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Home > Archive > Unix administration > January 2004 > How do I check installation date of Sun OS?
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How do I check installation date of Sun OS?
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| How do I check installation date of SunOS?
using #uptime I can check uptime.
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| Dave Hinz 2004-01-23, 5:11 pm |
| On 23 Dec 2003 10:59:32 -0800, Nitin <nitin_131@yahoo.com> wrote:quote:
> How do I check installation date of SunOS?
I'm struggling to think of a scenario where this information would be
even vaguely relevant to anything. I suppose one way to do it might
be to see what the date on a file that is touched at install time, but
hasn't been touched since? /etc/netmasks or something fairly static
might be something to check. No guarantees, however, that someone
hasn't touched it since install time.
What are you going to use this information for? If you can tell us
what you're trying to accomplish, perhaps we can suggest a different
approach.
Dave Hinz
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| Doug Freyburger 2004-01-23, 5:11 pm |
| Nitin wrote:quote:
>
> How do I check installation date of SunOS?
Just like individual files have a time they were last modified but not
when they were first created, the entire system has an assortment of
times but not its installation time. You'll have to get to it
indirectly.
You can't use the system files, though. Their time stamp is when they
were compiled by the manufacturer and that could be long before you
installed, or they could have been patched long after installation.
If there are module install logs that have been kept since installation
time, try under /var/sadm if you have a new enough system.
Then look for the oldest directory and symbolic link on the system.
Both are have modification times set during installation unlike regular
files. Both are subject to later modification, though. If a system
is kept regularly patched you may be out of luck for any directory to
be unmodified since installation time. Symbolic links are a different
story.
The symbolic link of /bin to /usr/bin and a few others like it in /
and /usr are your best bet. Few of them are ever modified after
installation. Find the oldest symbolic link in / and /usr and that
will be the best guess at installation time.
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| Michael Vilain 2004-01-23, 5:11 pm |
| In article <7960d3ee.0312240659.18da480a@posting.google.com>,
dfreybur@yahoo.com (Doug Freyburger) wrote:
quote:
> Nitin wrote:
>
> Just like individual files have a time they were last modified but not
> when they were first created, the entire system has an assortment of
> times but not its installation time. You'll have to get to it
> indirectly.
>
> You can't use the system files, though. Their time stamp is when they
> were compiled by the manufacturer and that could be long before you
> installed, or they could have been patched long after installation.
>
> If there are module install logs that have been kept since installation
> time, try under /var/sadm if you have a new enough system.
>
> Then look for the oldest directory and symbolic link on the system.
> Both are have modification times set during installation unlike regular
> files. Both are subject to later modification, though. If a system
> is kept regularly patched you may be out of luck for any directory to
> be unmodified since installation time. Symbolic links are a different
> story.
>
> The symbolic link of /bin to /usr/bin and a few others like it in /
> and /usr are your best bet. Few of them are ever modified after
> installation. Find the oldest symbolic link in / and /usr and that
> will be the best guess at installation time.
As has been pointed out, UNIX filesystems don't have a CREATION DATE in
their file attributes. They have LAST CHANGE (ctime), MODIFICATION TIME
(mtime), and inode ACCESS TIME (atime). I seem to recall that somewhere
in /var, a log file of the initial installation is stored, but I forget
where. This is only for Solaris. SunOS 4.x has no such log file.
If the system time wasn't set correctly when the system was installed,
then any timestamp in or on any log file won't reflect the install time.
You might have documentation that came with the system like the Bill of
Materials (BOM) or any SUN shipping information or your shipping
department has a log of when the system was received--these might be a
good starting point. Unless the system sat in it's boxes for months,
one of these might be a good approximate install date.
Why not look it up in the system's site notebook? What, you don't have
one? Then why was that system setup? What changes were made to it?
Who last changed it?
Without documentation that's maintained by a local sysadmin, your guess
on when the system was installed is as good as any. You probably won't
get a definite answer without documentation. What date is 'good
enough'?
--
DeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee...
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| Dave Hinz 2004-01-23, 5:11 pm |
| On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 15:15:43 -0800, "Michael Vilain <vilain@spamcop.net>" <> wrote:quote:
> You might have documentation that came with the system like the Bill of
> Materials (BOM) or any SUN shipping information or your shipping
> department has a log of when the system was received--these might be a
> good starting point. Unless the system sat in it's boxes for months,
> one of these might be a good approximate install date.
Far as that goes, the first digit of the serial number is the last
digit of the date of manufacture of the server. Determining the decade
is an exercise left to the reader.
I still don't know why it would matter when the OS was installed, but
that's the question he asked. Sometimes one inherits systems not
administered the way one would like, so I can see not having a notebook,
but I don't see why it really matters. But, check the serial number to
see how old it is, if nothing else; the OS was installed not before
the year of manufacture, that much can be guaranteed.
Dave Hinz
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| Greg 'shoe' Schuweiler 2004-01-23, 5:11 pm |
| pkginfo -l | grep INSTDATE
Look for the oldest installation date. Not a true indicator
but a start. You can also look under /var/sadm for the
orignal install log, if it is still there. the directory
structure changed with Solaris 2.9 so if there is a README
there - read it.
Nitin wrote:quote:
> How do I check installation date of SunOS?
>
> using #uptime I can check uptime.
--
shoe
------------------ --------------------------------
Greg Schuweiler The last one awake at the meeting
Mayo Foundation IS, Unix gets to make all the decisions!
(507) 266-5276
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