Installing Solaris packages directly via web

Whilst this trick isn't a widely known feature, with the recent versions of the pkgadd utility is the ability to install a Solaris package directly from the web. You simply need to specify a HTTP source.

For example:

# pkgadd -d http://myintranet/solaris/pkgs/metaview.pkg
## Downloading ...
..............25%..............50%..............75%..............100%
## Download Complete
The following packages are available :
1 MBCmetaview
metaview - pretty display SDS metastat output
download tool
( all ) 1.0.2
[..]
Installation of < MBCmetaview > was successful .
#

In the above example I installed the package from within my intranet respository but you can also use any webserver where Solaris packages are available. For example www.blastwave.org

# pkgadd -d http://www.blastwave.org/pkg_get.pkg
## Downloading ...
..............25%..............50%..............75%..............100%
## Download Complete
The following packages are available :
1 CSWpkgget
pkg_get - CSW version of automated package
download tool
( all ) 3.8.4
[..]
Installation of < CSWpkgget > was successful .
#

As the packages just have to be accessible by http, you can use an existing internal or external webserver to serve your favorite ”must-have” extra packages and install them directly from there.