5 Easy Ways to Update openSUSE: Keeping Your System Up-to-Date
As an experienced Ubuntu user, openSUSE is a new journey for me. While exploring openSUSE, I’ve come across some slight differences in its ways compared to Ubuntu. And as someone who loves to share knowledge, I plan to cover these differences in tutorials on It’s FOSS.
In this first tutorial, I’ll show you the best ways to update your openSUSE system. There are two methods you can use: using the terminal or a graphical tool. Regardless of your preference, keeping your system up-to-date is essential for optimal performance.
Method 1: Using the Terminal
The easiest way to update openSUSE is through the terminal, using the zypper command. This command provides full functionality for managing patches and updates, taking care of file conflicts and dependency issues. It also includes updates for the Linux kernel.
The update command slightly differs for openSUSE Leap and Tumbleweed. If you’re using openSUSE Leap, enter this command in the terminal:
sudo zypper update
<brIf you prefer to use a shorter command, try:
sudo zypper up
On the other hand, if you’re using openSUSE Tumbleweed, use the dist-upgrade or dup command, as it is a rolling release distribution. This will ensure a smooth update process:
sudo zypper dist-upgrade
You’ll be shown a list of all the packages that will be upgraded, removed or installed. Make sure to reboot your system if prompted.
If you simply want to refresh the repositories (like sudo apt update), you can enter the following command in the terminal:
sudo zypper refresh
And if you want to see a list of available updates without initiating the update process, use this command:
sudo zypper list-updates
Method 2: Using a Graphical Tool
As openSUSE is commonly used as a desktop, there’s also the option of using GUI tools to install updates. The tool available may differ depending on your chosen desktop environment.
For example, KDE has its own software center called Discover, which you can use to search for and install new applications as well as update your system. You can also get notifications for system updates in the notification area, but you’ll have to open Discover explicitly to install them.
If you find these notifications annoying, you can disable them using the following commands:
sudo zypper remove plasma5-pk-updates
sudo zypper addlock plasma5-pk-updates
However, I wouldn’t recommend doing so as it’s always good to be informed about available updates.
There’s also the YAST Software Management GUI tool, which provides more detailed control over package management.
That’s all there is to it for updating openSUSE. Stay tuned for my next tutorial on some common zypper commands with examples. Happy updating!
