How to configure automatic offline updates with Fedora?

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Many thanks John Walker for your help !

Everything seems to work.
Here is my proposed solution, step by step, for those who are interested:

1. Script side

A. Create the script (update-script.bash)

# nano /usr/local/bin/update-script.bash

B. Add the commands (update routine) to run:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
sleep 60
dnf clean all
fwupdmgr get-updates
fwupdmgr update
flatpak repair
flatpak --system update -y --noninteractive
pkcon refresh force
pkcon update --only-download
pkcon offline-get-prepared
pkcon offline-trigger

C. make the script executable:

# chmod +x /usr/local/bin/update-script.bash

2. Systemd service

A. Create the “update-script.service” :

# nano /etc/systemd/system/update-script.service

B. Add the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Service to run update script
Wants=network-online.target
ConditionACPower=true

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/update-script.bash

  • Wants=network-online.target : waits for network to be available.

  • ConditionACPower=true : ensures power cable is plugged in before (you may want to comment it if it’s not necessary)

3. Systemd timer

A. Create the “update-script.timer”

# nano /etc/systemd/system/update-script.timer

B. Add the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Timer for the custom update script service

[Timer]
OnCalendar=Tue,Fri *-*-* 18:00
RandomizedDelaySec=15m
WakeSystem=true
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

  • RandomizedDelaySec=5m : run the script randomly between 18:00 and 18:15, it’s useful when several computers share a weak connection.

  • WakeSystem=true : wake the computer from sleep to make it run the service.

  • Persistent=true : if the script cannot be launched (because the computer was off, for exemple) it will be relaunched during the next boot.

C. Enable the timer:

# systemctl enable --now update-script.timer
# systemctl daemon-reload

You can check the last/next run of the timer with:
# systemctl list-timers

If there is any problem, logs of the service/timer are stored in journald :
# journalctl -u update-script.service

Edit : But I’m not really sure of these options:

  • the “Type=oneshot” in the .service
  • the “WantedBy=default.target” in the .timer