Update and Manage Software

Use Discover and Command-line

Update or manage software on your system and on your schedule using Discover or command-line. Continue to work while updates are being installed.

Please read the disclaimer before proceeding. We review and update guided solutions like this regularly. If you have suggestions or requests, please write support@kfocus.org.

Understand the Package System

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and most derivatives use Debian packages and the Apt system to install and update most software. The official documentation provides a great overview of all the pieces.

We recommend upgrading software packages once per day. This keeps your system up-to-date with the latest security and feature enhancements. Updates on Focus systems rarely cause issues because it uses only Long Term Support (LTS) releases, which are intended to minimize breakage. The Focus team also curates kernels and drivers, and runs frequent regression tests to identify and quickly fix issues.

Even with all these safeguards, however, we still recommend delaying updates until critical work is done for the day. Although glitches are rare, it is best to deal with them on your own terms. If you need to revert a change, you may use the apt-rollback tool we have included. As with any package management tool, use this carefully and always backup your data.

Discover

discoverThe Discover package manager is the official KDE GUI to update, browse, install, and remove most software from the system. It is built on top of the apt package system. Please refer to the documentation as needed.

The typical update procedure is illustrated below. Package updates are indicated by a blue dot in the system tray. Click on the update indicator to review changes.

Click on update indicator

After the Update icon is clicked, Discover starts and the update list is refreshed.

Check update

Click on the Update All button to start the process.

Authorize update

User authorization is required.

Authorize update

The update takes seconds or minutes depending on the number of packages.

Update in-progress

After updates are complete, Discover will appear as shown.

Update complete

Discover can find, install or remove software.

Install software

Command-line

konsoleOne can manage software using the apt package tools including apt, apt-get, apt-cache, aptitude, and wajig. We recommend using apt for daily updates and aptitude when resolving more complex package issues.

sudo apt update; sudo apt dist-upgrade; # Press enter to confirm

The CLI tools use update as the keyword to update the list of software, while the upgrade keyword is used to install newer packages.

Troubleshooting

Q: I see a package called UEFI dbx when updgrading packages in Discover. Yet when I click the upgrade button, it does not complete. What do I need to do?

A: This is a firmware upgrade that usually will fix itself within a few days. If it does not, you can enter into a terminal sudo fwupdmgr update. A more detailed discussion can be found in this Ask Ubuntu answer.

Q: I appear to have a number of unused packages. How can I remove them?

A: Enter the following into a terminal: sudo apt autoremove

Q: You used to also show Muon as an option. What happened?

A: As of Fall 2020 Muon does not appear actively developed. In addition, Discover has gotten significantly faster and more powerful. As a result, we dropped Muon from this guide on 2020-09-28.

Q: Discover proxy settings gets stuck. How can I resolve this?

A: Enter the following commands and follow the prompts.

# Open the database sudo apt install sqlitebrowser sudo sqlitebrowser /var/lib/PackageKit/transactions.db # Delete the rows in the proxy table sudo systemctl restart packagekit.service

Q: I see the following error message when fetching software updates. This happens when using Discover or the command-line. How can I fix this?

#> ... #> W: An error occurred during the signature #> verification. The repository is not updated and the #> previous index files will be used. GPG error: #> http://apt.insync.io/ubuntu focal InRelease: The #> following signatures were invalid: EXPKEYSIG #> A684470CACCAF35C Insynchq Inc #> <services@insynchq.com> #> W: Failed to fetch #> http://apt.insync.io/ubuntu/dists/focal/InRelease #> The following signatures were invalid: EXPKEYSIG #> A684470CACCAF35C Insynchq Inc #> <services@insynchq.com> #> ...

A: This is due to expired key. This can be fixed as illustrated below.

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys A684470CACCAF35C #> Executing: /tmp/apt-key-gpghome.1ycTtlkN0q/gpg.1.sh #> --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com #> --recv-keys A684470CACCAF35C #> gpg: key A684470CACCAF35C: "Insynchq Inc #> <services@insynchq.com>" 1 new signature #> gpg: Total number processed: 1 #> gpg: new signatures: 1

The keyserver URL may alternately be hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80. This can be useful when working through firewalls. After updating the key, the error should be eliminated.

Q: I am seeing similar key issues with the QGIS repositories. Can I fix this too?

A: Yes. Try sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys F7E06F06199EF2F2 (thanks Justin!).

Revisions

This is a partial revision history. See the git repository for all entries.

Disclaimer

We try hard to provide a useful solution validated by professionals. However, we cannot anticipate every situation, and therefore cannot guarantee this procedure will work for your needs. Always backup your data and test the solution to determine the correct procedure for you.

THIS SOLUTION IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOLUTION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

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