Reduce the duration of Solaris SRU updates using JomaSoft VDCF

A typical Solaris SRU update on a system with a few zones takes several minutes.

Here an example of a small guest domain with 3 zones.

-bash-5.2$ time node -c upgrade name=g0075 build=s11u4-sru95 >/dev/null
Upgrade started for System g0075 ...
Node g0075 updated to Solaris 11 4.95.0.1.227.1. A new boot environment was created.
Reboot Node g0075 to activate new boot environment.

real    19m42.319s
user    0m1.813s
sys     0m5.892s


Using VDCF we can easily failback and do the upgrade again

-bash-5.2$ node -c upgrade_failback name=g0075 destroy
WARN: BootEnvironment 's11.4.94.0.1.221.2' is already in use (N) on Node g0075. Activating for next reboot...
Destroying BootEnvironment 's11.4.95.0.1.227.1' on Node g0075
Node g0075 is already running on BootEnvironment s11.4.94.0.1.221.2.


This time we execute the VDCF upgrade_check operation to do the planning and the
download of the ips packages in advance. This is typically done during the week.

-bash-5.2$ time node -c upgrade_check name=g0075 build=s11u4-sru95 download | egrep "Upgrade|Finished"

Upgrade Check started for System g0075 ...
Planning: Finished processing linked images.
Download: Finished processing linked images.
Node Upgrade (to Solaris 11 4.95.0.1.227.1) Check was successful for Node g0075

real    15m8.797s
user    0m1.985s
sys     0m5.986s


At the maintenance window only the real upgrade is executed.

-bash-5.2$ time node -c upgrade name=g0075 build=s11u4-sru95
Upgrade started for System g0075 ...
Checking JSvdcf-client package on node g0075 and update if required: OK
doing a 'pkg update  -C 5 --accept --be-name s11.4.95.0.1.227.1  entire@11.4,5.11-11.4.95.0.1.227.1   explorer ddt-incorporation' now ...
 Actions:     1/44039 actions (Removing old actions)
 Actions:  7512/44039 actions (Installing new actions)
 Actions: 12768/44039 actions (Installing new actions)
 Actions: 13575/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 18830/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 19608/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 24254/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 27711/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 31772/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 36696/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 41083/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: 43736/44039 actions (Updating modified actions)
 Actions: Completed 44039 actions in 45.93 seconds.
Finalize: Updating package state database ... Done
Finalize: Updating package cache ... Done
Finalize: Updating image state ... Done
Finalize: Creating fast lookup database ... Done
Finalize: Reading search index ... Done
Finalize: Building new search index ... Done
Finalize: Linked images: 0/3 done; 3 working: zone:v0153 zone:v0183 zone:v0186
Finalize: Linked images: 1/3 done; 2 working: zone:v0183 zone:v0186
Finalize: Linked images: 2/3 done; 1 working: zone:v0183
Finalize: Finished processing linked images.
Finalize: Updating package cache ... Done

A clone of s11.4.94.0.1.221.2 exists and has been updated and activated.
On the next boot the Boot Environment be://rpool/s11.4.95.0.1.227.1 will be
mounted on '/'.  Reboot when ready to switch to this updated BE.

Finalize: Updating package cache ... Done

Current BootEnvironment list:
BE Name            Flags Mountpoint Space  Policy Created
------------------ ----- ---------- ------ ------ ----------------
s11.4.89.0.1.207.2 -     -          1.78G  static 2026-03-16 13:58
s11.4.94.0.1.221.2 N     /          8.03G  static 2026-07-29 15:15
s11.4.95.0.1.227.1 R     -          32.68G static 2026-09-28 14:27
Node g0075 updated to Solaris 11 4.95.0.1.227.1. A new boot environment was created.
Reboot Node g0075 to activate new boot environment.

real    6m52.344s
user    0m3.902s
sys     0m8.390s


The duration of the maintenance window is reduced significantly
from 20 minutes to 7 minutes.

Learn more about JomaSoft VDCF on our webpage