How to update a Pulsar67 server
Keeping your VPS updated applies security fixes and bug fixes from your operating system vendor. Before a large update, take a snapshot or backup if the server runs production workloads.
Debian
Refresh package metadata, install available upgrades, and remove packages that are no longer needed.
apt update
apt upgrade -y
apt autoremove -y
If the kernel or core libraries were updated, reboot during a maintenance window.
Ubuntu
Ubuntu uses the same package manager flow as Debian for normal package updates.
apt update
apt upgrade -y
apt autoremove -y
Check whether Ubuntu recommends a reboot.
test -f /var/run/reboot-required && cat /var/run/reboot-required
AlmaLinux
AlmaLinux uses DNF. Update all packages, then remove unused dependencies if needed.
dnf update -y
dnf autoremove -y
For servers that run important services, check what changed before rebooting.
dnf history
Rocky Linux
Rocky Linux also uses DNF, so the update flow is the same as AlmaLinux.
dnf update -y
dnf autoremove -y
If a new kernel is installed, reboot to use it.
FreeBSD
Update the FreeBSD base system first, then update packages installed through pkg.
freebsd-update fetch
freebsd-update install
pkg update
pkg upgrade
If the base system update includes kernel or userland changes, reboot and run the install step again if FreeBSD asks for it.
reboot
freebsd-update install
Reboot checks
After any reboot, confirm that the server is back online and your services started correctly.
uptime
systemctl --failed
ss -tulpn
On FreeBSD, use service and sockstat instead.
service -e
sockstat -4 -6 -l