As a system administrator, we generally need to keep our systems up to date with most recent packages. It’s hard to go to server daily and check for available bundles. For this we can utilize yum-updatesd service to get email notices or we can similarly configure this service to upgrade any packages automatically when available.
Yum-updatesd can be configured with couple of easy steps given below. You may also need to install top yum repositories which provide latest packages.
Install/Update yum-updatesd Package
By default this package installed on system time. So better to update this package before configure it.
yum update yum-updatesd
Configure yum-updatesd
You can change the configuration file as per your requirements by using your favorites editor:
# nano /etc/yum/yum-updatesd.conf
[main] # how often to check for new updates (in seconds) run_interval = 3600 # how often to allow checking on request (in seconds) updaterefresh = 600 # how to send notifications (valid: dbus, email, syslog) emit_via = email # Put your mail address email_to = admin@tecadmin.net # who send the notifications email_from = support@tecadmin.net # should we listen via dbus to give out update information/check for # new updates dbus_listener = yes # automatically install updates do_update = no # automatically download updates do_download = no # automatically download deps of updates do_download_deps = no
Exclude Some Packages from Auto Update
May be some of packages we don’t need to auto update until more specific reason, for example PHP and MySQL. To do it edit /etc/yum.conf file.
nano /etc/yum.conf
And add the following line under main section.
exclude=php* kernel* mysql* httpd*
Restart yum-updatesd Service
You can use below command to restart yum-updatesd service and enable auto start on system boot.
# /etc/init.d/yum-updatesd restart # chkconfig yum-updatesd on
Now you will receive an email to your mailbox with information of packages available for update.