on 4-10-2009 3:24 PM Lanny Marcus spake the following:
On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 10:55 PM, D Tucny d@tucny.com wrote:
2009/4/10 Mike A. Harris mharris-mnGD6ET4m9qw5LPnMra/2Q@public.gmane.org
Jerry Geis wrote:
What is the rule of thumb for reboots after updates...
I'd say the rule of thumb is to do whatever works best for you, and that you'll likely get quite the variety of different responses. �;o)
Certainly if I update from 5.2 to 5.3 I reboot.
But if you update something like krb5 or pam does that require a reboot? Does the "fix" get automatically loaded and used or do you just do a reboot always?
So, I would say "reboot" is the simplest, safest, foolproof way to ensure you're running updates even if some people will balk at the idea that you have to reboot a Linux system. �You don't have to of course, but life is short and rebooting is fast. �;o)
Another good reason to do a controlled reboot every now and again is to make sure that everything you expect to come back up does come back up, which can save you being woken up in the middle of the night if an uncontrolled reboot happens :)
And if one does a scheduled reboot, best to be there, so you can touch the box and best to do it when there is very low traffic. I remember advising that updates were available for IPCop last year. Scott Silva wrote that he would do it on a Sunday, when the big bosses weren't there. Sure enough, his IPCop box failed to reboot..... I'm doing the first update, from CentOS 5.2 (32 bit) to 5.3 now.
Luckily, I am only 40 miles from that location. I usually also come in early after weekend updates to double check things.
And never do updates the day before your vacation starts! ;-P