Managing system updates across multiple servers can be a complex task, especially when dealing with different packages and updates. This blog post shows how to use Ansible to list upgradable packages on systems using APT, and how to parse this information into a formatted output.
How to List Upgradable Packages with Ansible
Here’s an example Ansible task that lists all upgradable packages using APT:
---
- name: List System Upgrades
become: true
become_user: root
become_method: sudo
shell: apt list --upgradable
register: output
- debug: msg=""
Potential Solutions for Managing Upgrade Listings
Moving forward this is how I want the output to show, but for now the playbook output is good enough.
[common-among all servers]
package-1
package-2
package-3
package-4
[server-1]
package-custom
[server-2]
package-custom
Conclusion
By creating a formatted list of upgradable packages, this allows me to better manage and apply updates. This method provides a clear overview of what needs to be updated and allows for better planning of system upgrades.