Patch Corner: Patch news and best practice

Ever wanted to run something past a patching expert ? 

Want to pick the brains of your peers in other companies ?

Lobby to get a patching enhancement implemented ?

Debate what is an appropriate patching strategy and associated best practices ?

Ask other customers if they are seeing the same issues you are ?

Your wait is over.  There are new Patch Forums available to customers with support contracts on http://forums.sun.com.

If you haven't accessed the private contract customer forums on forums.sun.com before, I'm told there's a bit of a "secret-handshake" procedure you must follow for your initial login:

• Go to https://identity.sun.com/amserver/UI/Login?org=self_registered_users&goto=http://sunsolve.sun.com/cwpGoto.do?target=home
• Log in with your Sun Online Account (SOA) username/password as normal.
• Click on "Edit Personal Information" in the menu on the top right of the screen and ensure that you have a "Screen Name" set.  If not, set one here.  This will be the name displayed when you post on forums.sun.com.
• If you are not an Member Support Center (MSC) registered user, click on "Change Contract" in the menu on the top right of the screen and ensure you have one or more support contracts associated with your Sun Online Account (SOA).  If not, associate your support contract number(s) to your SOA.  For MSC registered users, contracts are automatically associated to your SOA.
  
• Go back to http://sunsolve.sun.com/show.do?target=home and click on the "[ Access ]" link under the "Sun Community Forums" section.  This link is only visible if you have a support contract associated to your Sun Online Account.  Your initial access to the Patch Forum must be via this link.
  
• Scroll down the page you are redirected to, you will now see a Forum called "Patches" in the "Private" section.
• Click on "Patches" will bring you to the Patch Forum, http://forums.sun.com/category.jspa?categoryID=162
• If you do not see the "Patches" link, please try and logout of forums.sun.com and then log back in, as sometimes there are issues with single sign on preventing you from seeing the correct links in the "Private" section.  (Alternatively, clear your cookies and follow the above steps.)
  

Please note that the above process need only be followed once, in order to register your "Screen Name" for access to the private contract customer forums on forums.sun.com

For all future access, you may go directly to the Patch Forums and login via the "Login" link on the top right of the screen to see the Patch Forum content.

Patches Forum

http://forums.sun.com/category.jspa?categoryID=162

You can use the "Let's talk patching!" Community Forum to discuss Patching Strategy and Best Practices with peers and Sun folk, including potential enhancements to improve your patching experience.  It is important to note that this is not an official Support channel.  To ensure optimal support, you must continue to raise Service Requests for specific patching issues through the normal support channels, although you may use the Patch Issues sub-forum to see if others have experienced similar issues and know of workarounds or available fixes.  As with other forums of this nature, Sun does not guarantee to answer all questions posted. We'd like your feedback on how you would like to see this forum evolve and keep the questions coming so we can better serve your patching needs!

There are two sub-forums available:

Patching Strategy, Best Practices, and Enhancements

http://forums.sun.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1029

Discussions on patching strategies, best practices, news, and potential enhancements to improve your patching experience.

Patch Issues

http://forums.sun.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1028

Please note that this is not an official Support channel. To ensure optimal support, you must continue to raise Service Requests for specific patching issues through the normal support channels, although you may use the Patch Issues sub-forum to see if others have experienced similar issues and know of workarounds or available fixes.

I hope you find these forums useful!

They are designed to facilitate dialogue between you and other customers and with Sun subject matter experts to help improve your patching experience.

Best Wishes,

Gerry Haskins
Director, Software Patch Services