December release does NOT fix this issue, despite assurances from HP (and another toasted lab system)...

[Osi_1]

According to HP this issue is resolved in Sept 2006 11.23 release.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

1) Had you been to any of Bill Hassell's sysadmin classes you'd have followed his advice, as do I to remove formulas in the kernel. They are not realistic.

2) Just because this issue may be resolved in a recent 11iv2 release it does not make upgrade-ux reliable. It still kills as many systems as it upgrades. The more complex the system the better the odds of ending up with a brick. Cold install is the solution to this issue.

SEP

[Mike Myers_5]

I can't speak to whether formulas are realistic (though it makes sense that certain data structures ought to grow and shrink in some relationship to others) but I can tell you we have about 150 very diverse systems in our environment. We took a random sample of 10 of them, ignited them onto a lab box and upgraded them each to 11.23 there. We learned a lot (like this issue) in the first 1-2 upgrades but we did come up with a procedure in the end that appears very reliable.

I would do cold installs if I could, but there are too many application level customizations made to these systems over the years...