I deliberately don't use automatic updates to improve relay stability and only update when it's necessary. And this applies to any updates including the FreeBSD/OpenBSD kernel (which requires a reboot as well). Not all updates are security patches or are relevant enough to immediately effectuate. Sometimes they can go ~60 days without needing a Tor restart.
But your mileage may vary. For example some operators compile Tor daily and then a restart may be required more often. I do feel something is wrong in your configuration though. Tor certainly has updates occasionally, but not every few hours. Also in Tor Project's Debian repo[1] it looks like the last update was from 22-03 (and not a few hours ago). So you may want to check your apt configuration. I don't use Debian/Linux so someone else could maybe chime in to help you with setting that up properly.
Dear Tor-Relays Mailing List Members,
I hope this email finds you well. I'm reaching out to share some observations and pose some questions regarding the management of relay node updates, particularly concerning their impact on stability and security of the service provided.
Recently, I've noticed an interesting pattern with my relay node (ID: 47B72187844C00AA5D524415E52E3BE81E63056B [1]). I've followed TorProject's recommendations [2] and configured automatic updates, which has led to frequent restarts of the node to keep the Tor software up-to-date. While this practice ensures high security by keeping the software updated, it seems to compromise the stability of the node itself. The Uptime value of my node has remained at a maximum of a few hours.
This situation has prompted me to reflect on what might be the best strategy to adopt. On one hand, frequent updates ensure optimal security, while on the other hand, continuous restarts may affect the user experience for those relying on the node's stability for their Tor activities.
As such, I'd like to pose some questions to the community to gather feedback and assess best practices:
1. In your opinion, is it preferable to maintain automatic updates to ensure maximum security, even if frequent restarts may compromise the node's stability?
2. Or would it be more sensible to adjust the update frequency, perhaps performing them once or twice a week, to ensure greater stability of the node without excessively compromising security?
3. Have you had similar experiences with your relay nodes? How have you addressed this challenge and what were the outcomes?
Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation.
Best regards,
Aleff.
[1] https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/47B72187844C00AA5D524415E52E3BE81E63056B
[2] https://community.torproject.org/relay/setup/guard/debian-ubuntu/updates/
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