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I'm setting up a new server. It will be mostly hands of for sysadmin management, because it's not used for anything too high traffic/ enterprise. If I choose automatic security updates will the updates cause the server to restart on its own (in order to complete the installation process), or will I have to login restart (or set up a chron job)?

shupru
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  • Is it just a file server, or is it an application server? – Colyn1337 Oct 16 '13 at 19:20
  • application server: LAMP, rails, node – shupru Oct 16 '13 at 19:24
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    Servers should traditionally not have automatic updates, a specified periodic update is better so that the downtime for upgrade does not impact day to day operation.Although the sysadmin should keep any eye for any critical security update that might have to be applied out of turn. – Shekhar Oct 16 '13 at 19:26

1 Answers1

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To guard against service interruptions caused by your app server going down, you shouldn't set automatic updates. Where possible, have an update test server where you can test the updates before allowing them to be installed on production systems. You want to test the functionality you have implemented as well, not just a reboot "it loaded without a crash" test.

Colyn1337
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  • I went with this advice. I don't have a test server now, but I'm going to try to get one running. – shupru Oct 16 '13 at 19:34
  • You *should* be ok with a virtual test server. You can set one up pretty easily (and for free) using VirtualBox. There are cases where a virtual machine isn't ideal tho, such as hardware specific applications. – Colyn1337 Oct 16 '13 at 19:37
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    My public webserver is running with automatic security updates. A reboot normally is only required when a kernel update is available. But i never had a kernel update in the security section so a restart was never necessary. I would recommend to enable them. The advice from @Colyn1337 is something more for business which needs permanent uptime. – noggerl Oct 16 '13 at 20:33
  • @noggerl That's useful info. I might enable them after all! – shupru Oct 16 '13 at 22:02