Software Update Entitlement Policy for Solaris

The Solaris business model consists of providing the Software Releases at no cost (with product registration) and charging for most Software Updates. See Software Release Definitions and Entitlements for Solaris OS.

"Software Update Entitlement" means the right to access and download a Software Update for a product, for installation and use only on systems covered by an appropriate and active Sun support contract for that product.

"Publicly Available Software Update" means that customers with or without a support contract can access, download, install, and use the Software Update. The customer still needs to have a Sun Online Account on "SunSolve", accept the SunSolve License Agreement, and obey the terms of any license file in the Software Update.

A support contract covering Solaris is required to access, download, install and use most Solaris Software Updates. This applies to all Solaris releases, including Solaris 8, 9, and 10.

A minority of Publicly Available Software Updates for Solaris remain available at no cost including, in Sun's discretion:

• the specific revisions of Software Updates for Solaris which include new security fixes.

• the specific revisions of Software Updates for Solaris which introduce certain hardware support.

• all revisions of Software Updates for the Solaris 'patchadd' and 'patchrm' utilities, 'smpatch', and Update Manager.

• the specific revisions of Software Updates for Solaris required by Solaris Live Upgrade.

• the specific revisions of Software Updates for Solaris required by certain Sun software application products.

• all revisions of Software Updates which apply to product versions which are both bundled as part of Solaris and also released as separate products that don't enforce Software Update entitlement.

• a small number of other Software Updates for Solaris.

• any specific revision of Software Updates for Solaris required by any of the above categories of Software Updates.

• should any of the above Software Update revisions be withdrawn from release, the next available revision providing that functionality will be made available in its place.

This list of Publicly Available Software Updates is subject to change from time to time, in Sun's discretion.

Bugs fixes and features will also be available at no cost in a future Solaris Update or Solaris Named Release. Customers who are unwilling to pay for a support contract, can still get the fixes by installing or upgrading to the next Solaris Update once it becomes available. But timely access to bug fixes for Solaris, apart from those provided in Publicly Available Software Updates, requires customers to have a support contract which covers Solaris.

Licenses and Support Coverage

Sun and Sun authorized service providers invest substantial resources to provide quality services from fully trained and qualified field engineers. Only Sun and Sun authorized service providers have the right to escalate problems to Sun's engineering team, and to access Sun's proprietary tools and information which are necessary to provide customers with quality and timely support.

Software licenses for Solaris (all versions) and related Software Updates are non-transferable. This means that third parties cannot obtain Software Updates for Solaris systems from Sun and then provide such Software Updates to end user customers without written authorization from Sun.

Sun's policy is that customers and service providers are not permitted to utilize a Sun support contract or any of the resources available thereunder (such as access to the SunSolve database or Software Updates available on the database) for the benefit of systems that are not covered by a support contract with Sun or a Sun-authorized service provider.

A separate Sun support contract is required for every system to which you apply Solaris Software Updates, with the exception of Publicly Available Software Updates, including test and development systems.

Customers and service providers are advised to read the Software License Agreement terms on sunsolve.sun.com. Customers who are considering using a service provider not authorized by Sun for Solaris support should know that this license agreement does not permit unauthorized parties to use SunSolve to provide services to customers for commercial gain. Violation of the Software License Agreement may result in a violation of Sun's valuable intellectual property rights.

Please contact your local Sun sales representative or Sun authorized service provider regarding Sun's services and the impact that an unauthorized service provider and/or inappropriate use of Sun technology may have on your business.

Software Support for Solaris

Please note that hardware warranties or hardware-only support contracts do not provide Software Update Entitlement.

Sun believes that receiving quality support for Solaris is a fundamental part of the customer experience. Phone, email and online support for software products is delivered per the terms of the respective software support agreement.

Solaris Named Releases, Solaris Updates, and Software Updates are available via manual download or automatic update if certain tools are being used. A support contract is required to receive Software Updates for Solaris with the exception of Publicly Available Software Updates.

A variety of support plans exist for the Solaris OS including:

Sun System Service Plans which provide fully-integrated hardware and Solaris OS support to keep systems running smoothly. These are ideal when running Solaris on Sun hardware.

Solaris Subscriptions which provide flexible, scalable and cost-efficient choice for Solaris OS support. Consider these when running Solaris on 3rd party hardware.

Enterprise wide support plans are also available.

Please note that hardware warranties or hardware-only support contracts do not provide Software Update Entitlement.

Options to access Software Updates

Customer access to Software Updates for Solaris is currently via, SunSolve, 'wget' for scripted access, or via a Software Update automation tool such as smpatch / Update Manager, or xVM Ops Center. Access methodology is subject to change at any time at Sun's discretion.

1. Download Software Updates from SunSolve

   To access Software Updates from SunSolve, customers are required to have a Sun Online Account and accept the License Agreement displayed when initially logging on using their Sun Online Account. This will grant access to Publicly Available Software Updates.

   Access to other Software Updates for Solaris, requires you to associate a support contract which covers Solaris such as a Solaris Subscription or Sun System Service Plan with your Sun Online Account. See http://wikis.sun.com/display/SunSolve/How+Entitlement+Works

   Access to Software Updates can be scripted using 'wget'. See Patch Download Automation using wget.

2. Automatic system updates

   Activate the "Patch Update Manager" feature in Solaris 10 with a valid support contract.

3. Life Cycle Management

Sun xVM Ops Center is a comprehensive provising and management tool which includes intelligent Software Update management for Solaris and Linux.

For any question about this document please contact: mailto:patchpolicy@sun.com

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