R3721-F3210-F3171-HP High-End Firewalls System Management and Maintenance Configuration Guide-6PW101

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Using the hotfix feature to install software patches
The hotfix feature uses patches to fix software defects without interrupting ongoing services or rebooting
the device.
Basic concepts in hotfix
• Patch and patch file
A patch, also called patch unit, is a package to fix software defects. Generally, patches are
released as patch files. A patch file may contain one or more patches. After being loaded from the
storage media to the memory patch area, each patch is assigned a unique number, which starts
from 1, for identification, management and operation. For example, if a patch file has three patch
units, they are numbered as 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
• Incremental patch
An incremental patch means that the patch is dependent on the previous patch units. For example,
if a patch file has three patch units, patch 3 can be running only after patch 1 and 2 take effect.
You cannot run patch 3 separately.
The currently released patches are all incremental patches.
• Common patch and temporary patch
There are common and temporary patches:
{ Common patches are formally released through the version release flow.
{ Temporary patches are not formally released through the version release flow, but temporarily
provided to solve the emergent problems.
Common patches always include the functions of the previous temporary patches. The patch type
affects only the patch loading process; the system deletes all the temporary patches before it loads
the common patch.
Patch states
Each patch has a status, which can be switched only by commands. The relationship between patch state
changes and command actions is shown in Figure 13. T
he patch can be in the state of IDLE, DEACTIVE,
ACTIVE, and RUNNING. Load, run temporarily, confirm running, stop running, delete, install, and
uninstall are operations and they correspond to the following commands: patch load, patch active, patch
run, patch deactive, patch delete, patch install, and undo patch install. For example, if you execute the
patch active command for the patches in the DEACTIVE state, the patches turn to the ACTIVE state.
IMPORTANT:
Patch state information is saved in Flash memory in the file patchstate. To make sure the device can
correctly find the patches, do not edit, delete, move the file, or change the file name.