Categories: Ubuntu

How to Update Ubuntu Automatically?

If you are new to Ubuntu, you must have wondered that the Ubuntu system is not updating itself. You probably have a single question that “does Ubuntu update automatically?”. Unlike Windows or Mac, Ubuntu doesn’t update itself. It lacks completely integrated, automatic, and self-updating software management. However, you can update it easily. So in this guide, you will get to know about the procedure to update Ubuntu automatically.

We will explain the process to set up automatic updates in Ubuntu:

First, open the Linux terminal by pressing CTRL, ALT, and T or open it from the search menu. In the terminal, execute the following command to update a server:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Now, install the unattended upgrade on your Ubuntu system through the following command:

$ sudo apt install unattended-upgrades apt-listchanges bsd-mailx

After that, turn on the unattended security updates by running the following command:

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

After executing the command, configure the automatic update by executing the command given below:

$ sudo vi /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades

Now, you can set up the alert email ID by the below command:

$ Unattended-Upgrade::Mail “xyz@abc.com”;

In the above command, you can write your email ID instead of “xyz@abc.com”. In case you want automatically reboot the Ubuntu box without confirmation for the Kernel update, then use the following command:

$ Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot “true”;

Finally, you can edit the /etc/apt/listchanges.conf and set up the email ID:

email_address=xyz@abc.com

You can verify that the setup is working by executing the below command:

$ sudo unattended-upgrades –dry-run

The software updater in Ubuntu will also give you update when available. You only need to click on the update option, and the package will be automatically upgraded to a newer version

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Updating Ubuntu to Next Release

Even though the Ubuntu system doesn’t upgrade itself to newer releases, the Software Updater will offer you an opportunity to do it from the software itself. Once you choose the update option, it will automate the upgrade system to the next release. You also have the option to burn a disk with a newer release ISO and install it from scratch.

Conclusion

Updating Ubuntu is not an automatic process, but with some tweaks, you can automate it. However, users prefer to update Ubuntu manually through the terminal because using Ubuntu without operating the terminal is no fun. If you found this guide good, make sure you visit our official website to learn more about Ubuntu and other Linux operating systems.