Hi Todd,

On 7/9/12 7:05 PM, Todd And Margo Chester wrote:
> On 07/09/2012 04:26 PM, P. Larry Nelson wrote:
>> On 7/9/12 6:11 PM, Alan Bartlett wrote:
>>> On 10 July 2012 00:03, Todd And Margo Chester <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> According to /var/log/yum.log, something is doing back
>>>> ground updates.
>>>>
>>>> This morning the flash-plugin updated after I downgraded
>>>> it yesterday and I got a libvirt updated that crashed
>>>> my VMs.  I did not ask for these updates.  I am afraid to go
>>>> on the Internet!
>>>>
>>>> How do I turn off these background updates?
>>>
>>> I'd suggest looking at the output returned by --
>>>
>>> sudo yum list yum-\*
>>>
>>> Alan.
>>
>> Todd,
>>
>> More importantly - why are you not being notified by yum when the
>> background updates occur?  Yum should be sending email to root when
>> that happens.
>>
>> Who does "root" point to in your /etc/aliases file (last line of the
>> file)?
>>
>> Also, I strongly suggest you subscribe to the scientific-linux-errata
>> email list (non-discussion) wherein Pat Riehecky sends out notices
>> of impending errata updates a day in advance.
>>
>> - Larry
>>
>
> Hi Larry,
>
>     I usually do not read root's mail.  I wonder if there
> is a way to read it with Thunderbird without setting up
> sendmail.  Hmmm.
>
> -T

Ok, first off, IMHO, you should read email to root....
Back in the early days of unix, it was pretty much an
unwritten rule (sometimes it was a written local policy)
that "root" in /etc/aliases *had* to point to an email address
which would be reliably read by a human.  I don't think the
new generation of admins follows that as much anymore.
But then again, unix systems back then were always servers
of some sort or another.

Second, sendmail should always be part of any SL installation.
By default, the standard sendmail, as provided by TUV, does not "listen"
for incoming email, i.e., it is not acting as an email server and thus
is not a worry to have to deal with - just install it.

Third, if "root" in /etc/aliases has not been modified to send to an
email address, email to root stays on the local machine.  You can easily
read root's email on the local machine with /bin/mail (if you're logged
in as root or su to root), which is an ascii text bare-bones email
reader dating back to the Pleistocene.  Doesn't matter much since
system email sent to root is just ascii text anyway.

Make it a point to check root's email, if not daily, at least once a
week.  If you have logwatch enabled, there will be daily emails.

My $.02

- Larry

-- 
P. Larry Nelson (217-244-9855) | Systems/Network Administrator
461 Loomis Lab                 | High Energy Physics Group
1110 W. Green St., Urbana, IL  | Physics Dept., Univ. of Ill.
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