Incorrect dependencies for installation of packages on AIX 5.3
Following an upgrade of AIX 5.3 to level 07, with SP1 technology upgrade, I had encountered a problem installing a package required for Oracle 11g – rsct.basic.rte 2.4.8.0
This rsct.basic.rte package requires rsct.basic.rte version 2.4.0.0 from AIX CD, however, to install it, I am required to install xlC.aix61 version 9.0.0.1, which should not be here, and following that, bos.rte version 6.0.0.0, which should be part of AIX 6.x.
Some elaboration on the bos family of packages – bos stands for Base Operating System. rte stands for RunTime Environment. It means that bos.rte version 6.0.0.0 would be the base operating system runtime components of AIX version 6. This was far from my desire, as you cannot replace the system’s bos.rte package…
I have attempted to force installation of the baseline version of rsct.* from the cd, by running the command
installp -aF -d /dev/cd0 rsct.basic.rte
but for no avail. I have removed all rsct.* packages (this time I used smit), and still – I was unable to install the baseline package rsct.basic.rte, since it had dependencies from AIX 6…
I was able to solve it using the following method:
1. Installed all bos.adt baseline packages missing, using the following command
installp -aXg -d /dev/cd0 bos.adt
2. Extracted the combined package of SP1 technology update, and upgrade package to a specific directory
3. Copied the contents of baseline rsct packages from the cdrom to that same directory mentioned above:
mount /mnt/cdrom
cp /mnt/cdrom/installp/ppc/rsct.* ./
4. Created new .toc file
inutoc .
5. Installed (and succeeded this time) rsct.basic.rte. This time all dependencies were fulfilled
installp -aXg -d . rsct.basic.rte
6. Updated the entire level back to the latest os level
smit update_all
This worked fine, and I write it down for the next sucker who would be required to fulfill an impossible requirement in order to install one small package.