sys-updater

System Updater (sys-updater)

Comprehensive system maintenance automation for Ubuntu hosts with support for apt, npm, brew, and OpenClaw skills.

What this skill does

sys-updater is a conservative maintenance pipeline for Linux hosts running OpenClaw. It separates security patching from feature upgrades, keeps auditable state files, and sends a human-readable daily report.

Core capabilities

• APT (Ubuntu)
  • daily apt-get update
  • automatic security updates via unattended-upgrade
  • non-security upgrades only from explicit planned list
• NPM / PNPM / Brew
  • detect outdated packages
  • keep them in tracked state
  • auto-review package risk (bugs/regressions/CVE signals)
  • install only approved/planned updates
• OpenClaw skills (ClawHub)
  • checks installed skills and reports update status
• Daily report (09:00 MSK)
  • current health/status
  • candidates/planned/blocked per manager
  • explicit “actually installed” lines for apt/npm/pnpm/brew

Workflow

Daily (06:00 MSK)

run_6am:
├── apt: update, security upgrades, simulate, track non-security
├── npm/brew: check outdated, add to tracking
└── skills: auto-update immediately (no quarantine)

Report (09:00 MSK)

• Summary of all package managers
• Planned updates for next day
• Blocked packages with reasons

T+2 Days (Review)

• Web search for bugs/regressions in tracked packages
• Mark as planned or blocked based on findings

T+3 Days (Upgrade)

• Apply planned npm/brew upgrades
• Send completion report

State Files

• state/apt/last_run.json — Last run results
• state/apt/tracked.json — APT packages being tracked
• state/apt/npm_tracked.json — NPM packages
• state/apt/brew_tracked.json — Brew packages
• state/logs/apt_maint.log — Daily logs (10-day rotation)

Manual Commands

# Daily maintenance (runs automatically)
./scripts/apt_maint.py run_6am

# Generate report
./scripts/apt_maint.py report_9am

# Check npm/brew only
./scripts/pkg_maint.py check

# Review packages (after 2 days)
./scripts/pkg_maint.py review

# Apply planned upgrades
./scripts/pkg_maint.py upgrade

# Update skills only
./scripts/pkg_maint.py skills

Configuration

Environment variables:

• SYS_UPDATER_BASE_DIR — Base directory (default: ~/clawd/sys-updater)
• SYS_UPDATER_STATE_DIR — State files location
• SYS_UPDATER_LOG_DIR — Log files location

Cron Jobs

Requires 4 cron jobs:

1. run_6am — Daily 06:00 MSK (apt + check npm/brew + auto skills)
2. report_9am — Daily 09:00 MSK (Telegram report)
3. review_2d — T+2 days 09:00 MSK (web search bugs)
4. upgrade_3d — T+3 days 06:00 MSK (apply planned)

Conservative Design

• Security updates: Applied automatically via unattended-upgrade
• Non-security: 2-day observation period with bug research
• User control: Can block any package with reason
• Safety: Dry-run simulation before any apt upgrade

Requirements

• Ubuntu with apt
• Node.js + npm (for npm packages)
• Homebrew (for brew packages)
• OpenClaw with clawhub CLI
• sudo access for specific apt commands (see below)

Sudoers Configuration

For unattended operation, grant the running user passwordless sudo for specific apt commands only. Do not add the user to full sudoers.

Create file /etc/sudoers.d/sys-updater:

# Allow sys-updater to run apt maintenance commands without password
# Replace 'username' with your actual username
username ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt-get update
username ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt-get -s upgrade
username ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/unattended-upgrade -d

Set secure permissions:

sudo chmod 440 /etc/sudoers.d/sys-updater
sudo visudo -c  # Verify syntax is valid

Required Commands Explained

Command	Purpose
apt-get update	Refresh package lists
apt-get -s upgrade	Simulate upgrade (dry-run, no actual changes)
unattended-upgrade -d	Apply security updates automatically

Security Notes

• Only these 3 specific commands are allowed
• No apt-get upgrade without -s (simulation only for tracking)
• No apt-get dist-upgrade or autoremove
• No package installation/removal through sudo
• NPM and brew do not require sudo (user installs)