How to recover from a hung softwareupdate process?

Question

Hello,
This weekend I ran software update via the Server Admin tool on all the nodes in a small cluster of eight Xserves (one master, seven cluster-style nodes).
They are all dual processor G4 Xserves with 1 gig of ram, upgrading from 10.4.8 to 10.4.9.
I first ran it on all the cluster nodes, which rebooted all ok. I then proceeded to install the updates on the main node. Included on the update list were: AirPort 4.2, Quicktime 7.1.5, iTunes 7.1.1, Mac OS X Server Update (PowerPC) 10.4.9. While those first three are not needed on a server, they were on the list, so I just included them.
The first two slowly installed all ok (AirPort is done at 100%, Quicktime is at 90% because it needs a reboot). However, it is hanging on the iTunes, saying "INSTALLING" and not progressing past 86.25%. It has been in this state since Saturday.
I am hesitant to simply kill the softwareupdate process, since I do not want to leave the package management system in an inconsistent state, especially since one of the updates is for the OS itself. Are there any other ways correct this hung state?
I pasted the software update status file below.
Nathan
cat /private/var/run/SoftwareUpdateStatus.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>date</key>
<date>2007-03-17T20:23:50Z</date>
<key>phase</key>
<string>INSTALLING</string>
<key>phaseResultsArray</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>identifier</key>
<string>061-1948</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>AirPort</string>
<key>phase</key>
<string>DONE</string>
<key>progress</key>
<real>100</real>
<key>restartRequired</key>
<string>NO</string>
<key>sizeInKB</key>
<integer>12630</integer>
<key>version</key>
<string>4.2</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>identifier</key>
<string>061-2834</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>QuickTime</string>
<key>phase</key>
<string>DONE</string>
<key>progress</key>
<real>90</real>
<key>restartRequired</key>
<string>YES</string>
<key>sizeInKB</key>
<integer>45270</integer>
<key>version</key>
<string>7.1.5</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>identifier</key>
<string>061-3152</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>iTunes</string>
<key>phase</key>
<string>INSTALLING</string>
<key>progress</key>
<real>86.25</real>
<key>restartRequired</key>
<string>NO</string>
<key>sizeInKB</key>
<integer>28150</integer>
<key>version</key>
<string>7.1.1</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>identifier</key>
<string>zzz022-3291</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>Mac OS X Server Update (PowerPC)</string>
<key>phase</key>
<string>UNKNOWN</string>
<key>progress</key>
<real>100</real>
<key>restartRequired</key>
<string>YES</string>
<key>sizeInKB</key>
<integer>133290</integer>
<key>version</key>
<string>10.4.9</string>
</dict>
</array>
<key>phaseStatus</key>
<string>INPROGRESS</string>
<key>pid</key>
<integer>20094</integer>
</dict>
</plist>
G4 Xserve   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

Answer 1

I clone my root drive twice a day to an identical drive that I keep in the machine and to another identical drive that I send off site for disaster recovery. I do it so often to keep accurate databases of my backup/archive software. I also do the cloning just before I update the software. If I want to "pull the plug" on the update, I just shut the machine down and switch drives around and start it back up.
My raid is backed up to tape with a weekly full backup and incrementals the rest of the time.
If you were to download the 10.4.9 combo update and have that on your root drive, if you can't restart the machine, you could boot off the install cd, get a shell (if it's 10.4.4 or later) and install the combo and hope that that fixes things. You could also examine /var/log/SoftwareUpdate.log and see what it has to say before deciding.
Roger