PackageKit is the graphical software updater in RedHat based linux distributions. The posts outlines the steps required to enable or disable the automatic updates via the PackageKit updater.

 

Disabling PackageKit

 

1. Check the status of PackageKit service.

# systemctl status packagekit
● packagekit.service - PackageKit Daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/packagekit.service; static; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2018-03-27 15:41:45 UTC; 1s ago
 Main PID: 2334 (packagekitd)
   CGroup: /system.slice/packagekit.service
           └─2334 /usr/libexec/packagekitd

Mar 27 15:41:45 ucartz.server.com systemd[1]: Starting PackageKit Daemon...
Mar 27 15:41:45 ucartz.server.com PackageKit[2334]: daemon start
Mar 27 15:41:45 ucartz.server.com systemd[1]: Started PackageKit Daemon.

 

2. To disable auto update to happen via PackageKit, we need to stop the “packagekit” service and disable it permanently.

# systemctl stop packagekit
# systemctl mask packagekit
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/packagekit.service to /dev/null.

 

3. To completely remove the PackageKit software updater, use the below command.

==============================================================================================================================================================
 Package                                          Arch                         Version                                    Repository                     Size
==============================================================================================================================================================
Removing:
 PackageKit                                       x86_64                       1.1.5-1.el7.centos                         @base                         2.6 M
 PackageKit-glib                                  x86_64                       1.1.5-1.el7.centos                         @base                         480 k
 PackageKit-yum                                   x86_64                       1.1.5-1.el7.centos                         @base                         301 k
Removing for dependencies:
 cockpit-packagekit                               x86_64                       160-1.el7.centos                           @extras                       175 k
 gnome-packagekit                                 x86_64                       3.22.1-2.el7                               @base                         0.0  
 gnome-packagekit-common                          x86_64                       3.22.1-2.el7                               @base                         6.3 M
 gnome-packagekit-installer                       x86_64                       3.22.1-2.el7                               @base                         198 k
 gnome-packagekit-updater                         x86_64                       3.22.1-2.el7                               @base                         194 k

Transaction Summary
==============================================================================================================================================================
Remove  3 Packages (+5 Dependent packages)

Installed size: 10 M
Is this ok [y/N]: 

 

Enabling PackageKit

 

1. If you want to enable the PackageKit updater, first reinstall the packages you removed while disabling it.

# yum install gnome-packagekit PackageKit-yum

Dependencies Resolved

===============================================================================================================================================================
 Package                                           Arch                          Version                                     Repository                   Size
===============================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
 PackageKit-yum                                    x86_64                        1.1.5-1.el7.centos                          base                         75 k
 gnome-packagekit                                  x86_64                        3.22.1-2.el7                                base                        7.4 k
Installing for dependencies:
 PackageKit                                        x86_64                        1.1.5-1.el7.centos                          base                        583 k
 PackageKit-glib                                   x86_64                        1.1.5-1.el7.centos                          base                        127 k
 gnome-packagekit-common                           x86_64                        3.22.1-2.el7                                base                        1.1 M
 gnome-packagekit-installer                        x86_64                        3.22.1-2.el7                                base                         78 k
 gnome-packagekit-updater                          x86_64                        3.22.1-2.el7                                base                         74 k

Transaction Summary
===============================================================================================================================================================
Install  2 Packages (+5 Dependent packages)

Total download size: 2.0 M
Installed size: 10 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y

 

2. Unmask the packagekit service first before starting it.

# systemctl unmask packagekit
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/packagekit.service.
# systemctl start packagekit

 

3. Verify the status if the service.

# systemctl status packagekit
● packagekit.service - PackageKit Daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/packagekit.service; static; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2018-03-27 15:47:26 UTC; 6s ago
 Main PID: 2522 (packagekitd)
   CGroup: /system.slice/packagekit.service
           └─2522 /usr/libexec/packagekitd

Mar 27 15:47:26 ucartz.server.com systemd[1]: Starting PackageKit Daemon...
Mar 27 15:47:26 ucartz.server.com PackageKit[2522]: daemon start
Mar 27 15:47:26 ucartz.server.com systemd[1]: Started PackageKit Daemon.

 

4. Enable the packagekit service to start at boot using the below command.

# systemctl enable packagekit

 

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