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Auto Update Setup

To configure Ubuntu to automatically update and upgrade all packages, including security and general updates, follow this step-by-step documentation:

Objective

Automatically update (fetch the latest package information) and upgrade (install latest versions of installed packages) Ubuntu without manual intervention.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Install unattended-upgrades

Ubuntu uses the unattended-upgrades package to perform automatic updates.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install unattended-upgrades

2. Enable unattended-upgrades

Enable automatic updates system-wide:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low unattended-upgrades
  • This command brings up a prompt. Choose "Yes" to enable automatic updates.

3. Configure the Update Settings

Edit the configuration file to define what gets updated:

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades

Make sure the following lines are uncommented (no // at the beginning):

"${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-security";
"${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-updates";
"${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-backports";

🔎 ${distro_id} is usually Ubuntu, and ${distro_codename} is like focal, jammy, etc.

Optional settings you may want to enable:

Unattended-Upgrade::Remove-Unused-Dependencies "true";
Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "true";
Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-Time "03:00";

4. Set Update Frequency

Edit or create this file:

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades

Insert or update these lines:

APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";
APT::Periodic::Download-Upgradeable-Packages "1";
APT::Periodic::AutocleanInterval "7";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1";

Explanation:

  • "1" = daily

  • Autoclean removes downloaded packages older than 7 days

5. Check Logs (Optional)

After auto-updates run, logs are stored here:

/var/log/unattended-upgrades/

Use:

less /var/log/unattended-upgrades/unattended-upgrades.log

✅ Verification

To simulate what will be upgraded:

sudo unattended-upgrade --dry-run --debug

🎯 Result

With these settings, your Ubuntu system will:

  • Check for updates daily

  • Automatically install all available upgrades (including security, updates, backports)

  • Reboot if needed (optional)

Let me know if you want a version tailored for servers, desktops, or containers (e.g. Docker).

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