Flatpak automatic updates: Where, How?

Ask Fedora
1

Some distro releases ago there where a change for flatpak packaged applications. An automatic update rule was introduced, that updates the installed assets automatically. Where can I find this knob / switch. I want to control such update process on managed systems. Any hints?

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2

/etc/systemd/[system/user]/

There are various ways go create systemd services, some have a separate .timer file, some bundle everything in one (which I highlx prefer). There will be an interval mentioned.

If there is no such entry, create one:

sudo cat /etc/systemd/system/CUSTOM-flatpak-update.service <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Update Flatpak apps every 6 hours

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c '/usr/bin/flatpak update -y > /var/log/flatpak-update.log 2>&1'

[Timer]
# start on boot directly
OnBootSec=0
# start every 6h after it was active
OnUnitActiveSec=6h

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
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3

I understand it that way, that the current Fedora release already has such automatic update for flatpaks enabled now (default preset). I just can not find the place where this is happening (config …). Any hits?

4

couldnt find it, even on ublue.

5

Check it out here, in GNOME Software. As far as I know, GNOME Software is responsible in Fedora Workstation for updating OS and apps. GNOME Software is running in the background even when its window is closed.

obraz
obraz1339Ă—907 167 KB

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6

I did not expect that this behaviour is implemented in such high level (application/gui). Anyway, the mentioned managed systems that I’m targeting, do not get gnome-software installed, so no auto updates. That is the intended goal so far, but I should implement some measures, when installed accidentally. thanks!

7

Aah, okay. So on the KDE side this is done by Discover, and in general by packagekit.

GUI=packagekit for some reason, even though I feel it is not efficient at all.

Flatpak is done natively by the software stores.

8

I’m 99% sure PackageKit does not handle Flatpak updates. It’s designed to be an abstraction layer for OS native package managers like dnf.

2 Likes
9

Edit: flatpak is not handled by Packagekit!

Packagekit handles all (?) OS package managers. I think Discover has a native fwupd integration not handled by packagekit, GNOME has the app “Firmware” to do this.

rpm-ostree has a native implementation in Discover and GNOME Software thanks to @siosm

10

PackageKit is responsible only for handling installation and updates of native OS packages like RPM, DEB, etc. It does not support snap or Flatpak packages.

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11

Hey everyone,

I know this thread is already marked as solved with GNOME Software being the
standard desktop route, but since ne0l specifically mentioned wanting to control
this on managed systems, I wanted to drop another option here for anyone
finding this thread in the future.

If you want to handle Flatpak updates without relying on a GUI software center
running in the background, you should check out a project called
flatpak-automatic.

It’s essentially the Flatpak equivalent of dnf-automatic or apt-daily.

Here is why it is incredibly useful for managed environments or headless setups:

  • Native Systemd Integration: It doesn’t need GNOME Software at all. It uses
    standard systemd timers and services to run updates silently in the
    background.
  • Declarative Configuration: You can control the update behavior via a
    simple YAML config file, which makes it super easy to deploy and manage across
    multiple machines using tools like Ansible, Puppet, or Chef.
  • Built-in Notifications: If you need auditing or monitoring, it has native
    support to ping you via Webhooks, email, or desktop pop-ups when updates are
    applied or if a runtime reaches its end-of-life.

It’s a great drop-in solution for sysadmins or anyone who prefers a cleaner,
terminal-first approach to keeping Flatpaks up to date. Hope this helps!

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