LXC-Auto-Update

A fully automated system and Docker update solution for Debian-based LXC containers (Debian 12/13).

LXC-Auto-Update keeps your containers always up-to-date with minimal effort. It combines APT system updates with Docker container updates via Watchtower in a single, automated solution. The tool supports daily scheduled updates, boot-time updates, automatic service restarts, and custom update commands for third-party applications like Pi-hole or Home Assistant.

Key Highlights

• 🔄 Fully Automated – Set it and forget it
• 🐳 Docker Support – Updates all containers via Watchtower
• ⏰ Flexible Scheduling – Daily cron jobs + optional boot updates
• 🔧 Service Management – Auto-restart services after updates
• 📝 Custom Commands – Add your own update scripts
• 📊 Detailed Logging – Full visibility into update processes

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Features

System Updates

• Automatic system updates (APT dist-upgrade)
• Optimized APT commands for faster updates
• Automatic cleanup (autoremove, autoclean)

Docker Updates

• Automatic Docker container updates using Watchtower (one-shot mode)
• Automatic Docker API version detection
• Container overview in logs (running & stopped)
• Image cleanup after updates

Scheduling

• Daily scheduled updates via Cron (customizable time)
• Automatic updates on container startup (optional)
• Full enable/disable toggle system

Service Management

• Automatic detection of services needing restart (via needrestart)
• Optional auto-restart of affected services after updates
• Kernel update detection with reboot notification

Custom Commands

• Add custom update commands for any application
• Support for Pi-hole, AMP, Home Assistant, Snap, and more
• Easy management (add, remove, list)

Logging & Monitoring

• Full log output to /var/log/lxc-auto-update.log
• Real-time log viewing
• Pre-update package overview
• Post-update service status

Installation & Configuration

• Automatic installation of all dependencies (Docker, Cron, needrestart)
• Simple setup with single command
• Short command aliases for easy management
• Configuration file for persistent settings

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Components Included

Systemd Services

• watchtower-oneshot.service – runs Watchtower once per update cycle
• update-on-boot.service – optional automatic update on container startup

Shell Scripts

• setup.sh – installs and configures the entire update system
• install-dependencies.sh – installs Docker, Cron, and required tools
• lxc-auto-update.sh – performs the actual update tasks
• auto-update-toggle.sh – enables/disables automatic updates and boot updates
• create-symlinks.sh – creates short command aliases
• run-watchtower.sh – runs Watchtower with correct Docker API version

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Installation

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/TimProg29/LXC-Auto-Update.git
cd LXC-Auto-Update

Install with default update time (05:00)

chmod +x setup.sh scripts/*.sh && bash setup.sh

Install with custom update time (HH:MM)

chmod +x setup.sh scripts/*.sh && bash setup.sh 22:30

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Commands

Short Commands (after installation)

Command	Description
update-system	Manually runs the update process immediately
update-toggle on	Enables automatic daily updates
update-toggle off	Disables automatic daily updates
update-toggle boot-on	Enables automatic updates on container startup
update-toggle boot-off	Disables automatic updates on container startup
update-toggle restart-on	Enables auto-restart of services after update
update-toggle restart-off	Disables auto-restart of services after update
update-toggle status	Displays the current status of all settings
update-custom add "<cmd>" "<desc>"	Add a custom update command
update-custom remove <number>	Remove a custom command by number
update-custom list	List all custom update commands
update-log	View full update log
update-log-live	View real-time update log

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Setup Commands

Command	Description
bash setup.sh	Installs with default daily update time at 05:00
bash setup.sh <HH:MM>	Installs with specified daily update time

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Logs

Update logs are stored at /var/log/lxc-auto-update.log

Command	Description
update-log	View full log
update-log-live	View real-time updates

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Deinstallation

# Disable services
update-toggle off
update-toggle boot-off

# Remove symlinks
rm /usr/local/bin/update-system
rm /usr/local/bin/update-toggle
rm /usr/local/bin/update-log
rm /usr/local/bin/update-log-live

# Remove scripts
rm /usr/local/sbin/lxc-auto-update.sh
rm /usr/local/sbin/auto-update-toggle.sh
rm /usr/local/sbin/run-watchtower.sh

# Remove config
rm /etc/lxc-auto-update.conf

# Remove services
rm /etc/systemd/system/watchtower-oneshot.service
rm /etc/systemd/system/update-on-boot.service

# Remove log file (optional)
rm /var/log/lxc-auto-update.log

# Reload systemd
systemctl daemon-reload

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Links

Core Components

• Watchtower GitHub
• Docker Documentation
• Debian LXC

Tools Used

• Cron Documentation
• Systemd Documentation
• needrestart
• APT Documentation

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.