openSUSE offers a continuous stream of software security patches for your product. The openSUSE Updater applet informs you about the availability of patches and lets you easily install them with just a few clicks. The openSUSE community also provides updates to newer versions of software packages. openSUSE Updater keeps a list of all programs installed on your system and informs you whenever newer versions are available.
![]() | Patches vs. New Versions |
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The patches offered by openSUSE either fix security holes or serious errors in the software. A patch normally does not upgrade to a newer version and does not offer additional functionality. A new program version offered by the community may offer fixes, too, but primarily adds new functionality. |
The openSUSE Updater applet resides in the system tray (KDE) of your panel or in the notification area (GNOME) as an icon depicting the head of the openSUSE mascot (Geeko), which changes depending on the availability and relevance of patches and the status of openSUSE Updater. Whenever the icon changes, a tool tip displaying the current status is shown, too.
No patches or new versions available.
openSUSE Updater is busy (for example checking for updates, installing software).
Security patches available.
Recommended/Optional patches and/or new versions are available.
An error occurred.
No update repository is defined. When you click the openSUSE Updater in this state, you are asked whether to check for updates. If you agree the YaST
module is started.
Whenever the openSUSE Updater icon shows the availability of patches, left-click
to open the software installation window. It lists the number of
Security
and Recommended
patches
available. While the security patches are installed by default, you can
choose whether to install the recommended ones as well. Some patches,
such as new kernel versions, require to restart your computer. Check
to skip
these updates for now. Start updating your system by clicking
.
A click on Available
Updates
window which shows a detailed list of all patches
and allows you to alter the selection of packages that will be installed.
Apart from the patch name the (Security,
Recommended or Optional), a short and the
patch version number is shown. Patches are sorted alphabetically by
default—change this by clicking on a column headline
( , ,
, ,
, or ). Click
to proceed.
You will be prompted for the
root
password after having
proceeded with . openSUSE Updater performs the
installation of the patches. See the system tray (KDE) or the
notification area (GNOME) for status messages and a progress meter.
The YaST Online Update offers advanced features to customize the patch installation. Please refer to Section “YaST Online Update” (Chapter 3, Online Update, ↑Reference) for more information.
New software versions are available from software repositories provided
by the openSUSE community. By default no such repositories are
preconfigured. To add a repository, right-click on the openSUSE Updater icon and
choose root
password. Please refer
to Section 3.5, “Adding Software Repositories” for more information.
A list of popular community repositories is
available within the http://en.opensuse.org/Additional_YaST_Package_Repositories.
module, for
even more community repositories refer to
![]() | Trusting External Software Sources |
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Before adding external software repositories to your list of repositories make sure this repository can be trusted. openSUSE is not responsible for any potential problems arising from software installed from third party software repositories. |
openSUSE Updater does not monitor repositories for new software versions by
default. To enable this feature, open the configuration window as
described in Section 3.7.3, “Configuring openSUSE Updater” and tick the check box
of .
When the openSUSE Updater icon indicates the availability of updates, click on
the icon to launch the software installation window. Click on
and then on the tab
to open the list with new software versions. Either select single
packages by checking the box in front of an entry, or click
. Click
to start the installation of the selected software packages. You will be
prompted for the root
password.
See the system tray (KDE) or the notification area (GNOME) for status
messages and a progress meter.
By default openSUSE Updater is started on login, checks for updates every 24 hours, shows recurring notifications every 60 minutes and only monitors the availability of patches. To change this behavior, right-click the applet icon and choose
.The configuration dialog also offers to change the following settings:
Choose between different back-ends. The
is used by default.Activate this option when you prefer the detailed patch view that lists all patches available with short summaries rather than the simple view.
Prohibits checking for updates when running on batteries in order to save power. This option is activated by default. Only affects mobile computers.
Prohibits checking for updates when the system is under heavy load. This option is activated by default.