Automatic updates

[DemiMarie]

Qubes OS version:

R4.0

Affected component(s):

Qubes update system

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Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Wait for updates to be available for any Qubes template, or for dom0

Expected behavior:

Qubes pops up an alert with options like

• Update this VM, and prompt in the future when updates are available.
• Update this VM, and automatically apply updates in the future. You may change this by <insert instructions>.
• Do not update this VM (NOT RECOMMENDED).

Actual behavior:

No pop-up, and no way to enable automatic installation of updates when they become available.

General notes:

Qubes should handle updates at least as well as Windows.

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Related issues:

[unman]

I would not be in favour of unattended updates at all - users easily forget what options they set, and there are clear risks in triggering them. (But then I dont favour automatic update checking either.)
If this were adopted, then I would suggest a clear visual indicator to the user that automatic updates are enabled.

[DemiMarie]

@unman I absolutely agree with the clear visual indicator.

[andrewdavidwong]

Duplicate of #2718

[andrewdavidwong]

@DemiMarie, FYI, you previously filed a very a similar issue: #4282.

Like that one, this is a duplicate of #2718.

[andrewdavidwong]

This appears to be a duplicate of an existing issue. If so, please comment on the appropriate existing issue instead. If you believe this is not really a duplicate, please leave a comment briefly explaining why. We'll be happy to take another look and, if appropriate, reopen this issue. Thank you.

[andrewdavidwong]

Reopening as a feature request for a GUI frontend for the cron functionality described in #2718 (comment):

We have a CLI way to update VMs (which can be added to cron)

[andrewdavidwong]

Actually, I no longer believe that this is a duplicate of #2718, since automatic updates are not the same as a tool for performing multiple updates at the same time. Moreover, a GUI frontend for cron functionality is also not the same as automatic updates.

Instead, I now think this is a duplicate of #4282, which I no longer believe to be a duplicate of #2718.