What is YUM and how it is used in PeopleSoft?
YUM is the utility that is used to install and update RPM packages on Linux based systems. YUM utility can connect to a yum repository (where the patches are available) and apply any update packages, bug fixes, security fixes & enhancements to your target OS.
YUM is the acronym for Yellowdog Updater, Modifier and it was initially developed as an update utility for Yellowdog Linux OS , hence the name and was later modified for other Linux OS.
How is YUM used in PeopleSoft?
In PeopleSoft, if your PeopleSoft servers are Linux based then the system administrator may have applied yum updates at some point.
Also, if you’ve deployed PeopleSoft Update Image on Oracle Virtual box, then your image is delivered with Oracle Linux VM. In this case, you can configure YUM on the Oracle Linux OS for your VirtualBox VM (Virtual Machine). Once you configure yum on Oracle Linux you can download & apply updates from Oracle Linux YUM repository automatically.
Your PUM image must be setup to use bridged network connection instead of host only configuration to connect to Oracle Linux YUM public repository and apply YUM updates.
When do I need to apply YUM updates to Update Manager Image?
PeopleSoft Images are released several times a year and with each new image you can expect that Oracle would install the latest yum updates before releasing the PeopleSoft image for customers to download. So, in most of the cases you won’t need to apply yum updates.
However, in case there is an urgent fix that Oracle wants you to apply in between PeopleSoft image releases, then you would need to configure and apply yum updates to your Oracle Linux that hosts your PUM image.
For example, recently when 2 security vulnerabilities (CVE-2014-7169 & CVE-2014-6271) known as ‘Shellshock‘ were identified to impact Oracle Linux OS, Oracle urged PeopleSoft customers to apply yum updates to their PeopleSoft Images.
Also Read: CVE impacting PeopleTools 8.58, 8.59 & 8.60
