UPDATING THE SERVER - Learning Ubuntu: A Beginners Guide to Using Linux (2016)

Learning Ubuntu: A Beginners Guide to Using Linux (2016)

CHAPTER 6

UPDATING THE SERVER

In the last few chapters, we got a foundation in navigation and managing files. Another thing that is vital to a strong foundation is knowing how to update your server.

As we install updates and packages, we will be using a utility called apt-get. Apt-get is a powerful package management program. APT stands for advanced packaging tool and is how we will update, add, and remove packages.

For us to update the server, we will need to give milo super user privileges. In the first apt-get command below, we will update the list of packages and get information on the newest versions.

Update Package Information

Command

sudo apt-get update

Result

System will increase the user’s rights, search for an updated list of packages, and look for newer versions.

CLI Display

milo@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get update

[sudo] password for milo:

After you run that, your CLI will list a long list of web addresses as it checks the various package lists for updates. When it is done it will state, “Reading package lists… Done.”

With the new information of updates that are available, we can now upgrade our server to have the latest versions of the current packages. Using the command below will fetch the new versions and install them onto the server.

Upgrade Server Packages

Command

sudo apt-get upgrade

Result

System will increase the user’s rights, search for an updated list of packages, and look for newer versions.

CLI Display

milo@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get upgrade

[sudo] password for milo:

Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y

milo@ubuntu:~$

After entering, Y to continue, the server will setup and install all of the newest versions of packages to our server.

Keeping your server with the latest updates installed is a vital foundation to a core level of security. There is much more you will need to learn to secure your system, but this is a basic step to get started.