Schedule Automatic Software Updates

Cockpit administrators can use the Software updates page in the web console to automatically schedule when software updates occur on the host system. Configurable properties for scheduling an automatic software update include selecting the update type (none, security, or all) and the frequency for how often the automatic update occurs.

Note:

Alternatively, administrators can use the command line to configure automatic software updates. For more information about using the command line to perform this task, see Updating Software Automatically in Oracle Linux: Managing Software on Oracle Linux.

What Do You Need?

• The Cockpit web console must be installed and accessible.

  For details, see these topics: Install and Enable Cockpit and Log in to the Cockpit Web Console.

• The Cockpit Software Update package (cockpit-packagekit) must be installed. In the case where the Software Update module does not appear in the web console navigation panel, see Install and Manage Add-on Applications.

  Note:

  A first time set up is also required for automatic updates after installing cockpit-packagekit. The steps for performing the first time set up is covered in the following procedure.
• Administrator privileges.

Steps

Using the Cockpit web console, follow these instructions to configure automatic software updates on the host system.

1. In the Cockpit navigation pane, click Software updates.
   The Software updates page appears.
2. In the Settings section of the Software updates page, view the Automatic updates status message to determine what steps to take:

   Message	Summary	Action to take
   Not set up	The system is unable to perform automatic updates because the dnf-automatic package is not installed.	Proceed to the First time set up only step to install the dnf-automatic package.
   Disabled	The software required to enable automatic updates is installed, but automatic updates are disabled.	To enable automatic updates, click Edit.
   Security updates will be applied	An automatic update schedule is active for security updates, and the message indicates how often and when the automatic updates occur.	To change automatic update settings, click Edit.
   Updates will be applied	An automatic update schedule is active for all software packages, and the message indicates how often and when the automatic updates occur.	To change automatic update settings, click Edit.

3. First time set up only—Install the software required to enable automatic software updates.

   Important:

   If dnf-automatic is already installed, proceed to the next step.
   1. In the Settings pane, click Enable.
      The Install software dialog displays a message stating that dnf-automatic will be installed.
   2. Click Install to install the dnf-automatic package.
      After the dnf-automatic package installs, the Automatic updates dialog opens.
4. In the Automatic updates dialog, specify the following properties, then click Save changes:

   Property	Options
   Type	Select the update type that you want to automate (or disable): No updates—Disables all automatic updates. Security updates only—Automates security related updates only. All updates—Automates all updates (patches, bug fixes, security updates and so on).
   When	In the drop-down lists, specify the frequency (daily or a specific day of week) and the time for the automatic updates to occur.

After you configure automatic updates, the system applies the updates according to the schedule you defined in the Automatic Updates dialog. Upon completing the updates, the system automatically restarts.