Apt

Configure

sources.list

Here is the /etc/apt/sources.list for a Debian Jessie distribution.

The file is referencing versions names instead of the stable and testing aliases. The reason is that we don't want a massive uncontrolled upgrade on the day of the release of the next stable.

deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib non-free
deb-src http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie main contrib non-free

deb http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates main contrib non-free

deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-updates main contrib non-free

deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-backports main contrib non-free
deb-src http://httpredir.debian.org/debian jessie-backports main contrib non-free

# testing
deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian stretch main contrib non-free
deb-src http://httpredir.debian.org/debian stretch main contrib non-free

apt.conf

The file /etc/apt/apt.conf stores settings of apt. You can create the file if it doesn't exist.

APT::Default-Release "jessie";

APT::Cache-Limit "100000000";

aptitude "";
aptitude::Keep-Unused-Pattern ""; 
aptitude::Delete-Unused-Pattern ""; 
aptitude::UI ""; 
aptitude::UI::Menubar-Autohide "true";
aptitude::UI::Minibuf-Download-Bar "false";
aptitude::UI::InfoAreaTabs "true";
aptitude::UI::Package-Header-Format "%N %n #%B %u %o";
aptitude::UI::Package-Status-Format "%d #%D %I";
aptitude::UI::Package-Display-Format "%c%a%M%S %p #%t %Z %r %D %v %V";

Pinning

Setup

Create file /etc/apt/preferences

Explanation: This priority correspond to the default set by "APT::Default-Release"
Explanation: We make it explicit
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian, n=jessie
Pin-Priority: 990

Explanation: Assign the same priority than stable release so these are picked if they are newer
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian, n=jessie-updates
Pin-Priority: 990

Explanation: Lower than stable as we don't want them installed by default.
Explanation: Higher than testing, we prefer to install from backports than testing.
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian Backports, n=jessie-backports
Pin-Priority: 900


Explanation: Lower than others
Explanation: Higher than 500 so it's still preferred over external sources
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian, n=stretch
Pin-Priority: 700

Debugging

By default, it might be hard to understand why a particular version of a package is chosen for updates. Thankfully, apt-cache can help us with that.

$ apt-cache policy | grep -Ev Translation-..$
Package files:
 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     release a=now
 700 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ stretch/non-free amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=testing,n=stretch,l=Debian,c=non-free
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 700 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ stretch/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=testing,n=stretch,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 700 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ stretch/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=testing,n=stretch,l=Debian,c=main
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 900 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/non-free amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=non-free
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 900 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=contrib
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 900 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian Backports,a=jessie-backports,n=jessie-backports,l=Debian Backports,c=main
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/non-free amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=non-free
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/contrib amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-updates/main amd64 Packages
     release o=Debian,a=stable-updates,n=jessie-updates,l=Debian,c=main
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 990 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/non-free amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=non-free
     origin security.debian.org
 990 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/contrib amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=contrib
     origin security.debian.org
 990 http://security.debian.org/ jessie/updates/main amd64 Packages
     release v=8,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian-Security,c=main
     origin security.debian.org
 990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie/non-free amd64 Packages
     release v=8.3,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=non-free
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie/contrib amd64 Packages
     release v=8.3,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=contrib
     origin httpredir.debian.org
 990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main amd64 Packages
     release v=8.3,o=Debian,a=stable,n=jessie,l=Debian,c=main
     origin httpredir.debian.org
Pinned packages:

$ apt-cache policy linux-image-amd64
linux-image-amd64:
  Installed: 4.3+70~bpo8+1
  Candidate: 4.3+70~bpo8+1
  Version table:
     4.3+70 0
        700 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ stretch/main amd64 Packages
 *** 4.3+70~bpo8+1 0
        900 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie-backports/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.16+63 0
        990 http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main amd64 Packages

Tools

needrestart

After a successful upgrade, needrestart will check if any daemon need to be restarted. If so, it will show a dialog where you can choose which ones should be restarted automatically.

It will also warn you in case the system need to be restarted.

# apt install needrestart

reboot-notifier

Sends you a daily email in case your server need to be restarted

Important: Your server needs be able to send Emails before you install this.

# apt install  reboot-notifier

You can configure the destination email address in /etc/default/reboot-notifier.

apt-listchanges

Parse changelogs when you upgrade a package and display it. It will also send a copy by email so you can have a look latter in case you missed something.

# apt install apt-listchanges

apticron

Apticron will check for updates and send you emails with changelogs

Important: Your server needs be able to send Emails before you install this.

# apt install apticron

To configure apticron, edit /etc/apticron/apticron.conf and changes the following settings

EMAIL="youremail@example.org"
NOTIFY_HOLDS="0"
NOTIFY_NEW="0"