Mastering the Art of Daily Updates on Linux

There are two types of people: those who never update their software and those who do it every day.

Clearly, I’m the latter. I even perform various update operations daily across different devices: from system-level to application-level. And whenever I’m unsure what to do, “updating” is absolutely my default unconscious choice. I’m so addicted to updating that I wonder if it’s some kind of disease such as compulsive disorder. Perhaps medical or psychological experts have already conducted similar research on this?

Anyway, while updating functions on popular operating systems like iOS, macOS, Android, and Windows has become remarkably straightforward and user-friendly, the process remains less intuitive for Linux systems, particularly when using the command-line interface (CLI). Although users can leverage unattended-upgrades for automated updates, this solution doesn’t address all challenges for heavy Docker users.

That’s why I need to write an update script to satisfy my perverted desire to update.

The Script

Here is the up.sh script that handles system and Docker updates:

#!/bin/bash

# Ensure the script exits if any command fails
set -e

echo "--- Starting System Update ---"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get full-upgrade -y
sudo apt-get autoremove -y

echo "--- Updating Docker Containers via Watchtower ---"
sudo docker run --rm \
    # Note: Docker API version is essential for Watchtower to function correctly
    -e DOCKER_API_VERSION=1.44 \
    -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
    containrrr/watchtower \
    --run-once \
    --cleanup \
    your container names (separate by space)

echo "--- Cleaning up unused Docker resources ---"
sudo docker container prune -f
# Removed -a to keep cached images or keep it for deep clean
sudo docker image prune -a -f
sudo docker volume prune -f
sudo docker network prune -f
sudo docker builder prune -f

echo "Update complete!"

Installation and Usage

1. Create the script file:

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/up.sh

2. Paste the content above into the file and save it.

3. Make the script executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/up.sh

4. Run the script from anywhere in the terminal:

up.sh