---
title: "How to Get Ubuntu Linux Server Security Updates"
description: "Learn how to check, install, and automate security updates on Ubuntu Linux servers using apt and unattended-upgrades"
url: "https://www.gowrishankar.me/blog/how-to-get-ubuntu-linux-server-security-updates"
author: "Gowri Shankar Balasubramaniam"
published: 2026-10-05T16:23:12.233Z
updated: 2026-10-09T00:30:37.246Z
category: "Server Security"
tags: ["APT","Cybersecurity","Linux","Linux Security","Patch Management","Security Updates","Server Hardening","Server Security","System Updates","Ubuntu","Ubuntu Server","Unattended Upgrades","Vulnerability Management","linux administration"]
---

# How to Get Ubuntu Linux Server Security Updates

> Learn how to check, install, and automate security updates on Ubuntu Linux servers using apt and unattended-upgrades

Keeping an Ubuntu Linux server updated is one of the most important basic security practices. Linux Server Security Updates patch vulnerabilities in the operating system and installed packages, reducing the risk of exploitation.

### Check for Available Updates

First, refresh the package information:

```
sudo apt update
```

To see which packages can be upgraded:

```
apt list --upgradable
```

### Install Security Updates

You can install available updates with:

```
sudo apt upgrade
```

For a more complete system upgrade:

```
sudo apt full-upgrade
```

After updating, check whether a reboot is required:

```
cat /var/run/reboot-required
```

If the file exists, reboot the server:

```
sudo reboot
```

### Enable Automatic Security Updates

For production servers, consider enabling Ubuntu's unattended security updates:

```
sudo apt install unattended-upgrades
```

Then enable the service:

```
sudo dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades
```

You can verify its status with:

```
systemctl status unattended-upgrades
```

### Best Practice

For security-sensitive or production environments, maintain a regular patch-management process that includes **update monitoring, testing, scheduled deployment, reboot management, and verification**. Keeping Ubuntu security updates current should be part of your vulnerability-management and server-hardening program.

**Key commands:**

```
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo reboot
```

Regularly applying security updates is a simple but highly effective control for reducing Linux server security risk.

---

Source: https://www.gowrishankar.me/blog/how-to-get-ubuntu-linux-server-security-updates