Running a successful blog or website can be a full time job at times. Every successful webmaster wants their sites to be up always. No one wants to go to a website that’s frequently down or unstable and that’s why many webmasters take managing their sites very serous. If you’re a successful webmaster and you’re not losing sleeps at time, then you’re probably doing it wrong.
I personally spend a lot of time performing webmasters’ duties on this blog. I wake up, check the server stats, update if necessary, check emails and monitor the server logs almost every morning. Other successful webmasters may say the same and some may even do a lot more than I do here.
This blog post is going to show you how to automate one of the many tasks webmasters must do to protect their online servers. Every server needs to be updated with security patches, new software releases and bug fixes. You should check your servers and carry out these tasks always to stay protected.
If you’re running a Ubuntu server, then this can be automated so you don’t always have to manually check and do it. Using Ubuntu servers, you can enable automatic security updates for your servers.
This will allow Ubuntu to fetch critical updates for your servers and apply them automatically even when you’re not aware. This will reduce your many server tasks by one.
This will come in very handy if you run and manage dozen of Ubuntu servers that must be checked and updated regularly. So, instead of connecting to each server manually and updating them, let Ubuntu do that.
To get started, connect to your Ubuntu server as root or run the sudo bash command to assume the root shell. Then run one line command below.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades
After running the commands above, you’ll be prompted with a screen to accept OK. Do it to continue. The next prompt will ask if you wish to automatically download and install stable updates? Select Yes.
This tool should configure the necessary policy to automatic security updates for your servers. That’s it!
This is a great feature to enable if you want to always stay protected. While this is cool to configure, you should also not neglect your due diligence by not connecting to your server and checking for updates regularly.
Other updates that will be necessary that are not security related will also been to be installed. So, check you servers and install them.
Hope this helps!
Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I enable automatic security updates for Ubuntu servers?
You can enable automatic security updates for Ubuntu servers by connecting to your server as root and running the 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure' command.
What are some important tasks webmasters need to perform to protect their servers?
Webmasters need to update security patches, new software releases, and bug fixes regularly to protect their servers.
Why is it important to automate server updates for Ubuntu servers?
Automating server updates for Ubuntu servers ensures that critical updates are fetched and applied automatically, reducing manual tasks and enhancing server security.
How can automating server updates benefit webmasters managing multiple Ubuntu servers?
Automating server updates can benefit webmasters managing multiple servers by reducing the need to manually connect to each server for updates, saving time and effort.
What command should I run to enable automatic security updates on Ubuntu servers?
To enable automatic security updates on Ubuntu servers, you should run the 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure' command after connecting to the server as root.
How often should webmasters check and update their Ubuntu servers for security patches?
Webmasters should check and update their Ubuntu servers for security patches regularly to ensure that the servers are protected from vulnerabilities.
Can Ubuntu automatically apply critical updates even when the server owner is not aware?
Yes, Ubuntu can automatically fetch and apply critical updates for servers, even when the server owner is not actively monitoring the updates.
What is the advantage of enabling automatic security updates for Ubuntu servers?
Enabling automatic security updates for Ubuntu servers can reduce the workload of webmasters by automating the process of fetching and applying critical updates.