Q: Will swinstall require a reboot? [ edit | blog | re-post ]
A: You can check the is_reboot attribute using swinstall. For example:

root@zorro-b1 [/root]
# swlist -l fileset -a is_reboot B6849AA
# Initializing...
# Contacting target "zorro-b1"...
#
# Target: zorro-b1:/
#

# B6849AA
# B6849AA.Bastille
B6849AA.Bastille.BASTILLE false
root@zorro-b1 [/root]

# Patch Management User Guide: HP-UX 11.x Systems > Chapter 3 HP-UX Patch Overview > Patch-Related Attributes

is_reboot

• Applies to filesets.

• When set to true, is_reboot indicates that installation of the fileset will cause the system to reboot.