Discord Auto-Updater for Debian/Ubuntu

Automatic Discord updater for Debian/Ubuntu systems. Since Discord doesn't provide an official APT repository, this tool automatically updates Discord to keep you on the latest version without manual intervention.

✨ Features

• 🔄 Automatic version checking and updates
• ⏰ Daily checks via systemd timer
• 🛡️ Safe download and package verification
• 📝 Comprehensive logging system
• ⚙️ Configuration file support
• 🔐 System-wide installation with proper permissions
• 🚨 Desktop notifications for updates
• 💾 Backup creation before updates
• 🔒 Lock file prevents multiple instances
• 🧹 Automatic cleanup of temporary files

📋 System Requirements

• Debian/Ubuntu or other dpkg-based systems
• Root privileges (sudo)
• Internet connection
• curl or wget (automatically installed if missing)
• systemd (for scheduled updates)

🚀 Installation

Quick Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd discord-auto-updater

# Run the installation script
sudo ./install.sh

Manual Installation

# Copy script to system location
sudo cp discord-auto-updater.sh /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/discord-auto-updater.sh

# Create configuration file
sudo cp discord-updater.conf /etc/

# Install systemd files
sudo cp discord-auto-updater.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo cp discord-auto-updater.timer /etc/systemd/system/

# Reload and enable systemd
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable discord-auto-updater.timer
sudo systemctl start discord-auto-updater.timer

🎮 Usage

Basic Commands

# Update Discord now
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh

# Force update (even if versions match)
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --force

# Check only, don't install
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --check-only

# Show current version
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --version

# Help information
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --help

# Silent mode (no console output)
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --silent

Service Management

# Check timer status
sudo systemctl status discord-auto-updater.timer

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u discord-auto-updater.service

# Stop automatic updates
sudo systemctl stop discord-auto-updater.timer

# Start automatic updates
sudo systemctl start discord-auto-updater.timer

# Disable automatic updates completely
sudo systemctl disable discord-auto-updater.timer

# See next scheduled run
sudo systemctl list-timers discord-auto-updater.timer

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration file: /etc/discord-updater.conf

# Enable automatic update checks (1 = enabled, 0 = disabled)
DEFAULT_UPDATE_CHECK=1

# Force updates even if versions match (1 = enabled, 0 = disabled)
DEFAULT_FORCE_UPDATE=0

# Silent mode - suppress console output (1 = silent, 0 = verbose)
DEFAULT_SILENT=0

# Create backup before updates (1 = enabled, 0 = disabled)
DEFAULT_BACKUP=1

Advanced Configuration

# Custom Discord download URL (advanced users only)
DISCORD_URL="https://discord.com/api/download?platform=linux&format=deb"

# Custom temporary directory
TEMP_DIR="/tmp/discord-updater"

# Custom log file location
LOG_FILE="/var/log/discord-updater.log"

📊 Logging System

Log file: /var/log/discord-updater.log

# Follow live logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/discord-updater.log

# Last 50 lines
sudo tail -n 50 /var/log/discord-updater.log

# Systemd logs
sudo journalctl -u discord-auto-updater.service -f

# View logs with timestamps
sudo journalctl -u discord-auto-updater.service --since "1 hour ago"

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem: Discord not updating

# Check manually
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --check-only

# Check logs
sudo tail -n 20 /var/log/discord-updater.log

# Test internet connection
curl -I https://discord.com

Problem: Permission denied

# Check script permissions
ls -la /usr/local/bin/discord-auto-updater.sh

# Fix permissions
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/discord-auto-updater.sh

Problem: Systemd timer not working

# Check timer status
sudo systemctl status discord-auto-updater.timer

# Restart timer
sudo systemctl restart discord-auto-updater.timer

# Check if timer is enabled
sudo systemctl is-enabled discord-auto-updater.timer

Problem: Download failures

# Test direct download
curl -I "https://discord.com/api/download?platform=linux&format=deb"

# Check DNS resolution
nslookup discord.com

# Verify proxy settings if applicable
echo $http_proxy $https_proxy

Testing and Debugging

# Test configuration loading
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --check-only

# Run with verbose logging
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh

# Manual service execution
sudo systemctl start discord-auto-updater.service

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status discord-auto-updater.service

# Validate systemd timer syntax
sudo systemd-analyze verify /etc/systemd/system/discord-auto-updater.timer

🗑️ Uninstallation

Automatic Uninstallation

sudo ./install.sh uninstall

Manual Uninstallation

# Stop and disable service
sudo systemctl stop discord-auto-updater.timer
sudo systemctl disable discord-auto-updater.timer

# Remove files
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/discord-auto-updater.sh
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/discord-auto-updater.service
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/discord-auto-updater.timer
sudo rm -f /etc/discord-updater.conf

# Optionally remove log file
sudo rm -f /var/log/discord-updater.log

# Reload systemd
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

📁 File Structure

discord-auto-updater/
├── discord-auto-updater.sh     # Main updater script
├── discord-auto-updater.service # Systemd service file
├── discord-auto-updater.timer   # Systemd timer file
├── discord-updater.conf         # Configuration template
├── install.sh                   # Installation script
└── README.md                    # This document

🔒 Security Features

• Downloads only from official Discord URLs
• Package verification and integrity checks
• Requires root privileges for system-wide installation
• Temporary files are automatically cleaned up
• Systemd security restrictions applied (PrivateTmp, ProtectSystem, etc.)
• Lock file prevents multiple simultaneous executions
• Safe error handling and rollback capabilities

📈 How It Works

1. Version Detection: Compares installed Discord version with latest available
2. Secure Download: Downloads official Discord .deb package from Discord's servers
3. Verification: Validates downloaded package integrity and authenticity
4. Backup: Creates backup information before updates (optional)
5. Installation: Uses dpkg/apt to safely install the new version
6. Cleanup: Removes temporary files and sends notifications
7. Logging: Records all operations for audit and troubleshooting

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork this repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow bash best practices and use shellcheck
• Test on multiple Debian/Ubuntu versions
• Maintain backward compatibility
• Update documentation for new features
• Add appropriate error handling and logging

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

💡 Feature Requests and Bug Reports

If you encounter issues or have suggestions, please report them in the GitHub Issues section.

❓ FAQ

Q: When does the update check happen?
A: Daily with a randomized delay of up to 2 hours to distribute server load.

Q: Can updates happen while Discord is running?
A: Yes, but Discord will need to be restarted to use the new version.

Q: Are there update notifications?
A: Yes, via desktop notifications (if available) and log entries.

Q: How are versions compared?
A: Using dpkg's built-in package version comparison system.

Q: What happens if Discord is already up to date?
A: The script exits gracefully without making changes.

Q: Can I customize the update schedule?
A: Yes, edit the systemd timer file or disable it and use cron instead.

Q: Is this safe to use on production systems?
A: Yes, the script includes safety checks, backups, and proper error handling.

🚀 Quick Start Example

# Download and install
git clone <repository-url>
cd discord-auto-updater
sudo ./install.sh

# Verify installation
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh --version
sudo systemctl status discord-auto-updater.timer

# Manual update (optional)
sudo discord-auto-updater.sh

# Check logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/discord-updater.log

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Note: This tool is not an official Discord product and is not supported by Discord's official support team. Use at your own discretion.