While installing the 10.4.11 Server and subsequent 10.4.11 security patch, I had to wait a very long time (over an hour) while the Installer was configuring the install. I peeked in on the Installer process (using lsof and Activity monitor's 'Open files and ports' feature), and found that it was searching through every directory on all mounted drives on the machine for files to update.
Our boot volume is completely separate from our multi-terabyte data storage, so this is completely unnecessary and a complete waste of time, as there are no files on the data volumes to update. On the next three servers I updated, I unmounted all data drives before installing, and the installation of both updates took just a few minutes each.
I don't recall this being an issue in past updates, but apparently, Apple wants to make sure that they don't leave any unpatched files behind. So to speed system updates, unmount your data volumes prior to installation.
[robg adds: This may only be an issue for those with huge data drives, or perhaps only with OS X Server. I haven't noticed any lengthy slowdowns on my machine, but I'll take a look at the activity the next time I install an update.]
Our boot volume is completely separate from our multi-terabyte data storage, so this is completely unnecessary and a complete waste of time, as there are no files on the data volumes to update. On the next three servers I updated, I unmounted all data drives before installing, and the installation of both updates took just a few minutes each.
I don't recall this being an issue in past updates, but apparently, Apple wants to make sure that they don't leave any unpatched files behind. So to speed system updates, unmount your data volumes prior to installation.
[robg adds: This may only be an issue for those with huge data drives, or perhaps only with OS X Server. I haven't noticed any lengthy slowdowns on my machine, but I'll take a look at the activity the next time I install an update.]
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