Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of ltpitt
ltpitt

asked on

How to find Linux Server's last patch date

Hi all,

Is there any way to obtain the date of the last update for a Linux server?

By patch / update I mean the last time that any software on the server was updated.

Thanks! :)
SOLUTION
Avatar of arnold
arnold
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of ltpitt
ltpitt

ASKER

Hello there!

I forgot to specify that I just use RedHat 7 (adding detail to question now)...

For update I mean the upgrade of any software package on the server.
/var/log/yum.log

But if anyone downloads an rpm package and installs it using rpm -u I do not think there is a way to find out, though I am uncertain what your concern is since redhat policy is to provide security/critical updates without altering the major.minor version of the application/item micro/nano versions are do not alter programs library functionality. System continuity is maintained.
If you/your org has any change control policies you could look back at the tickets relating to your system in question as well.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of ltpitt

ASKER

Hi everyone and thanks for your input.

If I try:
etc /var/log/yum.log

Open in new window


I get nothing.

If I try:
yum history

Open in new window


I get some results like this:
Loaded plugins: etckeeper, security
ID     | Login user               | Date and time    | Action(s)      | Altered
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   119 | root <root>              | 20XX-XX-29 04:47 | Update         |    1
   118 | Me Myself <me>           | 20XX-XX-05 12:25 | Install        |    1
   117 | root <root>              | 20XX-XX-17 05:47 | Update         |    2
   116 | root <root>              | 20XX-XX-09 05:47 | Update         |    1
   115 | root <root>              | 20XX-XX-09 05:47 | Update         |    2

Open in new window


So, if I got this right, my latest update is the one with higher ID, right?
more /var/log/yum.log
See if there are prior versions of yum.log.

History tells you when commands were run not what was updated...
The yum.log file should include. E dry package that was installed/updated.....
Not sure why you masquerade the dates as it provides .......
Avatar of ltpitt

ASKER

Hi Arnold...

I just sanitized a bit the output...

If I use the more command I still get nothing.

The result I got is good enough, I think I will now assign points and check if I have a way to understand which was the last security patch.

Thanks!
ls -l /var/log/yum*
do you have multiple files in the response? (logrotate rotates the logs to manage space use by logs. The last update may have met the criteria for log rotation and this is why the existing yum.log is empty awaiting next update/run.
Usually, yum.log-date_log_rotated