Upgraded packages that require a restart

[Jordon Bedwell]

On Fri, 2010-10-08 at 12:47 +0100, R Kimber wrote:
> Is there a definitive list somewhere that shows which packages, when
> upgraded, require you to restart the computer?  Long ago, it used to be just
> the kernel, but now it seems to embrace various packages.  It would help if
> the upgrade manager announced clearly, before you upgrade, that a restart is
> required if you go ahead, but it doesn't.
> If there isn't a webpage somewhere, maybe it would be useful if this list
> compiled one (?).  I'm guessing, but a start might be:
> 
> kernel
> dbus
> libc6
> openssl

If /var/run/reboot-required exists then you need to restart.

Example:
sudo /usr/share/update-notifier/notify-reboot-required
sudo cat /var/run/reboot-required
*** System restart required ***

The first command simply tells the system a reboot is needed so it
creates /var/run/reboot-required, so you can test it out.  The second is
what is inside of /var/run/reboot-required.

I do not know of a full list that has packages that require a restart
though, and you could certainly use that in conjunction with python or
Perl, or even {SH,BASH,KSH} to build a list, or start building a list.