Solaris Companion CD download sites via pkg-get

pkg-get is a tool similar to debian 'apt-get', that automates downloading and install of packages for Solaris. You can use pkg-get to make installing Sun's companion-CD packages as simple as

 
 # pkg-get install gcc

You can configure pkg-get to install from a CDROM, but if you dont have one handy, and would prefer to auto-download from a public mirror site, you can now do so. Furthermore, when Sun releases newer versions of the 'companion' packages, you can run

 # pkg-get upgrade

and it will automatically upgrade the SFW packages you have installed.

The archive also has a few extra libraries and programs that Sun has not yet seen fit to add to the official "Companion CD" distribution, but that are highly useful. These packages are designated by a "COM" prefix, rather than "SFW".

Instructions for network use

First, get pkg-get

Then after running it once to set up the config file, adjust /etc/pkg-get.conf to use one of the appropriate URLs below. I recommend using the http ones over the ftp ones, but I recognize that sometimes, people dont have the choice.

USA

http://ibiblio.org/pub/packages/solaris/companion/
(ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/packages/solaris/companion/)
http://tiger.towson.edu/mirror/companion/

DENMARK

http://mirrors.sunsite.dk/solaris-companion/
(ftp://sunsite.dk/mirrors/solaris-companion/)

The packages have been converted from the original CD's directory format, to "stream" format, which lets you gzip them. If you'd like to run a local mirror for your site, you can update your own server through rsync, through one of these rsync 'URLs'

    rsync://ibiblio.org/sun-packages/companion/
    rsync://mirrors.sunsite.dk/ftp/mirrors/solaris-companion/

If you are kind enough to want to host a public mirror site yourselves, please email me, and I'll make sure you get the full information about the master site, etc.

Using pkg-get with a cdrom

If you happen to have a physical companion CD, you can point pkg-get directly at its location, via

pkg-get /cdrom/cdrom0/[appropriate path] install [somepkgs here]

But having a networked server for this sort of thing is much, much more convenient, not to mention faster.

If you wish to volunteer to be a maintainer for a package not already made available, see the standards document

Written by:Philip Brown
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