[CentOS] when to reboot after updates

[Lanny Marcus]

On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 10:55 PM, D Tucny <d at tucny.com> wrote:
> 2009/4/10 Mike A. Harris <mharris at mharris.ca>
>> 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.