Differences between apt-listchanges/unattended-upgrades/apticron/cron-apt

[l***@tuta.io]

Hello,

Can somebody explain to me the differences between apt-listchanges, unattended-upgrades, apticron and cron-apt please?

I have the following feeling:
* apt-listchanges: its main purpose is to indicate what's new between different packages versions. So it's handy to learn that new packages are available with an email alert (is it triggered automatically as soon as apt update finds something new?)

* unattended-upgrades: its main purpose is to upgrade your machine automatically. Personally, I use it to update my db & upgrade my vulnerable packages only (btw it triggers apt-listchanges)

Am I correct? Why would I need apticron & cron-apt then (I have Debian 9)?

Thanks in advance!
l0f4r0

[Dan Ritter]

Post by l***@tuta.io
Hello,
Can somebody explain to me the differences between apt-listchanges, unattended-upgrades, apticron and cron-apt please?
* apt-listchanges: its main purpose is to indicate what's new between different packages versions. So it's handy to learn that new packages are available with an email alert (is it triggered automatically as soon as apt update finds something new?)
* unattended-upgrades: its main purpose is to upgrade your machine automatically. Personally, I use it to update my db & upgrade my vulnerable packages only (btw it triggers apt-listchanges)
Am I correct? Why would I need apticron & cron-apt then (I have Debian 9)?

apticron automatically downloads packages for updates,
and uses apt-listchanges to generate mail to you about those
updates.

cron-apt competes with apticron, and has the optional ability
to install the upgrades as well as download them. It also uses
apt-listchanges.

unattended-upgrades competes with cron-apt, expects to install
the upgrades, and will optionally reboot the machine by itself
when it feels it is warranted. It also uses apt-listchanges.

-dsr-

[Jonas Smedegaard]

Post by l***@tuta.io
Can somebody explain to me the differences between apt-listchanges,
unattended-upgrades, apticron and cron-apt please?
* apt-listchanges: its main purpose is to indicate what's new between
different packages versions. So it's handy to learn that new packages
are available with an email alert (is it triggered automatically as
soon as apt update finds something new?)

apt-listchanges is triggered as a pre-hook to "apt install" (not as a
post-hook to "apt update"). By default is shows NEWS entries since the
already-installed release of same package, but can be changes to
also/instead show all packaging changes.

Post by l***@tuta.io
* unattended-upgrades: its main purpose is to upgrade your machine
automatically. Personally, I use it to update my db & upgrade my
vulnerable packages only (btw it triggers apt-listchanges)
Am I correct? Why would I need apticron & cron-apt then (I have Debian 9)?

apticron and apt-cron cover similar task as unattended-upgrades.

Related is also needrestart, or needrestart-session for desktop systems.


- Jonas