Ubuntu – Why does apt-get not require restarts, where the update manager does

aptrestartupdate-manager

Oftentimes I try to ‘beat’ the update manager by opening a console and entering the sequence

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

which, to the best of my knowledge, should update all packages to their newest stable releases. The update manager does the same, as far as I know.

However, the update manager sometimes (most frequently when a new kernel is distributed) requires a restart after terminating. apt-get never does, even when it looks like I’m upgrading the kernel. Why is this so?

In response to the duplicate vote: I am not asking which packages require a reboot as the linked question is. Rather I am asking why apt-get does not ask me to reboot even when I recognise a package being updated that the update manager would require a reboot for.

Best Answer

Because apt-get (or plain simple apt) is for the pros and when the pros do a:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

and see a new kernel being installed, the pros know they have to reboot to activate it.

The automatic update is for everyone else out there!

Alternatively, you can now install Ubuntu Live kernel Patching from version 16.04 onwards which allows you to update your kernel while your server is running.

:-)

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