A lightweight, modern system tray indicator and terminal upgrade suite crafted specifically for Debian GNU/Linux (Testing, Sid, and Trixie / Debian 13).
debian-update bridges the gap between terminal package management and desktop convenience. It silently monitors your software repositories in the background without locking APT, notifies you with smooth animated tray alerts when updates are ready, and provides an interactive, unified CLI tool that handles APT, Flatpak, and Snap updates with full Secure Boot kernel & DKMS/NVIDIA signing support.
Managing a rolling or fast-moving Debian system (Testing/Sid) often means running separate update commands for different package ecosystems, constantly checking if your NVIDIA modules or kernels got unsigned by an update, or forgetting to check for Flatpak updates.
- Never get APT lock collisions: Background checks update package lists and Flathub appstream caches cleanly and non-interactively without holding the
dpkgdatabase lock. - Unified Single-Command Upgrades: Update everything—APT packages, Flatpak applications, and Snap packages—in one structured, interactive CLI run.
- Zero-Hassle Secure Boot Signing: If UEFI Secure Boot is active, newly installed kernels and DKMS/NVIDIA modules are automatically detected and signed using system MOK keys.
- Smooth, Non-Intrusive Tray Notifications: 30 FPS pulsing animation alerts you when updates arrive, and settles back smoothly to 100% resting size.
- Full Autostart Out of the Box: Systemd timer and desktop applet automatically configure themselves for all desktop environments (KDE Plasma, GNOME, XFCE, etc.).
- Native in 20 Languages: Automatic locale detection and real-time language switching directly from the tray menu.
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🖥️ System Tray Indicator & Notifications:
- Qt-based Status Applet: Native Freedesktop StatusNotifierItem applet supporting both Wayland and X11 sessions.
- Smooth 30 FPS Pulse Alert: Visually pulses when new updates arrive before cleanly resting.
- Rich Context Menu: Categorized breakdown of APT, Flatpak, and Snap updates, time since last check, next scheduled check, and direct triggers.
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📦 Unified Package Management:
- APT Integration: Interactive package simulation and upgrade workflow adhering strictly to Debian Policy.
- Flatpak Upgrades: Automatically refreshes AppStream metadata in the background and upgrades user & system Flatpaks.
- Snap Integration: Automatically includes Snap package refreshes if
snapdis present. - Service Health & Memory Checks: Integrated with
needrestartto detect and safely restart services running outdated in-memory libraries.
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🔐 Automated Secure Boot & NVIDIA Verification:
- Passive Sysfs Detection: 100% passive UEFI status check (
/sys/firmware/efi/efivars/) with zero intrusive commands. - Automatic Kernel & DKMS Signing: Automatically signs kernels (
sbsign) and DKMS/NVIDIA modules with system MOK keys (/var/lib/dkms/,/var/lib/shim-signed/mok/). - Intelligent Signature Caching: Validated signatures are cached to keep checking instantaneous.
- Passive Sysfs Detection: 100% passive UEFI status check (
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🌐 20 Languages Supported (i18n):
- English, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Northern Sami, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi.
Download debian-update.deb from the Releases page:
sudo apt install ./debian-update.debAll background timers and autostart services will activate automatically.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/TuxOfValhalla/debian-update.git
cd debian-update
# Build the Debian package
./build_deb.sh
# Install the built package
sudo apt install ./debian-update.deb- Supported OS: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (Trixie / Testing / Sid)
- Required (
Depends):python3:any,python3-pyqt5,python3-pyqt5.qtsvg - Recommended (
Recommends):needrestart,flatpak,apt-listbugs,sbsigntool - Optional (
Suggests):snapd
debian-update was created with the assistance of advanced agentic AI coding tooling. However, every single line of code, bash script, systemd unit, and Qt component has been meticulously engineered, architected, debugged, rigorously tested on real hardware, and verified by a human developer (TuxOfValhalla). It is designed with uncompromising focus on stability, strict Debian policy compliance, and user safety.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). See the LICENSE file for full details.
debian-update is an independent open-source project and is not an official part of, endorsed by, or affiliated with the Debian Project or Software in the Public Interest, Inc. (SPI).
The use of the Debian name and the Debian Open Use swirl logo is solely for nominative fair use to identify software platform compatibility with Debian GNU/Linux systems.
If debian-update makes maintaining your Debian system smoother and more enjoyable, consider supporting future development:
