Ubuntu Linux is a popular open-source operating system used by millions of people around the world. To keep your Ubuntu system up-to-date and secure, it’s important to have automatic updates enabled. In this blog entry, we’ll go through the steps of setting up automatic updates on Ubuntu Linux.

Step 1: Update the package list Before we start, let’s update the package list to make sure we have the latest software available. Open up the Terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get update

Step 2: Install the Unattended Upgrades package Ubuntu comes with a package called Unattended Upgrades, which allows for automatic updates to be installed. To install the package, run the following command:

sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades

Step 3: Configure the Unattended Upgrades package Now that we have the Unattended Upgrades package installed, we need to configure it. To do so, open up the configuration file with the following command:

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

In the file, uncomment the line that says “Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot “false”;” by removing the “#” at the beginning of the line. Then change “false” to “true”. This will enable automatic reboots after updates are installed.

Step 4: Enable automatic updates To enable automatic updates, open up the configuration file with the following command:

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

In the file, uncomment the line that says “APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists “1”;” by removing the “#” at the beginning of the line. Then uncomment the line that says “APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade “1”;” by removing the “#” at the beginning of the line. Save and close the file.

Step 5: Verify automatic updates are enabled To verify that automatic updates are enabled, run the following command:

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

This will show you a list of available updates that would be installed if automatic updates were running. If everything is set up correctly, the command should complete without errors.

That’s it! Your Ubuntu system is now set up for automatic updates. You can rest easy knowing that your system is up-to-date and secure without having to manually install updates.