---
name: "apt-dater.xml"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "apt-dater"
version: "1.0.4-8+b2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/apt-dater.xml"
---

# apt-dater.xml(5)

configuration file of apt-dater(8)

## NAME

apt-dater.xml - configuration file of [apt-dater(8)](/apt-dater/8.md)

## SYNOPSIS

```
<apt-dater xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
    <ssh
	spawn-agent="true">
        <add-key fn="/path/to/id_rsa1"/>
        <add-key fn="/path/to/id_rsa2"/>
    </ssh>
    <paths
	hosts-file="path-to/hosts.xml"
	stats-dir="path-to/stats"/>
    <history
        record="true"
	err-pattern="((?<!no )error|warning|fail)"/>
</apt-dater>
```

## DESCRIPTION

The file *apt-dater.xml* is the configuration file for [**apt-dater**(8)](/apt-dater/8.md). [**apt-dater**(8)](/apt-dater/8.md) is a program to manage package updates on a large number of remote hosts using SSH. This man page descripes briefly the parameters of the file *apt-dater.xml*. The default location of this file is *$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/apt-dater/apt-dater.xml*.

The configuration file is parsed using libxml2 and supports Xincludes.

## OPTIONS

### Attributes of the 'paths' element

hosts-file="*$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/apt-dater/hosts.xml*"

The location of the file contains all host which will be managed with **apt-dater**. (optional)

stats-dir="*$XDG\_DATA\_HOME/apt-dater*"

The location of the directory which contains the status files of any host. (optional)

### Attributes of the'screen' element

rc-file="*$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/apt-dater/screenrc*"

Location of [screen(1)](/screen/1.md) config file. (optional)

title="*%m # %u@%h:%p*"

Template for screen titles using string escapes. (optional)

no-dumps=*"false"*

Enables/disables support of screen dumps. (optional)

query-maintainer=*"false"*

If set to 1, apt-dater will ask for the maintainers name on startup. If set to 2, apt-dater will only ask if no MAINTAINER environment variable is set.

### Attributes of the'ssh' element

cmd="*/usr/bin/ssh*

The location of ssh-client binary.

sftp-cmd

The command to initiate sftp file transfer e.g. **/usr/bin/sftp**

opt-cmd-flags

Additional ssh-client command flags, which will be appended.

spawn-agent=*"false"*

If enabled, apt-dater tries to spawn [ssh-agent(1)](/ssh-agent/1.md) if none is already running. [ssh-add(1)](/ssh-add/1.md) will be called to load your private keys.

add-keys

List of private keys which should be loaded when apt-dater calls [ssh-add(1)](/ssh-add/1.md).

apt-dater will try to load additional private SSH keys using [ssh-add(1)](/ssh-add/1.md) during start. Those keys needs to be listed as add-key child elements. The attribute fn refers to the filename of the private key:

```
<ssh spawn-agent="false" ..>
  <add-key fn="/path/to/id_rsa1"/>
</ssh>
```

### Attributes of the'commands' element

CmdRefresh="*apt-dater-host refresh*"

The command which will be used to refresh the status of the managed host.

CmdUpgrade="*apt-dater-host upgrade*"

The command which will be used to intitate a upgrade of a managed host.

CmdInstall="*apt-dater-host install %s*"

The command which will be used to update a single package. *%s* will be replaced by the name of the package.

### Attributes of the'appearance' element

colors

Set your own color style of the ui components. To highlight colors you can use the *bright*\* keyword. Example: Colors=menu brightgreen blue;status brightgreen blue;selector black red;

.\
    Components are:

default

menu

status

selector

hoststatus

query

input

Colors are:

**default**

**black**

**cyan**

**green**

**magenta**

**red**

**white**

**yellow**

### Attributes of the'auto-ref' element

enabled=*"true"*

Enabled the auto refresh feature if compiled in (see README.autoref).

### Attributes of the'notify' element

beep=*"true"*

Enables user notification by terminal bell.

flash=*"true"*

Enables user notification by terminal flashing.

### Attributes of the'history' element

err-pattern="*((?\<!no )error\|warning\|fail)*"

A regular expression pattern to match the screen output. A match indicates the user should be asked to review the output (using less). (Optional)

record=*"true"*

Enables session recording using [script(1)](/script/1.md). (Optional)

### Attributes of the'hooks' element

pre-update="*/etc/apt-dater/pre-upg.d*", pre-refresh="*/etc/apt-dater/pre-ref.d*", pre-install="*/etc/apt-dater/pre-ins.d*", pre-connect="*/etc/apt-dater/pre-con.d*", post-update="*/etc/apt-dater/post-upg.d*", post-refresh="*/etc/apt-dater/post-ref.d*", post-install="*/etc/apt-dater/post-ins.d*", post-connect="*/etc/apt-dater/post-con.d*"

Hooks to be run before and after an action on a host is done. The values should be path names, any executable script within these directories will be run by [**run-parts**(8)](/run-parts/8.md).

## STRING ESCAPES

[**apt-dater**(8)](/apt-dater/8.md) provides an string escape mechanism. The escape character is '%'.

    .sp\
 **Table 1. List of supported escapes.**

| | |
| --- | --- |
| escape | replaced by |
| % | escape character |
| h | hostname |
| H | SSH hostname used for connecting |
| m | maintainer name |
| p | SSH port number |
| u | SSH username |
| U | SSH username appended by '@', empty string if no SSH username is configured. |

## FILES

*apt-dater.xml*

The configuration file of apt-dater.

*hosts.xml*

Contains all hosts you would like to manage.

## SEE ALSO

[apt-dater(8)](/apt-dater/8.md), apt-get(1), debtrack, [screen(1)](/screen/1.md), [script(1)](/script/1.md), [ssh(1)](/ssh/1.md), **XDG Base Directory Specification**\[1\].

## AUTHORS

**Thomas Liske** \<liske@ibh.de\>

maintainer

**Andre Ellguth**

ex-maintainer

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2008-2015 IBH IT-Service GmbH \[**https://www.ibh.de/**\]\

## NOTES

- 1\.

  XDG Base Directory Specification

  http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/basedir-spec