To have Ubuntu 14.04 automatically update itself and then email you a report:
Install unattended-upgrades:
sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades mailutilsEdit /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/10periodic as shown:
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";APT::Periodic::Download-Upgradeable-Packages "1";APT::Periodic::AutocleanInterval "1";APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1";Edit /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades as shown:
// Automatically upgrade packages from these (origin:archive) pairsUnattended-Upgrade::Allowed-Origins { "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}"; //add this line "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-security"; //uncomment this line "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-updates"; //uncomment this line// "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-proposed";// "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-backports";};// List of packages to not update (regexp are supported)Unattended-Upgrade::Package-Blacklist {// "vim";// "libc6";// "libc6-dev";// "libc6-i686";};// This option allows you to control if on a unclean dpkg exit// unattended-upgrades will automatically run// dpkg --force-confold --configure -a// The default is true, to ensure updates keep getting installed//Unattended-Upgrade::AutoFixInterruptedDpkg "false";// Split the upgrade into the smallest possible chunks so that// they can be interrupted with SIGUSR1. This makes the upgrade// a bit slower but it has the benefit that shutdown while a upgrade// is running is possible (with a small delay)//Unattended-Upgrade::MinimalSteps "true";// Install all unattended-upgrades when the machine is shuting down// instead of doing it in the background while the machine is running// This will (obviously) make shutdown slower//Unattended-Upgrade::InstallOnShutdown "true";// Send email to this address for problems or packages upgrades// If empty or unset then no email is sent, make sure that you// have a working mail setup on your system. A package that provides// 'mailx' must be installed. E.g. "user@example.com"Unattended-Upgrade::Mail "[email address]"; //uncomment this line and add your email address// Set this value to "true" to get emails only on errors. Default// is to always send a mail if Unattended-Upgrade::Mail is set//Unattended-Upgrade::MailOnlyOnError "true";// Do automatic removal of new unused dependencies after the upgrade// (equivalent to apt-get autoremove)Unattended-Upgrade::Remove-Unused-Dependencies "true"; //uncomment this line// Automatically reboot *WITHOUT CONFIRMATION*// if the file /var/run/reboot-required is found after the upgrade//Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "false";// If automatic reboot is enabled and needed, reboot at the specific// time instead of immediately// Default: "now"//Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-Time "02:00";// Use apt bandwidth limit feature, this example limits the download// speed to 70kb/sec//Acquire::http::Dl-Limit "70";Create a script somewhere, for example in /usr/local/sbin/, that contains the following code:
if [ -f /var/run/reboot-required ]; then echo "Automatic updates require a reboot of your computer" | mail -s "Reboot Required" [email address recipient]fiMake the script executable:
chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/[name of script]Create a cron job for the script:
crontab -e0 8 * * * /usr/local/sbin/[name of script]