Presentation #: 099
Hewlett-Packard Company
Commercial Systems Division
Joseph Feiner
Mike Dovano
G.K. Rajani
(408) 447-5612
(408) 447-5728
Fax number: (408) 447-4278
Most system managers need to patch MPE/iX during the life of a release. Patching should be a highly reliable process with a minimum of disruption and downtime. Towards this end, HP provides specific tools and delivery methods to support this activity. This talk will focus on the recent improvements being made to the patch tools and processes, and will touch on future directions for the MPE/iX patch environment. There will be time for questions. We will ask for your input to help set direction as we implement the next set of patch improvements.
The MPE/iX "patch team" is a global team with two engineers in California, three engineers in Bangalore, and some additional contractors. We are responsible for all patch and installation tools as well as patch coordination activities for the MPE/iX operating system. In addition, we provide patch consultation for our MPE/iX software labs and for the support community.
Software patching is used to compliment the current release strategy by providing fixes and enhancements at intervals more frequent than a major release. It can be used either to respond to software defects or to add new functionality (a new peripheral, for example).
Patches that are created to respond quickly to software defects are called "reactive patches." At certain times in the post release life cycle, we will collect a group of known good patches - some defect fixes, others software enhancements - into a single bundle known as a PowerPatch. PowerPatch bundles and individual reactive patches compliment each other in the overall patch strategy by providing solutions to different customer needs and concerns.
In 1994, we did a major survey of our customers regarding their patch needs. Customers told us of many ways we could improve patching on MPE/iX. Chief among these were:
·
Make
patch installation require significantly less planned downtime
·
Enhance
the ability to centrally manage patch environments
·
Provide
the option to either add or remove specific patches from an installation mix
·
Provide
easy access to patch information and patches without the intervention of HP
Support.
We heard your feedback and got to work. In 1996 Patch/iX and Stage/iX were introduced -- adding several key new benefits for patch installation. In addition, we provided the ability to download patches and patch information from the Internet.
Patch/iX is an entirely new patch installation tool designed to incorporate the patching functionality of both AUTOINST and AUTOPAT, and in addition, provide the following key benefits:
·
A
large part of the patching operation can take place while the system is up
(with users on)
·
The
ability to "force" a patch onto the system which does not otherwise
qualify.
·
The
ability to "veto" a patch from being installed - even if it already
qualifies
·
Allows
for the installation of both reactive patches and PowerPatch bundles separately
or simultaneously
·
Provides
an easy to use front end to the HP Stage/iX subsystem
Stage/iX is a newer part of the MPE/iX Fundamental Operating System that allows patch components to be placed into a "staging area" on disk, rather than onto a CSLT/STORE tape. This staging area contains the delta between the "Base" - the last OS version from a System Load Tape, and the set of patches to be applied. The staging area is "activated" (in other words, the patches are applied) by a single command in the STAGEMAN utility. Then the user reboots.
The two main advantages of using Stage/iX are:
·
Less
system downtime. Only a single reboot is required to install the patch or set
of patches.
· The ability to back out a set of patches via a simple reboot.
Although
we have made some dramatic improvements in the MPE/iX patch area, customers
have told us that more improvements would be very helpful.
Here is a short list of
current issues:
We
currently have five patch and installation tools available today for MPE/iX:
· AUTOPAT is a CI command file shipped with every reactive patch, and is used for the installation of reactive patches only
· AUTOINST is used for system installation and update, PowerPatch installation, and the addition of new purchasable HP software products (add-ons).
· HPINSTAL also allows for system release updates, PowerPatch installation, and product add-ons, but uses CD-ROM media and facilitates less system downtime.
· Patch/iX is used for reactive patches, PowerPatch, and add-on products
·
Stage/iX is
currently used as an extension to Patch/iX for tapeless reactive and PowerPatch
installation.
Although this mix of tools allows for a great amount of flexibility, it also introduces some overlap and some confusion. Some tools will work only in some situations with specific media types.
Well, there are several reasons. Some users had problems with the tool’s quality -- these problems were not generally harmful, but annoying. Some users complained about the rigid "non-MPE" interface. Why use something so new and difficult when we can use AUTOPAT, the tool we already know?
Many users would love to use Stage/iX, but so many MPE/iX patches are not "stageable" (not installable with Stage/iX) for one reason or another.
Another area of concern is the installation manual. We have gotten a lot of feedback saying the manual is difficult to follow. Basically, "why should I have to read a novel just to install a simple patch?"
We are currently looking into new directions in software media. This includes new formats of tape, optical (DVD-ROM) and even network "media". In doing this we have to keep in mind how these changes will impact our system and patch installation strategy, and whenever possible, leverage new media formats to help consolidate and improve our patch tools.
Clearly,
we have more work ahead before our job is done.
Here are some recent improvements we've made to Patch/iX:
· Cleaned up basic quality problems and Patch/iX "annoyances"
· Added a default option for installing downloaded (non-tape) patches
· Added the option of allowing enhancement patches to automatically be installed from a PowerPatch.
· Made the appropriate version of Patch/iX more readily available to customers and support personnel.
Some future enhancements we are looking into (but haven't yet committed to) are:
· Improve and simplify the patch qualification scheme and qualification reporting
· A command line (batch mode) interface.
· Better and more streamlined logging (errors and messages)
· Improved support training and documentation
Some
likely changes to Stage/iX we are investigating are:
· The ability to stage most if not all MPE/iX patches
· More robust staging area validation to prevent errors in the boot process, as well as to allow staging area distribution to be safer and more reliable
· Better up-front reporting of stageability information.
Users of HP’s Electronic Support Center (ESC) will be pleased to learn that we also plan to increase the availability of the correct patch tools (including Patch/iX), and make improvements in the downloading, unpackaging, and documentation areas on MPE/iX. One significant change - which should take place in the summer of 1999 - is to replace the obsolete MOVER utility with a Store-to-disk packaging method.
In the future we would like to move to a unified, reduced set of patch tools. Patch/iX, HPINSTAL, will most likely replace AUTOPAT and AUTOINST. We intend to improve the media options available to customers. Media technologies in the future may require us to evolve accepted media well beyond DDS and CD-ROM technology. We intend to consolidate our tools and future work to these main tools: Patch/iX, Stage/iX and HPINSTAL.
No discussion of patching would be complete with a mention of patch quality. Sometimes patches do not resolve the problem for which they were designed, or they introduce a side effect. We call this a “bad” patch. We know this creates an extreme amount of disruption to our users.
We are making a number of improvements to increase the overall patch quality. We are improving the internal patch development processes within the lab. We are improving the documentation of the patch process so that a new engineer will have better materials to guide them through the process of patch development. An important task force addressing patch quality is being launched in the lab. The task force is chartered to look at best practices so that the techniques that are working well for the most successful engineer generating patches is passed on to the new engineers.
When patches do not work out as planned, we review what went wrong so that we can learn from our mistakes. We track our patch quality over time so that we can increase the lab’s attention to improve the success rate of patches we deliver.
There are a number of ways you can continue to give us feedback. Certainly, HPWORLD and your Interex advocacy groups provide an important mechanism for communication to us. We track your feedback in the MPE newsgroup at comp.sys.hp.mpe.
You
can also contact us directly at Michael_Dovano@hp.com and Joseph_Feiner@hp.com.
The
patch tools have improved based on the feedback you have given us at critical
phases in its development. They will continue to evolve and improve based on
your feedback and our partnership. As we move forward with the next generation
of improvements to the patch products, your feedback and partnership will
continue to be solicited. With your help, the tools will continue to improve to
meet your needs.