device files outside /dev

[Donny Jekels]

does anyone know why these device files gets created, and if its safe to remove?

/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t1
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t2
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t3
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t4
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t5
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t6
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t7
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/t8
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tA
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tB
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tC
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tD
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tE
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tF
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tG
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tH
/var/adm/sw/save_custom/PHNE_24762/backup/tI

no links - please I've been to all of them already.

[Pete Randall]

Donny,

It seems fairly obvious that they were created by the application of patch PHNE_24762. I would be loathe to remove them without thoroughly checking out that patch and even then, I'd rather use the cleanup command than manually remove patch related entities.


Pete

[Massimo Bianchi]

Hi,
they are in /var/adm/save, they can be cleaned.

In this directory are stored files needed for patch rollback. You can delete if needed.

A cleaner way would be to commit the patches, that delete these automatically.

Use swmodify for this purpose.

HTH,
Massimo

[Elena Leontieva]

The /var/adm/sw/save_custom directory is used for patches that require special
manipulations with the install of the patch, above and beyond copying the old
files into /var/adm/sw/save.

[twang]

Patch information for patches that have been installed is kept in /var/adm/sw after patching.
If you remove the patches, you will not be able to "back" them out.
Please do make a backup before you do anything. In case you blow away something critical you want to be able to recover.

[Stuart Abramson_2]

I agree with the responders above.

They are "saved filesets" from the installation of patches. They are NOT device files.

You can commit the files with "cleanup", or you can remove the space with "rm" - but then you can't remove the patch. I very rarely (practically NEVER) remove a patch.

You can also tell swinstall to not save old patch binaries. I forget how, but I can look it up if you want.

[A. Clay Stephenson]

The general rule is NEVER delete anything from /var/adm/sw; use the cleanup utility instead. If you remove these files then swremove cannot revert to the pre PHNE_24762 state.

When you start removing files from /var/adm/sw, you defeat all the design work that went into the swinstall tools.

[S.K. Chan]

Like others have mentioned, using "cleanup" tool is appropriate here but it does not guarantee the removal of what's in /var/adm/sw/save_custom. I've run it before and some of them remains. That led me to conclude that they are to be left alone. I got about .5MB total in /var/adm/sw/save_custom and that's not a lot of used space. Plus the device files all have cr-x------ permission and owned by root:sys, so they are safe.

[Darren Prior]

Hi Donny,

reading the patch text for PHNE 26096 (newer replacement for PHNE_24762) it looks as if insf is run when the patch is installed. It's likely that the old device files are moved from /dev when the patch is superceded.

regards,

Darren.

[Jairo Campana]

If these files in /var/adm/sw/save must be removed inclusive whith cleanup -c 1, HP
recommends that the /var/adm/sw/save directory first be
backed up. If it should become necessary to remove the
patch in the future, the files must be recovered from the
backup prior to removing the patch.

[Donny Jekels]

thanks for the advise.

anyway the PHNE_24762 has no relevance, as there as so many of these and other patch ID #'s that needs to be cleaned up.

[Caesar_3]

Hello!

This devices are saved from the patch,
you don't need them so remove them by
cleanup -c

Caesar

[Donny Jekels]

# cleanup -c 1
### Cleanup program started at 06/17/03 15:18:03
usage: /usr/sbin/cleanup [-p|-n] -i
/usr/sbin/cleanup [-p|-n] -d

-p : Preview Mode - Report patches that should be removed
but do not actually remove them.
-n : Notify Mode - Prompt the user before removing any
patches.
-i : IPD cleanup - Remove 10.X patch information from the
Installed Product Database and the
/var/adm/sw/patch directory that remain
after a 10.X-to-11.X update.
-d : Depot cleanup - Remove patches from the depot that have
been superseded by newer patches also
available in the same depot.
### Cleanup program completed at 06/17/03 15:18:03