How to Configure Automatic Updates in Fedora

Edited 2 weeks ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

FedoraUpdatesConfigurationAutomatic UpdatesSoftwareOperating SystemPackage ManagerSystem AdministrationBeginnersComputers

Fedora is a popular Linux distribution that many people use on a day-to-day basis for a variety of tasks, including development, business activities, and more. Keeping your system up-to-date is important for security and stability. Fortunately, Fedora provides a convenient way to configure automatic updates that can help maintain your system easily. In this guide, we will learn how to configure automatic updates in Fedora. We will go through each step, explain the different options, and provide some examples to help you better understand the process.

Understanding Fedora's update system

Before we proceed with the process of setting up automatic updates, it is important to understand how updates work in Fedora. Fedora uses the DNF package manager to handle software package management. DNF helps you install, update, and remove packages on your system. Automatic updates means that DNF will manage and install updates on your system without manual intervention. This helps keep your system safe from vulnerabilities and bugs.

Why use automatic updates?

There are several reasons why you might want to enable automatic updates in Fedora:

1. Security: Automatic updates ensure that the latest security patches are applied immediately.
2. Stability: Frequent updates help maintain system stability by fixing bugs and issues.
3. Convenience: Automatic updates save time and effort as they do not require any manual intervention.

Steps to configure automatic updates in Fedora

Now, we will go through the steps to configure automatic updates in Fedora. We will use the `dnf-automatic` tool, which is a package that provides a convenient way to automate the update process.

Step 1: Install the dnf-automatic package

First, you need to install the `dnf-automatic` package on your Fedora system. This package is responsible for handling the automatic update process. Open your terminal and run the following command:

sudo dnf install dnf-automatic

This command will ask you for your password. Type it in, and dnf will download and install the package for you.

Step 2: Configure the dnf-automatic package

Once the package is installed, the next step is to configure it. The configuration file for `dnf-automatic` is located at /etc/dnf/automatic.conf. You can edit this file using a text editor. In this guide, we will be using `nano`, which is a simple command-line text editor.

sudo nano /etc/dnf/automatic.conf

You will see several sections in this configuration file. Let's explore some important sections and parameters:

• [Command]: This section is responsible for selecting the tasks you want to automate. Here, you can specify whether you want automatic downloads, upgrades, or any other activity. For example, to enable automatic upgrades, you would set:

[commands] upgrade_type = default apply_updates = yes

• [emitters]: This section describes how notifications are sent. If you want to receive email notifications after updates, you can use:

[emitters] emit_via = email

• [Email]: This section is used to configure email settings if you are using email notifications. You need to specify the smtp server, user, and other details.

[email] email_from = system@fedoraserver.com email_to = your_email@example.com smtp_server = smtp.example.com smtp_port = 587 smtp_user = username smtp_passwd = password

Make sure to replace placeholders like `your_email@example.com` and `smtp.example.com` with your actual email address and SMTP server details.

Step 3: Enable and start the dnf-automatic service

Once you have configured the file, the next step is to enable and start the `dnf-automatic` service. Enabling the service ensures that it runs at startup, and starting it will begin the process immediately:

sudo systemctl enable --now dnf-automatic.timer

This command will enable the timer unit that schedules the automatic update service to run based on its schedule (usually daily by default). You do not need to run the update service as it is handled automatically by the system.

Step 4: Check the status of automatic updates

After setup, you might want to check if the Automatic Updates service is running correctly. You can check the status by running the following:

sudo systemctl status dnf-automatic.timer

This command tells you if the timer is active and when the next update is scheduled.

Step 5: Verify that automatic updates are working

Finally, to make sure everything is working smoothly, take a day or two and check if your system receives updates automatically. You can review `/var/log/dnf.log` and `/var/log/dnf.rpm.log`, where the logs of updates are stored.

Conclusion

Configuring automatic updates in Fedora is a practical step to ensure that your system is secure and up to date. Using the `dnf-automatic` tool you can automate these updates and reduce manual intervention. By following a few simple steps as described in this guide, you can set up automatic updates on your Fedora system.

Keep in mind that automatic updates are especially important for systems that are exposed to the Internet or have critical security requirements. However, in some specific cases, such as mission-critical servers, you may want to review and apply updates manually to minimize downtime. So, choose your update strategy wisely according to your system needs.

Feel free to change the configuration of `dnf-automatic` according to your needs and enjoy a hassle-free update experience on your Fedora system. Happy updating!

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