How do I update only the security updates?
Linode
Linode Staff
I have a lot of updates to make on my Linode. Someone suggested I start by only applying the security updates, check that all is well before applying the regular updates.
Is there a specific command for that other than
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
1 Reply
asilverman
Linode Staff
Hey there,
There is a way for Ubuntu based distributions to install just the security updates. You can use the unattended-upgrades command. Most distribution already have this but you may need to run this command first to install the package.
sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades
Then you can do a dry run this will simulate the upgrade. The -d will run it in debug mode.
sudo unattended-upgrade -d --dry-run
If there's security updates that need to be installed then you can run this command.
sudo unattended-upgrade
You can also configure this to run automatically and configure which packages are installed by their importance.
If you haven't updated your Linode in a long time and have a lot of updates. You want to consider making a manual snapshot of your Linode using Backups.