Translations by AlephAlpha

root@linuxmint.com

There are different types of updates

The different types of updates

Security is very important but also very technical. Vulnerabilities don't always affect your computer and can be quite difficult to understand. Most people don't understand them at all and their personal computers are rarely at risk. That said, a security breach can have dire consequences, so it is always recommended to take them seriously.

When faced with a serious regression, restore the latest system snapshot.

System snapshots

Timeshift, the system snapshot utility, is available in all versions of Linux Mint.

It can be used to create snapshots manually but also to automate system snapshots.

Linux Mint recommends the automation of daily and boot snapshots.

If an update, a mistake, a bug or a malicious program breaks something on your computer, you can restore the operating system from any snapshot, thus cancelling the problem as if it never happened.

When an update breaks something, it's called a "regression".

Software regressions

Updates keep your computer safe, eliminate bugs and even sometimes add new features to your operating system.

Unfortunately they also sometimes introduce new issues called 'regressions'.

Regressions are very common in the software industry. They're inherent to software development. Code changes can cause regressions. No matter how skilled developers are, they can't always predict every possible situation or test on every possible hardware specification.

When a regression happens, it breaks something which worked well before.

Sometimes it doesn't really matter, but sometimes it matters a lot.

It depends on what part of the operating system is affected and whether or not you're able to work around it or to fix it.

Say, the PDF reader is no longer able to print. Well, it's annoying... but it's not as problematic as if your network connection stopped working or if you were suddenly unable to boot the computer or to login.

In the latter case, it can be very problematic if you're not experienced with Linux and you don't know how to troubleshoot.

Updating from the command line

Using mintupdate-cli

If you are experienced with Linux, you can use this tool in your scripts or your cron jobs to automate the installation of software updates.

Listing updates

You can use the "list" command to list updates:

mintupdate-cli list

You can use -s to only show the security updates.

mintupdate-cli list -s

Applying updates

You can use the "upgrade" command to apply updates, using the same options.

sudo mintupdate-cli upgrade -r -k

Note the -r argument, which was added to refresh the cache.

For more information on mintupdate-cli and a complete list of arguments, type:

mintupdate-cli -h

Kernels and kernel updates

Kernel updates

The kernel is the central part of the operating system. Among other things, it is responsible for hardware support.

From a security point of view, it is important to apply kernel updates.

uname -a

You can install and remove kernels from the Update Manager.

Select "View" -> "Linux Kernels" in the menu.

You cannot remove the kernel you are currently using. To remove it, you need to reboot and select a different kernel to boot with.

Selecting a kernel

You can have multiple kernels installed, but you can only run one kernel at a time.