Apt is the system that Debian use for package update, installation and removal. Cron-apt help you to automate the updates. You can configure it to do anythig that you can do by running apt-get or aptitude.

Features

• Flexible update mechanism
• Separates update actions in separate files
• Each action can have its own configuration options
• Configurable mail notifications
• Can log to syslog
• Random update time
• Can log only differences between runs
• POSIX shell compatible

Download

You can download the latest version of cron-apt from the svn repository.

Cron-apt is part of many Linux distributions including:

• Debian
• Ubuntu
• Linspire
• Nextenta OS (GNU Solaris)

Documentation

The sample configuration file has instructions on how to configure cron-apt.

Third party documentation

• An introduction to cron-apt on Debian Administrators
• Automatic updates with cron-apt
• A short introduction on TomCort
• HOWTO in German
• Short introduction in German
• Or you can buy the book The Debian System - Concepts And Techniques by Martin Krafft, as it cover cron-apt as well (half of a page).

Development

The main development and maintenance of the cron-apt software is done by Inguza Technology AB, but the Open Source Community has contributed with bug reports, improvement suggestions, code and patches. The full list of contributors can be found in the AUTHORS file in the software package.

Support

Inguza Technology AB can give commercial support for cron-apt if needed.

The current list of bugs and improvement suggestions are available from the Debian Bug tracker for the debarchiver package.

License

GNU General Public License

In the press

• Several articles has been "digged" on digg.com
• An article has been voted on, at fsdaily.com