DNF Update Notifier

A lightweight Bash script to notify you of available DNF package updates at a specified interval on Fedora systems. It integrates with the desktop environment using notify-send and allows you to update packages directly via a terminal prompt.

Features

• Runs dnf check-update silently in the background
• Sends a desktop notification if updates are available
• Optional action to open a terminal and run dnf update
• Automatically executed periodically using a cron job.
• Retry option included in case of update check errors
• Logs error details for troubleshooting

Notification Preview

Here’s how the desktop notifications look in different scenarios: when updates are available, when the system is up to date, and when an error occurs during the update check.

Updates available	System up-to-date	Error

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   $ git clone https://github.com/michielskobe/dnf-update-notifier.git
   $ cd dnf-update-notifier
   

2. Move the script to the correct location and make it executable:

   $ mv dnf-update-notifier.sh /path/to/dnf-update-notifier.sh
   $ chmod +x /path/to/dnf-update-notifier.sh
   

3. Add a cron job to run the script automatically:

   1. Open your user crontab:

      $ crontab -e
      

   2. Add the following line to run the script every minute: ```bash
      • • • • • /path/to/dnf-update-notifier.sh ```

   3. Save and exit the editor. The script will now run automatically at the specified interval.

   4. Verify that the cron job was added successfully:

      $ crontab -l
      

Customizations

• Cron interval vs script execution:

  The example cron job runs the script every minute (every minute of every hour, every day). Inside the script, a check ensures that the update check executes only once every 24 hours. This approach has two advantages:

  1. No missed checks - if the system is powered off when a scheduled cron execution would occur, the script will still run the next time the system is on, so updates are never skipped.

  2. Avoids unnecessary notifications - even though the cron job may trigger frequently, the script itself enforces the interval, preventing repeated notifications within the same 24-hour period.

  You can adjust the frequency by modifying the INTERVAL variable inside dnf-update-notifier.sh, allowing you to balance timely update checks with minimal notification noise.

• Custom terminal emulator:

  If you want to use a different terminal emulator, edit the line near the bottom of dnf-update-notifier.sh:

   ptyxis -- "$SHELL" -c "sudo dnf update; exec $SHELL"
  

  Replace ptyxis with your preferred terminal command.

• Custom text editor for logs:

  If you want to use a different text editor to inspect the error log, edit the line near the bottom of dnf-update-notifier.sh:

   gnome-text-editor /path/to/dnf-update-notifier.log
  

  Replace gnome-text-editor with your preferred editor.

Uninstall

1. Remove the script:

   $ rm /path/to/dnf-update-notifier.sh
   

2. Remove the cron job by editing your crontab and deleting the corresponding line:

   $ crontab -e