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Automatic updates in Fedora with dnf-automatic

I prefer this method;

  • Download updates regularly to cache.
  • Manually run dnf -C update to update only with downloaded packages from cache.
  • Set keepcache=1 in /etc/dnf/dnf.conf.
  • Manually perform dnf clean cache when /var/cache/dnf gets too big.

Install

$ sudo dnf install dnf-automatic

Configure

Edit /etc/dnf/automatic.conf and make sure the following settings are set.

[commands]
download_updates = yes
apply_updates = no

I wouldn't recommend automatic installation of updates

Because Fedora is a bit cutting edge so I prefer knowing when and which updates are installed, to trace potential issues.

Start

$ sudo systemctl enable --now dnf-automatic.timer

Optional

There are also some specialized timers for specific configurations, so you don't have to edit automatic.conf.

$ sudo systemctl enable --now dnf-automatic-download.timer

This would have the same effect.


Last update: September 19, 2021