Performing software updates

[JasperC]

So... Previously I'd been using Ubuntu 11.04, and software updating was taken care of for me. Every now and then the software centre tool would tell me there was an update, I'd say yes and give it my password and everything would be taken care of.

I've switched to a fresh install of Kubuntu 11.10 now, and obviously things are different. So far I haven't seen any notification that software updates are available, although opening the Muon Package Manager I see the big "Full Upgrade" button which was clickable. Also some of the packages were listed as "upgradable". I did some reading up, and decided to try:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

There were 3 outstanding items after that (linux-generic and related), so I did:
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

And I see the "Full Upgrade" button in Muon is no longer clickable.

So, did I do the correct thing for performing a software update? Would there be any difference in clicking the buttons in Muon the next time? And do we get notifications that updates are available, or did I just miss them? :P

Thanks!

[Snowhog]

Re: Performing software updates

Muon > Settings > Configure Software Sources > Updates > Check for updates: Daily (and I choose to mark Only notify about available updates with New Release upgrade > Show new distribution updates set to Never)

[JasperC]

Re: Performing software updates

Thanks. Those are my exact current settings, but I haven't seen any notifications about software updates.

Just opened Muon Package manager and the bar at the bottom says I have a few upgradable packages - just did the apt-get update yesterday.

[LinuxRocks]

Re: Performing software updates

Thanks. Those are my exact current settings, but I haven't seen any notifications about software updates.

Just opened Muon Package manager and the bar at the bottom says I have a few upgradable packages - just did the apt-get update yesterday.

Its funny because I didn't think I was getting update notices either, however, I started noticing a small gear like icon in the systray. That is the update notifier. Not sure why it doesn't notify you that there are updates, it just shows up all incognito and all .

Now that I know what to look for, its easy to see it and not miss any updates.

Joe

[JasperC]

Re: Performing software updates

Thanks. Those are my exact current settings, but I haven't seen any notifications about software updates.

Just opened Muon Package manager and the bar at the bottom says I have a few upgradable packages - just did the apt-get update yesterday.

Its funny because I didn't think I was getting update notices either, however, I started noticing a small gear like icon in the systray. That is the update notifier. Not sure why it doesn't notify you that there are updates, it just shows up all incognito and all .

Now that I know what to look for, its easy to see it and not miss any updates.

Joe

Thanks, but nope, I don't have that. I figured there should be something in the systray related to it, but I've never seen any notification or icon appear there.

Just checked Muon Package Manager, searching for "update notifier" shows me I have

update-notifier-common
muon-notifier

installed, but

update-notifier-kde
update-notifier

are not installed. Do I need those last two?

[SteveRiley]

Re: Performing software updates

I'm looking at what's installed on my hand-built KDE/Precise experiMini. Here's what I can confirm.

update-notifier is for Synaptic. You don't need this. update-notifier-kde appears to be used only by MythTV; no other APT tasks call for it. You don't need this either.

muon-notifier is the Muon's update notification daemon; it depends on several other packges: muon-updater, update-manager-kde, and update-notifier-common. These all should be installed, but double-check to be sure.

Finally, check System Settings | Startup and Shutdown | Service Manager. Is Muon Notifier running and checked? If not, start it and place a check mark next to it. Do you see any other update-ish items in the list of services?

[JasperC]

Re: Performing software updates

Hi SteveRiley,

Thanks for the reply.

muon-notifier is the Muon's update notification daemon; it depends on several other packges: muon-updater, update-manager-kde, and update-notifier-common. These all should be installed, but double-check to be sure.

Yep, all those packages are installed

Finally, check System Settings | Startup and Shutdown | Service Manager. Is Muon Notifier running and checked? If not, start it and place a check mark next to it. Do you see any other update-ish items in the list of services?

And yes, Muon Notifier is checked and running. In fact all services listed are running. The only two that look remotely related seem to be for general notifications: Status Notifier Manager and Notification Helper.

Does the "update gear" icon timeout and disappear? I'm wondering if it's just me missing it.

[HalationEffect]

Re: Performing software updates

I'm having the same issue here.

All the relevant packages (muon-notifier, muon-updater, update-manager-kde, update-manager-common) are installed, Muon Notifier is checked & running in Service Manager, and Muon is configured to check for updates daily. Sometimes (immediately after logging in to KDE) an update notification will appear, but never at any other time, regardless of how many days it is before I reboot, or logout & back in again.

The thing is, it used to work; I'd get update notifications as & when they became available. I'm not sure what might have happened to make it stop working... I want to say that it roughly coincided with me installing the low-fat settings package, but I can't swear to it.

[SteveRiley]

Re: Performing software updates

@JasperC and @HalationEffect... are update-notifier and update-notifier-kde also installed? If so, then perhaps the update handlers are colliding and therefore not working. Make sure you have only the Muon-related update bits installed.

Unfortunately, I can't confirm what the expected behavior should be, as I disable all automatic updating functionality immediately when I build a PC. I prefer to maintain manual control over that.

Oh, and I examined the scripts in the low-fat package; Muon-Updater is not disabled.

[HalationEffect]

Re: Performing software updates

Just checked in Muon, and can confirm that neither update-notifier nor update-notifier-kde have been installed.

[JasperC]

Re: Performing software updates

Same here. Neither update-notifier or update-notifier-kde are installed on my system.

[Snowhog]

Re: Performing software updates

Neither are installed here, but I'm properly notified when package updates are available. I do have update-notifier-common and muon-notifier installed.