How to know that, how much space is required in one linux server to update all latest patches.

[senthil_kumar_1]

Hi All,

I need to update the current patches on all linux servers (redhat and suse)...

Before starting update, I would like to know followings...

1)How to know the total size of the patch/s to be udpated?

2)How to know whether the existing file systems are having enough space to accommodate all new packages if we are doing patch update?

3)How to know wherever (in which file systems) the new packages are to be installed after doing patch update?

[Matti_Kurkela]

1) Usually the update tool will produce output like "To update <list of packages>, it is necessary to download <xx> MB. Is this OK (Y/N)?" before actually starting the download and update.

2.) Normally all the updated packages are first downloaded in some temporary directory under /var, so you'll need enough free space in /var to contain them all. After the download is complete, the installation phase will extract the packages and use the files in them to replace the existing versions of system files. Configuration files are treated specially. Because updates to enterprise-class distributions are usually rather conservative, the size increase should be rather small: if you're only installing bug-fix updates, just make sure your filesystems have a reasonable amount of free space. (Most filesystems work at reduced efficiency when more than about 90% full, so trying to squeeze everything to the smallest possible space is not a good idea.) Besides, disks are cheap: disk space micro-management is not usually worth the time and effort it takes.

3.) I already mentioned the downloaded packages will be temporarily stored in /var. For the ultimate file locations:

• if you already have an older version of a particular package (for example, package "bash") installed, run e.g. "rpm -ql bash" to see where its files are stored. The update will typically replace some or all those files with newer versions, and may sometimes include new files, usually in the same directories as the old ones.
• if you have a downloaded .rpm file you haven't installed yet, you can use "rpm -qlp <filename>" to see where its files will install.