rococo - then rubble

dsc.py (Debian Security Check) is a Python script that automatically notifies a machine’s administrator when installed packages require a security upgrade.

Why this is useful

This week there were 9 Debian security advisories released, and I don’t always know which ones apply to my server. This is especially hard in the case of libraries (think fast: do any of your services depend on freetype?). dsc.py will only notify you of packages that actually require upgrades.

The alternative is to put an ‘apt-get upgrade’ directly in crontab, but I’d prefer to do upgrades by hand.

How does it work?

Necessary upgrades are determined by comparing the packages listed in the security advisories RSS feed with the set of upgradeable packages. When a match is found a summary of the issue is written to stdout. This script is run via cron nightly, with output (if any) mailed to the administrator. Note that an ‘apt-get update’ will need to be run first. My crontab entry looks like this:

0 3 * * * apt-get -qq update && /usr/local/bin/dsc.py

dsc.py depends on these packages: python, python-apt, dctrl-tools, and python-feedparser

It can be downloaded here

Erin and I have arrived in Berkeley, completing our NC to CA cross-country road trip. We’ll be staying here this summer for Erin’s internship in the Bay Area. The drive out was great, with stops in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Badlands National Park (SD), Colorado, Arches National Park (UT), Mono Lake (CA) and Yosemite National Park.

Pictures are up here.