Package naming conventions – Sun packages always begin with the prefix SUNW, as in SUNWaccr, SUNWadmap, and SUNWcsu. Third-party packages usually begin with a prefix that corresponds to the company's stock symbol.

What software is already installed – You can use the Solaris installation GUI, Solaris Product Registry prodreg viewer (either GUI or CLI) or the pkginfo command to determine the software that is already installed on a system.

How servers and clients share software – Clients might have software that resides partially on a server and partially on the client. In such cases, adding software for the client requires that you add packages to both the server and the client.