Merge branch 'maint'

* maint:
  Add support for patching of individual applications

Conflicts:
	system/doc/installation_guide/part.xml

1 files changed, 143 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/HOWTO/OTP-PATCH-APPLY.md b/HOWTO/OTP-PATCH-APPLY.md
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+Patching OTP Applications
+=========================
+
+Introduction
+------------
+
+This document describes the process of patching an existing OTP
+installation with one or more Erlang/OTP applications of newer versions
+than already installed. The tool `otp_patch_apply` is available for this
+specific purpose. It resides in the top directory of the Erlang/OTP
+source tree.
+
+The `otp_patch_apply` tool utilizes the [runtime_dependencies][] tag in
+the [application resource file][]. This information is used to determine
+if the patch can be installed in the given Erlang/OTP installation
+directory.
+
+Read more about the [version handling][] introduced in Erlang/OTP release
+17, which also describes how to determine if an installation includes one
+or more patched applications.
+
+If you want to apply patches of multiple OTP applications that resides
+in different OTP versions, you have to apply these patches in multiple
+steps. It is only possible to apply multiple OTP applications from the
+same OTP version at once.
+
+Prerequisites
+-------------
+
+It's assumed that the reader is familiar with
+[building and installing Erlang/OTP][]. To be able to patch an
+application, the following must exist:
+
+* An Erlang/OTP installation.
+
+* An Erlang/OTP source tree containing the updated applications that
+  you want to patch into the existing Erlang/OTP installation.
+
+Using otp\_patch\_apply
+-----------------------
+
+> *WARNING*: Patching applications is a one-way process.
+> Create a backup of your OTP installation directory before
+> proceeding.
+
+First of all, build the OTP source tree at `$ERL_TOP` containing
+the updated applications.
+
+> *NOTE*: Before applying a patch you need to do a *full* build
+> of OTP in the source directory.
+
+If you are building in `git` you first need to generate the
+`configure` scripts:
+
+	$ ./otp_build autoconf
+
+Configure and build all applications in OTP:
+
+	$ configure
+	$ make
+or
+
+	$ ./otp_build configure
+	$ ./otp_build boot -a
+
+If you have installed documentation in the OTP installation, also
+build the documentation:
+
+	$ make docs
+
+After the successful build it's time to patch. The source tree directory,
+the directory of the installation and the applications to patch are given
+as arguments to `otp_patch_apply`. The dependencies of each application
+are validated against the applications in the installation and the other
+applications given as arguments. If a dependency error is detected, the
+script will be aborted.
+
+The `otp_patch_apply` syntax:
+
+	$ otp_patch_apply -s <Dir> -i <Dir> [-l <Dir>] [-c] [-f] [-h] \
+          [-n] [-v] <App1> [... <AppN>]
+	
+	-s <Dir>  -- OTP source directory that contains build results.
+	-i <Dir>  -- OTP installation directory to patch.
+	-l <Dir>  -- Alternative OTP source library directory path(s)
+	             containing build results of OTP applications.
+	             Multiple paths should be colon separated.
+	-c        -- Cleanup (remove) old versions of applications
+	             patched in the installation.
+	-f        -- Force patch of application(s) even though
+	             dependencies are not fulfilled (should only be
+	             considered in a test environment).
+	-h        -- Print help then exit.
+	-n        -- Do not install documentation.
+	-v        -- Print version then exit.
+	<AppX>    -- Application to patch.
+	
+	Environment Variable:
+	  ERL_LIBS  -- Alternative OTP source library directory path(s)
+	               containing build results of OTP applications.
+	               Multiple paths should be colon separated.
+
+> *NOTE*: The complete build environment is required while running
+> `otp_patch_apply`.
+
+> *NOTE*: All source directories identified by `-s` and `-l` should
+> contain build results of OTP applications.
+
+For example, if the user wants to install patched versions of `mnesia`
+and `ssl` built in `/home/me/git/otp` into the OTP installation
+located in `/opt/erlang/my_otp` type
+
+	$ otp_patch_apply -s /home/me/git/otp -i /opt/erlang/my_otp \
+	  mnesia ssl
+
+> *NOTE*: If the list of applications contains core applications,
+> i.e `erts`, `kernel`, `stdlib` or `sasl`, the `Install` script in
+> the patched Erlang/OTP installation must be rerun.
+
+The patched applications are appended to the list of installed
+applications. Take a look at
+`<InstallDir>/releases/OTP-REL/installed_application_versions`.
+
+Sanity check
+------------
+
+The application dependencies can be checked using the Erlang shell.
+Application dependencies are verified among installed applications by
+`otp_patch_apply`, but these are not necessarily those actually loaded.
+By calling `system_information:sanity_check()` one can validate
+dependencies among applications actually loaded.
+
+	1> system_information:sanity_check().
+        ok
+
+Please take a look at the reference of [sanity_check()][] for more
+information.
+
+[application resource file]: kernel:app
+[runtime_dependencies]: kernel:app#runtime_dependencies
+[building and installing Erlang/OTP]: INSTALL.md
+[version handling]: ../system_principles/versions
+[sanity_check()]: runtime_tools:system_information#sanity_check-0