Typically CouchPotato update to new release is done manually but in this post I will show you how to make CouchPotato auto update itself on Linux. CouchPotato, an awesome little app that automates movie downloads, has been covered extensively by us, including installation (Windows / Ubuntu), configuration, and uninstallation. CouchPotato autoupdate can save time as it happens in the background without any user interaction. Plus, you will always have the latest and the greatest, including any security patches. So let us see how to enable CouchPotato auto update on Linux. [Read: 5 Best Usenet Search providers for Sick Beard and CouchPotato]
CouchPotato Update Notification
When an update is available, CouchPotato app notifies you by throwing a notification at the bottom of Couch Potato web interface.
Depending on how you configured CouchPotato, you may also receive an email notification to upgrade CouchPotato. [Read: Simplify downloading movies using CouchPotato Firefox plugin]
Then you login into your CouchPotato webui and click update. But what if you could auto update CouchPotato when updates are available without you doing anything?
Create CouchPotato Auto Update Script
As described in my CouchPotato installation guide, you can always stop CouchPotato, update it using the git pull, and restart it manually from the commandline. This process can be simplified by creating an update script.
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Note that for this to work, you will have to have installed CouchPotato following our guide and your CouchPotato should be installed under .couchpotato in your home folder. If your CouchPotato app is installed in a different location then this should be reflected in the /etc/default/couchpotato file.
Create a file (using nano) or your favorite text editor and copy the following contents to it. Change USERNAME to your username. Save the file as couchpotato-updater.sh in your home folder (or anywhere you like).
#!/bin/bash # CouchPotato Auto Update Script from htpcBeginner sudo /etc/init.d/couchpotato stop sleep 10 cd /home/USERNAME/.couchpotato git pull sudo /etc/init.d/couchpotato start
Basically, what this CouchPotato auto update script does is that it stops CouchPotato and moves to CouchPotato folder. Then issues the CouchPotato udpate git command to pull latest files and restarts CouchPotato. [Read: CouchPotato Chrome extension – easily add movies to download queue]
Next, cd in your home folder (or where you saved the file) and give the script execute permission using the following command:
sudo chmod 755 couchpotato-updater.sh
Now anytime you want to update CouchPotato, all your have to do is move to where the CouchPotato autoupdate script is saved and issue the following command:
sudo ./couchpotato-updater.sh
Don't ignore the sudo and the dot in the front. This is all fine and dandy but how do I auto upgrade CouchPotato? That's next. [Read: CouchPotato Apache reverse proxy]
Autorun CouchPotato Update using Cron
Webmin makes several system administration tasks easier, especially on a headless system. If you are not comfortable with commandline, I recommend installing and securing Webmin. You can create a cron job using Webmin interface to automatically run the CouchPotato auto update script at a set frequency. Go to System -> Scheduled Cron Jobs create a cron job as shown below.
In the example above, I am setting up the CouchPotato upgrade script to autorun at midnight. You could also do the same thing from commandline by creating a cron tab item, if you know what you are doing. Cron should email you the output of the command. If you find that annoying you may disable Cron email notifications.
That is all there is to it. Go ahead setup your CouchPotato auto update and get one step closer to completely automating your home server.
