Keeping Your Operating Systems Updated

The goal of this topic is to enable you to self-update your virtual machines (VMs) on the OUTSCALE Cloud, for every supported operating system (OS). For more information, see Official OMIs Reference.

The update process can be long, especially if you have never run it. This process can be shortened by running it regularly and automatically.

The following procedures are your own responsibility. They are safe, but some applications may require specific versions of packages to work properly.
It is recommended to create snapshots of your volumes before updating your OS in order to be able to restore the VM into a previous state if your application did not support the OS update. For more information, see Creating a Snapshot of a Volume.

Linux

For Linux, you can automate updates with a cron job.

CentOS

Connect to your VM in SSH. For more information, see Accessing Your VMs.
Run the following command:
```
$ sudo yum update
```
You can add the -y parameter to accept any inquiry from the command line as yes:

$ sudo yum update -y
Your CentOS VM OS is updated.

Ubuntu

Connect to your VM in SSH. For more information, see Accessing Your VMs.
Run the following command:
```
$ sudo apt-get update
```

Once your repositories are up to date, upgrade your packages using the following command:

$ sudo apt-get upgrade

Major Ubuntu package upgrades can be installed using the following command:
```
$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
```
You can add the -y parameter to accept any inquiry from the command line as yes, as for CentOS updates.

Your Ubuntu VM OS is updated.

Windows Server

For Windows Server, you can enable the Automatic Update option.

Connect to your VM. For more information, see Accessing a Windows VM.
Go to the Update & security section, in the Windows Settings panel:
In the Update & security section, click Check for updates.
The updates are automatically downloaded and installed.
(optional) Restart your VM if needed.

Your Windows Server VM is updated.

Related Page

About OMIs