Chapter 3. Installing security updates

This chapter describes how to install security updates on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

Prerequisites

  • A valid Red Hat subscription is assigned to the host.

3.1. Installing all available security updates

This section describes how to install all security updates available for a host.

Procedure

  1. To install all security updates, enter: 

    $ sudo yum update --security

    Note that without the --security parameter, yum installs updates also that include bug fixes and enhancements.

  2. Press y to confirm, and start the installation: 

    ...
Transaction Summary
===========================================
Upgrade  ... Packages

Total download size: ... M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y

  3. Optionally, list the processes that require to be restarted manually after installing the updated packages: 

    $ sudo yum needs-restarting

Additional resources

3.2. Installing a security update provided by a specific advisory

In certain situations, for example, if a specific service can be updated without scheduling a downtime, administrators want to install only security updates for this service, and install all other security updates later.

This section explains how to install the updated packages provided by a specific security advisory.

Prerequisites

  • A valid Red Hat subscription is assigned to the host.
  • The ID of the security advisory is known. For details about displaying advisories of installed and available security updates for the host, see Chapter 1, Identifying security updates.

Procedure

  1. Install the security updates provided by a specific security advisory. For example, to install the updates provided by the RHSA-2019:0997 advisory, enter: 

    $ sudo yum update --advisory=RHSA-2019:0997

  2. Press y to confirm, and start the installation: 

    ...
Transaction Summary
===========================================
Upgrade  ... Packages

Total download size: ... M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y

  3. Optionally, list the processes that require to be restarted manually after installing the updated packages: 

    $ sudo yum needs-restarting

Additional resources