On Sun, 30 May 2021 13:08:18 +0200 Stella Ashburne <rewe...@gmx.com> wrote:
> My knowledge of computing, Linux and Debian is elementary and hence I > won't know how to set up a cron-apt or use apticron. > > Question: Is it a prerequisite (pre-condition) that to set up a cron > job to download updates at a fixed time every day, the OS must have > the installed package "unattended-upgrades"? No, unattended upgrades is not a requirement. I used the following cron job for years until recently. I started using something like it when I was on dial-up and wanted to speed up the upgrade process by having the new packages already on my computers. Over the past year or so I have phased in unattended-upgrades. 5 3 * * * root /usr/bin/apt-get update > /dev/null && /usr/bin/apt-get -dy dist-upgrade > /dev/null (That is all one line. I expect your mail reader will wrap it horribly. When you copy and paste it, straighten it out into all one line.) I suggest that, as root, you put it in its own unique file in /etc/cron.d. That way it will survive updates to other files. A brief explanation of what it does: At 03:05 every morning, as root, run apt-get update to update apt-get's cache. If that's successful (the &&), run apt-get dist-upgrade for downloads only (-d) and assume a "yes" answer to all questions (-y). In both cases, discard the standard output by sending it to the null device. -- Does anybody read signatures any more? https://charlescurley.com https://charlescurley.com/blog/
