Installing, managing, and removing software

Creating a response file (pkgask)

Before you install a package or set in non-interactive mode, you must prepare answers for the questions that a package installation script would ask you during the installation process. The pkgask(1M) command executes the appropriate installation script, showing you the questions and allowing you to respond to them. Your answers are stored in a file called a ``response file''.

You supply a name for the response file on the command line when you execute pkgadd(1M) to install the package or set in non-interactive mode. The installation script uses the response file to access the information when it is needed.

NOTE: You must use a package identifier with a numerical suffix if multiple versions reside on the installation medium. When there is only one version of a package on a medium, the package identifier is the package abbreviation without a suffix.

The package identifier suffix defines the package instance only on that particular medium. To find out what instances are available on a medium, run pkginfo -d device.

To create a response file, enter:

pkgask -r response pkginst

where response is the full pathname of the file or directory in which your responses will be saved and pkginst is the package identifier or Set Installation Package (SIP) for the package or set to be installed. If response is a directory, a file named response/pkginst is created.

If a SIP is specified as the pkginst, the response file must be a directory. If pkginst specifies a SIP, request scripts are run for all packages that are members of the set, and the resulting response files are placed in the directory specified by the -r option. (Use pkginfo(1) to find out the package identifier or SIP if you do not know it. See ``Displaying information about installed packages or sets (pkginfo, pkgparam)'' for details on pkginfo(1)).