Swinstall

swinstall is the software distribution and installation tool for Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX operating system, part of the Software Distributor (SD) framework. It provides a unified interface for installing, updating, and removing software products, patches, and related components. The tool is available in both graphical (GUI) and command-line forms, allowing system administrators to manage software across local and remote systems.

The utility works with software products packaged for HP-UX SD. It reads product catalogs from a Software Distributor image located on a local medium or a remote installation server, resolves dependencies, and applies changes in a controlled manner. swinstall can operate with interactive prompts or be scripted for automated deployments, using response files to specify installation choices. It supports installations from local media, network shares, or centralized SD repositories, and maintains logs and records of actions for auditing and rollback purposes.

Typical usage involves listing available and installed software (through related commands like swlist), validating package integrity (swverify), and performing installations, updates, or removals. During an operation, swinstall coordinates the installation process across the target system, handles prerequisite checks, and prompts for confirmation where appropriate in interactive mode. Administrators can also customize behavior with various options to control logging, rollback, and dependency handling.

Swinstall remains a core component of HP-UX software management, aligning with other SD tools to provide a consistent mechanism for maintaining system software. See also: swlist, swverify, swpackage, swmodify.