Do y’all not reboot after kernel/firmware updates?
part of the reason to use Debian is it doesn’t really need to be updated, at least not very often
It needs to be updated at least several times a year…
depends on your use case
home automation server that doesn’t connect to the internet? nah
media server that only occasionally gets connected to the internet? maybe
anything else that regularly connects to the internet, definitely
home automation server that doesn’t connect to the internet?
Well if uses wireless connectivity with either range broader than your place or is connected to a device that is itself online it can still be a risk. Sure it’s very VERY specific but scanning techniques also improve.
You should install updates regardless
if it’s working and there’s no security risk, why?
(I mean, I actually agree with you, I update even normally airgapped machines because them not being updated feels wrong)
Even if there are no security risks to mitigate, updates can bring bug fixes and, god forbid, new features once in a while.
New features on Debian isn’t something that would make it into the repository. Bug fixes might but only if security relevant.
Software these days will always need security patches
What’s more is that the longer you put off updating the more things will be changed when you do end up updating.
up… date? what does that mean?
I’ve been running the same AIX kernel since 1993, and my ftp server is still running fine. I don’t know what the rest of these assholes are complaining about.
Prefect response.
I can’t guess exaclty which sarcastic high fantasy themed poster, mug or t-shirt warns others away from which exact kind of action that wastes your time, but I’m confident it is present near your primary work space. (Since tone is hard in text - this assumption is meant to convey a general revernce for you and the various roles you probably fill in your communities!)
Say what now?
Almost 44 days last year before I needed to reboot for an update:
I don’t follow CVEs: when was the last time a remotely exploitable kernel bug was a concern? Ignoring the fact that this is a home server and they likely care about uptime a lot more than exploitation on their LAN.
Generally I expect kernel bugs to be LPEs so updating user space would probably be sufficient for most home servers
Hmm, not my proudest moment.
16:09:15 up 1031 daysPrivate server, though.
Rolling distros don’t need to
You absolutely do need to reboot
Laughs in kexec
Ah, this brings back memories of flashing Android with various kernels and ROMs.
It is way easier to just reboot
They absolutely do. There’s nothing special about them vs normal distros. Hell rolling ones probably get new kernels more often and you can only live patch so much. Some updates just hard need a reboot to take effect.
Just because you updated packages , doesnt mean those new ones are in use. Not sure what apt has, but with zypper you do a zypper ps -s and it shows you what installed packages are waiting on a reboot or service restart before they are in play… Otherwise kernel is just accessing old package libraries.
Are you sure? I’ve used Fedora Workstation and Fedora Server, I had to reboot. And Cannonical charges money for this feature in Ubuntu.
The UPS will keep it running long enough to switch to another power source.
I’m guessing OP probably doesn’t have a petrol/diesel generator handy :p
An extension cord running to another room would be enough if the minor electrical work only needs a circuit to be switched off.
My UPS just runs on a lead battery. It lasts long enough to run my router and server for a few minutes and cost less than 100€.
I got it when we had electrical issues and using the ironing board would trip the main fuse.
Yeah, I was thinking a UPS wouldn’t hold a load up long enough to do electrical work, but I guess it depends on the nature of what needs to be done
If one is not enough just daisy chain two or three of them.
(Don’t do this)
Having high uptime is not the flex you think it is
You shouldn’t have uptime higher than 60 days
I tried telling this to my manager for years. He saw it as a “X days since we last had a problem and needed to reboot the server” and took pride in it.
We finally shut it down at over 5 years of uptime. Some docker containers had been running for 4 years straight.
Yes, that means what you think it does concerning update policies. Yes, the server and some containers were exposed to the internet. No, the backups were never tested.
Maybe they’re kexec-ing.
uptime should be handled by the kernel, so a kexec “soft-reboot” would still reset the uptime.
Yeah these days a high uptime is a badge of shame, not a badge of honour.
Why, by the way?
If a device hasn’t been rebooted in a long time there is a much higher chance of it not coming back after a reboot. This is made worse by the fact that sometimes power loss is unexpected which means that an outage can occur at a bad time.
The other issue is that a high uptime device doesn’t usually have the latest updates installed. Delaying updates creates security issues and when you do get around to updating it means that more things get changed at once.
Well proxmox is based on Debian so it’s technically included in the original meme
“Shutdown off”
All your base distribution are belong to
“Openup on’t”
Ironically, this was one of the primary reasons I have a UPS on everything. The uptime must grow.
shutdown off
In English, that’s “shut down”.
I’m in the same boat. Got all the equipment in for my whole house solar installation and will be re-routing circuits to the new panel as soon as I have time so will have to turn all the power off for the duration of that.
I’ve got an Anker power station that should run my stack for about 4-4.5 hours by itself and can run it indefinitely while the sun is out while hooked into the PV panels. Those are (currently) independent from the new installation I’m about to start.
My UPS’s are also LiFePO4 models and can add an additional ~45 minutes of uptime. So hopefully 5 hours is enough to avoid having to shut anything down.
I have one of those Anker Powerstations (C1000), along with a comically large portable solar panel (400watt). That thing is pretty amazing. I bought it after a 3 day power outage, for safety due to winds.
I just bought a much longer solar-power cable so I can drag the panels/battery around more conveniently.
Yeah, that’s what I’ve got, and I really like it.
“Shutdown off”
It’s an alias for “sudo shutdown now”.
Startup’nt
i know the OP was about server, but just curious how long is every one’s uptime on laptop / desktop?
I turn my desktop and laptop of when not in use.
Anything between 5 minutes and 5 days, including those numbers as well. The more you approach the midpoint between those 2 numbers, the odds of that being near my uptime are lower
As a professional IT guy, I love to show my users their uptime after they lie to me about how they already rebooted their computer and it still isn’t working right. Yesterday I showed a user her uptime of 152 days which is impressive considering the city she works in has worse average electrical uptime than the state of Texas.
If you don’t have a UPS, just use a suicide cable to energize the circuit while it is disconnected at the breaker.
(/s, if the term suicide cable wasn’t enough of a hint; don’t actually do this)
small uninterruptible power supply could be pretty useful
🌟🎀 uptime check ✨🌈💖
22:09:13 up 9 days, 12:29, 2 users, load average: 0.03, 0.05, 0.11EDIT: wait why does it say 2 users though 😳
EDIT: wait why does it say 2 users though
Sorry about that, won’t happen again
To make sure all security patches are applied I assume 🧐
Linus Torvalds is just making sure you’re Linuxing correctly
generator
Just wear rubber boots and gloves and leave the electricity on
