NAME

preinstall − check for files to save before full install of OS/MP

SYNOPSIS

/usr/etc/preinstall [ -l ] [ -c mmddhhmm[yy] ]

DESCRIPTION

The preinstall command is used to look for files that should be saved prior to doing a full install of a new version of OS/MP.  It looks on the system partitions (root, /usr, and /var) for files which have been touched after the date of the last full install of OS/MP (or, if given a cutoff date, files touched after that date.) 

preinstall is normally used just before installing a new version of OS/MP to determine what system-related files should be backed up.  Then, after installing the new version of OS/MP, you can merge or restore these files into the newly-installed system.  Some files, such as /etc/fstab, can typically be re-used without modification.  Others, such as kernel configuration files in /usr/kvm/sys/∗/conf, must be hand-merged into the new version of the OS with careful consideration of how the new OS version differs from the old. 

Certain files are excluded from the output which are newer than the cutoff date.  These files are normally updated by system operation and do not need to be backed up.  Examples of excluded files are: /etc/mtab, the /var/sadm accounting files, the /tmp_mnt automounter directories, and patched kernel object files in /usr/kvm/sys/∗/OBJ. 

By default, the cutoff date used is the modification date of the file /etc/sys_conf/system-configured, which is touched the first time you boot a new version of the OS after a full install.  You may want to use some other cutoff date with the -c option if the current OS was installed in some nonstandard way. 

By default, the files and directories newer than the cutoff are listed to standard output by name, one per line.  By using the -l option, the output is in long form (as from the -ls option to find), showing the type, date, and size of each file. 

OPTIONS

The following options are accepted by preinstall:

-l Present the output in long form, showing inode number, size  in kilobytes   (1024  bytes),  protection  mode, number of hard links, user,  group,  size  in bytes, and modification time.  If the file is a special file the size  field  will  instead contain  the  major and minor device numbers.  If the file is a symbolic link  the  pathname of  the linked-to file is printed preceded by ‘->’.  The format is identical to that of find -ls. 

-c cutoff Use the given cutoff date to decide which files to print, rather than the date of the file /etc/sys_conf/system-configured.  The cutoff date format is -c mmddhhmm[yy], with month, day, hour, minute, and optional year in numeric form.  This is the same format as for /usr/5bin/touch. 

SEE ALSO

find(1), touch(1v)

DIAGNOSTICS

please become superuser to run this script
The script needs to look inside system directories that are protected against normal users, so it must be run as super-user.

Could not find the file /usr/etc/sys_conf/system-configured
This file, which should have been touched during the first-time boot of the current version of OS/MP, is missing.  You will have to use the -c option to preinstall after choosing a date that reflects the last time OS/MP was installed. 
 

Solbourne Computer, Inc.  —  29 Dec 1993