How to view the updates first before installing them in Ubuntu?

Question

Is there a way to see what updates/upgrades you have without actually installing them in Ubuntu. I need to write a script to see if there are any updates available for out gitlab server, if there is, it will email me the list of pending updates but NOT install them. I've looked online, but can't seem to find any such command.

Thanks.

Lars Nordin · Answer 1 · 2017-10-26T13:24:25.017

1

UPDATE: use apt list --upgradable | awk '{print $1}' | cut -d / -f1 from https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/327152/23346. This will produce a list of package names that can be upgraded.

OLD: Try using apt-get --dry-run upgrade From reading man page (run man apt-get from a terminal).

edited Oct 26 '17 at 13:24

answered Oct 26 '17 at 13:13

Lars Nordin

219

Thank you for your answer, I've got my script working now. Much appreciated. – Marc Oct 26 '17 at 13:41

How to view the updates first before installing them in Ubuntu?

1 Answers1