Fedora Silverblue does not automatically upgrade (not by default)

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1

Hi! I (re)installed Fedora Silverblue a couple days ago.

I think the following page might be inaccurate/outdated (Updates, Upgrades & Rollbacks :: Fedora Docs):

Once an update is ready, it is just a matter of rebooting to start using the new version. There is no waiting for the update to be installed during this reboot.

However, I am still on Sep 17 deployment despite rebooting multiple times. And I don’t remember changing any settings. Is this the expected/default behavior?

$ rpm-ostree status
State: idle
Deployments:
● fedora:fedora/40/x86_64/silverblue
                  Version: 40.20240917.0 (2024-09-17T00:51:13Z)
                   Commit: fefc4b917590012af3ce9d1ad8a75a6f659b6e22edc6f923c5bfc617e2aafb1d
             GPGSignature: Valid signature by 115DF9AEF857853EE8445D0A0727707EA15B79CC

  fedora:fedora/40/x86_64/silverblue
                  Version: 40.1.14 (2024-04-14T18:18:37Z)
                   Commit: bd7f37d916d0cfb7d4bda5176c96fc8161e4c55a0de82f6504e40f111f713722
             GPGSignature: Valid signature by 115DF9AEF857853EE8445D0A0727707EA15B79CC

Just wanted to make sure.

Also, how can I make rpm-ostree automatically ugrade btw (upon reboot)? I couldn’t find how in the docs (linked above). I know I can just run rpm-ostree upgrade periodically, but I think it is tedious.

2

when you “rebase”, did you choose 40 or 41?

rpm-ostree rebase fedora:fedora/41/x86_64/silverblue
3

I didn’t rebase. I installed using the ISO from Fedora Media Writer.

1 Like
4

The docs dont say updates are done automatically, just that they need a reboot, afaik. “Once it is ready” can mean once it is done on your local system.

Checkout this update service. I dont know how to install it onto regular Fedora Atomic Desktops, but it has good controls.

It respects settings like

  • dont update on metered networks, like a phone hotspot (you need to set it as metered manually!)
  • dont update when battery is low
5

It used to be the case that updates were staged automatically in the background, and then by rebooting you’d be in the new version. This staging doesn’t seem to happen any more, it’s been like that for several months now.

6

Also I remember someone mentioning that some countries are blocked and cannot get updates, because they are not friendly to JAV.
If you live in a such a country you would need to use VPN services to update.
P.S. correct me if I am wrong : )

7

Do you know where I might be able to read more about why it doesn’t happen anymore?

8

I have no idea myself I’m afraid, just noticed it.

9

I think it might be fixed by this PR: Draft: rpm-ostree: Stage updates when automatic updates are on (!2097) · Merge requests · GNOME / gnome-software · GitLab

I’ll follow that PR. Thx for the sanity check!

10

I’ve filed Updates are no longer automatically applied · Issue #600 · fedora-silverblue/issue-tracker · GitHub to track this.

11

Until that PR for gnome-software is merged, you can achieve the same with a systemd service that’s already included, but not enabled.