You turn on your computer, go straight to install a package, and…you can't use APT because it's blocked by unattended updates. Available for years in newer versions of Ubuntu, the package unattended-upgrades It may be important to improve the security of our system, but it will be executed when it decides and not all times are equally good. Also, not all installations are the same, and there are some where it may be a good idea to disable them.
It is likely that many low or medium level users have not even realized its existence. To some extent, it may be logical: when you start the computer or wake it from sleep, it will start its work and, if there is something important to install, it will install it. If the equipment does not have limited resources and we do not try to install any package at that moment, we will not even notice it, but it is something that is noticeable, and a lot, when the equipment is weak.
What is the unattended-upgrades package for?
The unattended update package is something that already tried above my partner Diego a little over two years ago. He mentioned that it is worth installing on a server, and he was right. The unattended-upgrades package install the latest security updates (among others) that are available, and has been installed by default in Ubuntu for several years. Its intention is to keep the operating system updated in what is most important, but Windows has taught us that not controlling updates can give us more than one headache.
In my opinion, it is worth having it activated on a main computer which also mounts somewhat solvent hardware. If it has a certain power we will hardly notice that updates are being installed in the background, but if the device we are working on is one with low power that we turn on from time to time, the work can prevent us from doing what we want for many minutes. Also, if it occurs to us to force the shutdown we can get to see the message that there are broken packages and we have to pull sudo dpkg --configure -a to correct it.
Steps to follow to disable unattended updates in Ubuntu
If, even knowing that they are designed to improve security, we know what we want, they can be deactivated by opening a terminal, typing sudo dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades and, in the window that appears, choose no:
If we find it necessary, the package can be uninstalled with sudo apt remove unattended-upgrades.
And how do we get security updates without this package? Well, as before it existed: updating manually. You only have to be clear about one thing: important updates will be installed along with the rest of the packages, which is not a problem beyond the fact that the patches are not applied as soon as they are available.
The good thing is that one can decide when to update the operating system and not work ballast at any time. That I've just finished using Kodi or Retro Pie and I know I can afford to waste time with a potentially heavy update? I launch the updates. That the message that there are pending updates appears and it is better for me at another time? I close your window.
Our decision, as always
Although they exist for a reason, we may have another for not wanting them to run on our operating system. The good thing about Linux is that you can modify almost everything, and the ball is usually in our court. Each one is free to decide if it is better not to touch anything or make a small modification so that the team does not do anything without our permission.
Regarding this package, I decide depending on where I have it: in my virtual machines, where I want to do quick tests, and in the equipment that I use for my entertainment, I have them disabled; I can't wait several minutes to start doing what I want. But in an installation that I have and that I use on my most powerful computer, I don't even notice it, so it's better to leave things as they come by default and be more protected. We are Linux users, and it is our decision, as always.