ubuntu-update.sh
A bash script to update your Ubuntu system.
Set the file to executable then run it with sudo as outlined below to update your Ubuntu system.
This project is in GitHub and can be found here
Background
I maintain several individual Ubuntu 16.04 Long Term Support (LTS) Servers and found myself typing sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt full-upgrade -y often.
I made a script that did this, but thought it would also be fun to make it a bit more functional and make it available to everyone.
Also, I noticed that when these commands are run together, the output can get quite lengthy, and there’s no clear separation between the parts running, so I’d have to scroll back up through the output to see whether there was any output requiring action.
This script puts clear banners at the beginning of each activity and parses output in an attempt to present items of interest like warnings or reboot messages at the end of the output.
Project Goals
The goal of this project is to provide an easy to use, single command to automate the tasks routinely undertaken to update an Ubuntu system, and to provide the messages that require further action or inquiry at the end of the run.
Who This Is For
If, like me, you maintain several Ubuntu Linux systems, and you find yourself typing sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt full-upgrade -y, this script is for you!
If you maintain a large Ubuntu Server infrastructure, you likely have a patch management system, so this probably isn’t for you.
You could, however, scavenge some useful features like using getopts to accept command line arguments for your other scripts!
Prerequisites
You must have sudo permissions to run this script.
You must set the file to executable.
Set it so it is executable using the command:
sudo chmod +x ubuntu-update.sh
being in the directory where the file resides when you run the command.
You will not have to set the file executable if you create a local git repository and clone from Master.
Warning
Be sure you have read and understand what this file does before running it.
You can read the man page for each command and option to see what it does.
Any time the creator of a script says it has to be run with sudo permissions or as root, inderstand why and use caution.
This script has to be run with sudo because the apt-get commands it uses must be run as root.
To understand getopts, you can type help getopts or just search the web for more info.
The other commands used are fairly straight forward.
What It Does
This script runs the following commands:
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade -y
apt-get dist-upgrade -y
apt-get autoremove
It also writes the output to a file, /tmp/update-output.txt, and to the screen with the tee command, then uses grep to parse the update-output.txt file for information you may want to be aware of, displaying any found at the end of the run.
It then deletes the /tmp/update-output.txt file that was created.
I chose to use apt-get instead of apt commands because apt-get provides more stable and reliable output than apt which makes it more script friendly.
Installing
ubuntu-update.sh does not require any special installation.
Either copy the repository from GitHub or simply copy the file using the download option from the green “Clone or download” link in the upper right of the github page.
To make a local copy of the git repo, run:
cd <directory where you want to create your git clone>
git init
git clone https://github.com/TedLeRoy/ubuntu-update.sh.git
To copy the file directly, type:
wget https://github.com/TedLeRoy/ubuntu-update.sh/archive/master.zip
being in the directory where you want the file downloaded, then type unzip master.zip to extract the files.
Usage
Just run as shown:
sudo bash ubuntu-update.sh
or
sudo ./ubuntu-update.sh
being in the directory where ubuntu-update.sh resides.
You may choose to skip certain commands by specifying one or more options at the command line.
Available options are as follows:
Usage: sudo bash ubuntu-update.sh [-ugdrh]
No option - Run all options (recommended)
-u Don't run apt-get update
-g Don't run apt-get upgrade -y
-d Don't run apt-get dist-upgrade -y
-r Don't run apt-get auto-remove
-h Display Usage and exit
Output will be the normal output to std-out of running the apt-get update, upgrade, dist-upgrade, and autoremove commands.
A video showing a sample run can be found at https://youtu.be/HCWUGxYAqjY
It is recommended that you run this script interactively instead of calling it with another script or process. You may be prompted for input for things like GRUB updates, or which version of a file to keep. This will hang the script unless you provide input.
Although these prompts could be overridden with export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive, responding to the prompts provides greater control.
The script will also parse the output attempting to display lines that may require your attention at the end of the run, looking for words like warning and reboot.
Messages
Look for messages recommending a reboot or providing other warnings you may want to check out. These should be displayed at the end of the run but it may not catch all items of interest.
Troubleshooting
Here are a few common issues you may encounter and how to resolve them.
1. Forgetting to type sudo before the script name.
If you forget to type sudo before the script name, you’ll get output like the following:
Reading package lists...
W: chmod 0700 of directory /var/lib/apt/lists/partial failed - SetupAPTPartialDirectory (1: Operation not permitted)
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/apt/lists/lock - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock directory /var/lib/apt/lists/
W: Problem unlinking the file /var/cache/apt/pkgcache.bin - RemoveCaches (13: Permission denied)
W: Problem unlinking the file /var/cache/apt/srcpkgcache.bin - RemoveCaches (13: Permission denied)
Notice the statements like Operation not permitted and Permission denied. These indicate an issue with the permissions used while running. It must be run with sudo.
2. A collision of updates.
By default, Ubuntu 16.04 Server will install security updates automatically.
If another update is already running, you’ll see output like the following:
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?
If this happens, just wait and try again later.
Updates
This project will go through some iterations as I think of things I’d like to add, or add features based on feature requests. You’ll want to keep your script up to date.
If you chose to create a local git repository, you can run one command to update to the latest version available.
git pull
from the directory where you created your git clone.
If you downloaded the file, you’ll have to download again after each update.
Author
- Ted LeRoy – Initial work – ubuntu-update.sh
Built With
bash script using apt on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
Future Improvements
The following additions or features are planned:
- ~~Accept command line options to override default behavior. If the user wants to skip dist-upgrade, provide a command line option for doing so, for example.~~ [Done] – See Issue-1
- ~~Implement versioning so people will know when there has been an update.~~ [Done] – Version 1.0 released on 16 May 2018.
Suggestions for features are welcome, provided they are in alignment with the Project Goals above.
License
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License – see the LICENSE.md file for details.
Acknowledgements
- Creators and maintainers of apt.
- The Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community and people on the Internet at large who provide their solutions to problems like this. This is really a Frankenscript of the work of many who created scripts or tutorials with features I was hunting for.
- Shouts out to LinuxConfig.org and Kevin Sookocheff for their tutorials that helped me learn and integrate
getoptsinto the script. - Shout out to kph for suggesting
getopts.
Sample run
Here is what a sample run of the script looks like:
sudo ./ubuntu-update.sh
[sudo] password for user:
ubuntu-update.sh Copyright (C) 2018 Ted LeRoy
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY see
https://github.com/TedLeRoy/ubuntu-update.sh/blob/master/LICENSE.md
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions.
Again, see https://github.com/TedLeRoy/ubuntu-update.sh/blob/master/LICENSE.md
for details.
#############################
# Updating Data Base #
#############################
Hit:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease
Hit:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease
Hit:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease
Reading package lists...
##############################
# Upgrading Operating System #
##############################
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
Calculating upgrade...
The following packages have been kept back:
libdrm2
The following packages will be upgraded:
apparmor apt apt-transport-https apt-utils base-files bsdutils
cloud-guest-utils cloud-initramfs-copymods cloud-initramfs-dyn-netconf
cryptsetup cryptsetup-bin distro-info-data dnsmasq-base dpkg
friendly-recovery grub-common grub-legacy-ec2 grub-pc grub-pc-bin
grub2-common initramfs-tools initramfs-tools-bin initramfs-tools-core
iproute2 isc-dhcp-client isc-dhcp-common klibc-utils libapparmor-perl
libapparmor1 libapt-inst2.0 libapt-pkg5.0 libaudit-common libaudit1
libblkid1 libcryptsetup4 libfdisk1 libgcrypt20 libgnutls-openssl27
libgnutls30 libklibc libmount1 libnuma1 libparted2 libplymouth4 libseccomp2
libsmartcols1 libuuid1 linux-firmware logrotate lshw lxcfs lxd lxd-client
mdadm mount open-vm-tools overlayroot parted plymouth
plymouth-theme-ubuntu-text python-apt-common python3-apt python3-distupgrade
resolvconf snapd sosreport squashfs-tools ubuntu-minimal
ubuntu-release-upgrader-core ubuntu-server ubuntu-standard
unattended-upgrades update-notifier-common util-linux uuid-runtime vlan
xfsprogs
77 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Need to get 79.0 MB of archives.
After this operation, 19.8 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 base-files amd64 9.4ubuntu4.6 [55.0 kB]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 bsdutils amd64 1:2.27.1-6ubuntu3.4 [51.5 kB]
Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 dpkg amd64 1.18.4ubuntu1.4 [2,088 kB]
Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 util-linux amd64 2.27.1-6ubuntu3.4 [849 kB]
Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 mount amd64 2.27.1-6ubuntu3.4 [121 kB]
Get:6 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libapt-pkg5.0 amd64 1.2.26 [706 kB]
[Truncated for brevity...]
Preparing to unpack .../snapd_2.29.4.2_amd64.deb ...
Warning: Stopping snapd.service, but it can still be activated by:
snapd.socket
[Truncated for brevity...]
Unpacking grub-legacy-ec2 (17.2-35-gf576b2a2-0ubuntu1~16.04.2) over (0.7.9-153-g16a7302f-0ubuntu1~16.04.2) ...
dpkg: warning: unable to delete old directory '/etc/kernel/kernel/postinst.d': Directory not empty
dpkg: warning: unable to delete old directory '/etc/kernel/kernel/postrm.d': Directory not empty
dpkg: warning: unable to delete old directory '/etc/kernel/kernel': Directory not empty
[Truncated for brevity...]
Processin triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Processing triggers for resolvconf (1.78ubuntu6) ...
#############################
# Starting Full Upgrade #
#############################
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
Calculating upgrade...
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libdrm-common
The following packages will be upgraded:
libdrm2
1 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 35.2 kB of archives.
After this operation, 39.9 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libdrm-common all 2.4.83-1~16.04.1 [4,870 B]
Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libdrm2 amd64 2.4.83-1~16.04.1 [30.4 kB]
Fetched 35.2 kB in 5s (6,572 B/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libdrm-common.
(Reading database ... 91695 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libdrm-common_2.4.83-1~16.04.1_all.deb ...
Unpacking libdrm-common (2.4.83-1~16.04.1) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libdrm2_2.4.83-1~16.04.1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libdrm2:amd64 (2.4.83-1~16.04.1) over (2.4.76-1~ubuntu16.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu10) ...
Setting up libdrm-common (2.4.83-1~16.04.1) ...
Setting up libdrm2:amd64 (2.4.83-1~16.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu10) ...
#############################
# Full Upgrade Complete #
#############################
#############################
# Starting Autoremove #
#############################
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
#############################
# Autoremove Complete #
#############################
#####################################################
# Checking for actionable messages from install #
#####################################################
Warning: Stopping lxd.service, but it can still be activated by:
Warning: Stopping snapd.service, but it can still be activated by:
dpkg: warning: unable to delete old directory '/etc/kernel/kernel/postinst.d': Directory not empty
dpkg: warning: unable to delete old directory '/etc/kernel/kernel/postrm.d': Directory not empty
dpkg: warning: unable to delete old directory '/etc/kernel/kernel': Directory not empty
update-rc.d: warning: start and stop actions are no longer supported; falling back to defaults
Installation finished. No error reported.
update-rc.d: warning: start and stop actions are no longer supported; falling back to defaults
#############################
# Cleaning temp files #
#############################
#############################
# Done with upgrade #
#############################
This was run on an Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Server installation of Ubuntu.
Here are screenshots of a run:
