Hello everyone... I installed a debian 4.0r3 net install about a month ago, and I haven't gotten any updates since the install. I know that with a net install it downloads the latest packages automatically, but there have been multiple security advisories I have yet to patch.

My question is this... do the "apt-get upgrade" "apt-get update" commands download and install updates for packages and security advisories. I'm getting the feeling that they do not, as I haven't had an update for a while now. If not, what is the proper method to update packages/advisories. Should I go to the debian site and download each advisory individually? Thanks for the help.

Well, first of all, I'd suggest that you reverse the order of those commands: first the update, then the upgrade To be done quickly, do as root:This updates everything on your machine, including the critical elements of your distro, an ordinairy apt-get update doesn't

Sorry about that, type on my part. I think my problem lies in /etc/apt/sources.list. I have a feeling that the file isn't configured properly. Here is what I have:


deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free


Do those look right to you? When I run apt-get update, it seems to download updates to the package list, but when I run apt-get upgrade after it doesn't install any new packages. I'm 99% sure I'm NOT up-to-date with everything, so there has to be some kind of error on my part that I'm not seeing. Thanks for your help.

Debian Stable is just that....no updated except for security.....If this is not a production box, you can try debian Lenny (testing) and you will have updates and new packages almost daily.

Utanja is right, Debian Stable only gets sporadic updates. For daily use you don't want to run the risk of breaking something on your machine, that's why the Debian dev's call it Testing and Unstable: it has a reason

Anyway, your sources.list looks OK to me, but check the sticky on that subject to see if yours can be improved. (imho it can, by adding the multi-media repo: http://www.debian-multimedia.org/)

Thanks for your help everyone.

I just did the update/upgrade thing for my Debian. here are two lines you might try in the sources.list:

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib

Comment out everything else... I got about 500 meg of new stuff. The fact that the new stuff is coming from "testing" (Lenny) doesn't seem to make any difference. Debian's "testing" is more stable than the "stable" version of a lot of distros. I have seen no ill effects in my installation.

I trust the OP would realize that by following Bill_Hwy's advice, he will no longer be running Etch (Stable). OTOH, it's not really a full upgrade to Lenny either. My own advice would be to complete the full-upgrade to Lenny, but make sure you know what you're doing. Don't mess with your sources.list just to get some updates. That file is the heart and soul of Debian, and changing it without understanding what you are doing is a sure fire road to disaster.