TheFoxUp

Secure and simple updater for Debian/Ubuntu servers

A lightweight, secure Bash tool with colors, YAML configuration and remote SSH support.

Features

• Three modes: lite (updates only), full (updates + reboot), off (updates + shutdown)
• Beautiful colored output with tput
• Modern YAML configuration (servers.yaml)
• Local and remote execution (multiple servers via SSH)
• Security-first: lockfile, root check, secure SSH
• Automatic package cleanup
• ShellCheck validated

⚠️ AI Disclosure / Divulgación de IA

English:
This project was developed with assistance from artificial intelligence tools. Given the automated nature of some components, users are advised to review and test the code independently before integrating it into their own systems.

Español:
Este proyecto fue desarrollado con asistencia de herramientas de inteligencia artificial. Dada la naturaleza automatizada de algunos componentes, se recomienda que los usuarios revisen y prueben el código independientemente antes de integrarlo en sus propios sistemas.

Requirements

• Debian 11/12 or Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04
• Root privileges (sudo)
• yq — sudo apt install yq
• flock (util-linux) — sudo apt install util-linux
• timeout, base64 (coreutils) — sudo apt install coreutils
• SSH keys for remote servers (recommended)

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
THEFOXUP_DRY_RUN	0	Show what would be updated, then exit
THEFOXUP_PROMPT_CONFIRM	1	Enable confirmation prompts before reboot/shutdown (non-interactive)
THEFOXUP_LOCK	/var/run/thefoxup.lock	Override lock file path
THEFOXUP_SSH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT	10	SSH connect timeout in seconds
THEFOXUP_SSH_ALIVE_INTERVAL	30	SSH keepalive interval in seconds
THEFOXUP_SSH_STRICT_HOST_KEY_CHECKING	accept-new	SSH host key policy (accept-new trusts on first connection)
THEFOXUP_APT_TIMEOUT	600	Max time in seconds for remote apt operations
THEFOXUP_REBOOT_DELAY	10	Delay in seconds before reboot/shutdown
THEFOXUP_MAX_PARALLEL	10	Max concurrent remote SSH sessions
THEFOXUP_LOG_CLEAN_DAYS	30	Keep log files for N days

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/Morphilab/thefoxup.git
cd thefoxup
chmod +x foxup.sh mode-*.sh update_functions.sh
cp servers.example.yaml servers.yaml
# Edit servers.yaml with your servers
sudo ./foxup.sh

Usage

Interactive mode (recommended):

sudo ./foxup.sh

Non-interactive (local or remote):

sudo ./foxup.sh full              # Update + reboot (asks before rebooting)
sudo ./foxup.sh full --yes        # Update + reboot (no prompts)
sudo ./foxup.sh lite --dry-run    # Show what would be updated, then exit
sudo ./foxup.sh --check           # Read-only system status (no changes)

Remote via SSH:

ssh user@server "sudo /opt/thefoxup/foxup.sh full"

Configuration (servers.yaml)

# thefoxup - Remote servers configuration
servers:
  - user: admin
    host: 192.168.1.50
    path: /opt/thefoxup

  - user: deploy
    host: 10.0.0.25
    path: /home/deploy/thefoxup

Available Modes

Mode	Description	After update
lite	Update packages only	No action
full	Update packages	Reboot (10s)
off	Update packages	Shutdown (10s)

Security Notes

• Use SSH keys (no passwords)
• Remote user needs passwordless sudo for apt, reboot and poweroff
• servers.yaml is ignored by git
• See SECURITY.md for details

License

MIT © morphilab

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