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[SOLVED]Automatic notification for updates?

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debcub
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[SOLVED]Automatic notification for updates?

#1 Post by debcub »

Hi,

I am using Debian GNU/Linux 8.7 (jessie) Gnome. I would like to get automatic notifications that new updates would be available and ready to be installed. How can I do this?

Thanks,

debcub
Last edited by debcub on 2017-03-11 20:47, edited 1 time in total.

Segfault
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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#2 Post by Segfault »

Have apt-get update running as cronjob and let it email you. Don't know about Gnome, my solution works regardless what DE/WM is installed, if any.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#3 Post by debcub »

Segfault wrote:...cronjob... ...email...
Thank you, but sorry: cronjob is way beyond my expertise, and notifications to my email account, I don't know. "Lazy" as I am I was thinking of kind of a small pop-up window that shows a note when I start Debian - spoiled by Ubuntu, I admit. Can I set this option somehow?

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#4 Post by debcub »

Finally - after days of googleing - I found software-properties-gtk, which gives the app "Software & Updates" (globe with CD icon) in https://www.reddit.com/r/debian/comment ... /?sort=old which does the job :)
However, I am still looking for the app "Software" the icon of which looks like a shopping bag.

That brings me to another question. I am not sure whether I can put it here, but anyway:

I installed Jessie from debian-live-8.7.1-amd64-gnome-desktop.iso which is only 1.4 GB. Apparently it misses a lot of software, like software-properties-gtk. I noticed that there are many Debian CDs/DVDs downloadable, numbered CD/DVD 1, 2, 3, 4,... you name it. Is is possible to view their contents and look, e.g., for the Shopping Bag "Software" without downloading all of them?

Thanks,

debflash

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#5 Post by Segfault »

ISOs? Hmmm ... your box is not connected to the internet? Then there will be no updates regardless.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#6 Post by debcub »

Segfault wrote:ISOs? Hmmm ... your box is not connected to the internet? Then there will be no updates regardless.
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. That is what I meant:
* I wrote the ISO to a USB stick using an ISO-writer
* Installed Debian onto my notebook from this stick
* Connected to the internet and did

Code: Select all

# apt-get update &&
# apt-get dist-upgrade

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#7 Post by Segfault »

OK, so why are you looking for additional DVD's then? Confusing.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#8 Post by debcub »

I thought there must be a reason for those DVDs such as, e.g.

debian-8.7.1-amd64-DVD-1.iso 2017-01-16 12:52 3.7G
debian-8.7.1-amd64-DVD-2.iso 2017-01-16 12:52 4.4G
debian-8.7.1-amd64-DVD-3.iso 2017-01-16 12:52 4.2G

Naive as I am I thought there is more software on them altogether than on my comparable meager install ISO of 1.4 GB. Correct?

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#9 Post by Segfault »

No there is no reason to download all those images if you have internet connection. Old hands use the netinstall ISO to install Debian, it is a few hundred megabytes, that's all you need.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#10 Post by debcub »

Well, often I do not know before what I need, such was the case with software-properties-gtk which I googled by chance, because beforehand I did not know its filename, just how the app looked like. And, as mentioned now Iam looking for this "shopping bag" called "Software Center". I saw it in Stretch, but Stretch is way too "testing" for me and I do not know its filename. Mabe it is also in Jessie? Probably naive to think I could find it on one of those CDs/DVDs?
Could I do a kind of net install with my current installation of Jessie? Getting everything and looking afterwards whether I have the Software Center?

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#11 Post by dasein »

debcub wrote:Finally - after days of googleing...
And yet less than an hour after your prior post on the matter. Amazing. Must be some kinda time warp. :cool:
debcub wrote:I noticed that there are many Debian CDs/DVDs
[snip]
Is is possible to view their contents... without downloading all of them?
The entire software collection that is Debian is indeed larger than any optical medium, but software doesn't need to be on a local optical medium for you to install it.

You mention being "spoiled" by Ubuntu. If you've used Ubuntu, then surely you are familiar with the concept of a repository, and with the notion if installing software from it. The exact same mechanism is used to install software in Debian. No download required. It's also unclear why you're so flummoxed by this concept.

Lastly, although a kind of "ToC" of the supplemental software media is indeed available online, it's entirely extraneous to your "issue."

(P.S. This question is way offtopic from your initial question, and should have been asked in a thread all its own. The "one topic per thread" rule exists for a reason.)

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#12 Post by Dai_trying »

Regarding OP I think what you want is gnome package kit although I haven't used it in a while, IIRC it notifies of updates and gives some installation options. Like I said a while since I used it but it worked quite well. I wrote my own update notifier due to a couple of small annoyances, but for general use I think GPK fits your requirements.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#13 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

There were problems with update notifications in Jessie. They never worked for me.

https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/20 ... 00669.html

http://blog.tenstral.net/2014/11/the-st ... essie.html

They work it Stretch.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#14 Post by debiman »

debcub wrote:

Code: Select all

# apt-get update &&
# apt-get dist-upgrade
i think this should be

Code: Select all

# apt-get update
# apt-get upgrade
assuming the '#' is a root prompt.

don't do a dist-upgrade before a regular upgrade.
don't do a dist-upgrade until you know what you're doing.

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#15 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

My jessie box can be left unattended (by me) for weeks at a time (yay!) so I install https://packages.debian.org/jessie/unattended-upgrades to make sure that the system is at least vaguely secure.
deadbang

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#16 Post by debcub »

Thanks for all comments here. Sorry for my Mumble Jumble ;) What it boils down now to is:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 55#p638955

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#17 Post by dasein »

"One thread = one question" works both ways. :roll:

To learn which packages are in which releases, and answer questions like this for yourself: https://packages.debian.org/

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Re: Automatic notification for updates?

#18 Post by debcub »

FreewheelinFrank wrote:There were problems with update notifications in Jessie. They never worked for me.
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/20 ... 00669.html
http://blog.tenstral.net/2014/11/the-st ... essie.html
They work it Stretch.
After a fresh install, including software-properties-gtk, automatic update notifications are here again with my Jessie :)

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