My Update Center (MUC)

A distributed system monitoring tool that tracks pending package updates across your home network. The system consists of client that run on each machine and a server that aggregates and displays update information via a web interface.

Overview

This project monitors system updates across multiple machines in your network:

• Client: Runs on each machine (macOS, Linux) and periodically checks for pending updates
• Server: Aggregates update information from all clients and provides a web dashboard
• Communication: Uses NATS for messaging between clients and server

Supported Systems

Package Managers

• Linux: apt (Debian/Ubuntu), dnf (Fedora/RHEL), yum (older RHEL/CentOS), nixos-rebuild (NixOS)
• macOS: Homebrew (brew)

Platforms

• macOS (darwin)
• Linux (ARM, ARM64, x86_64)

Architecture

• Clients connect to a NATS server and publish system information including pending updates every minute
• Server can run an embedded NATS server (default) or connect to an external NATS instance
• Storage uses BoltDB to persist system state
• Web Interface provides a real-time dashboard to view all systems and their update status

Building

Build All Components

make build

Build Individual Components

make client    # Build client only
make server    # Build server only

Cross-Compilation

make linux     # Build Linux binaries for all architectures (ARM, ARM64, AMD64)
make linux-all # Build both client and server for all Linux architectures

Other Targets

make help      # Show all available make targets
make clean     # Clean build artifacts
make test      # Run tests
make fmt       # Format code

Configuration

Server Configuration

The server can be configured via multiple sources, loaded in the following priority order (highest to lowest):

1. Environment variables (prefixed with MUC_)
2. .env file in the working directory
3. config.yml in the working directory or /etc/muc/
4. Built-in defaults

Configuration is powered by Viper.

Configuration Keys:

Key	Env Var	Default	Description
nats_url	MUC_NATS_URL	embedded	NATS server URL (embedded runs a built-in NATS server)
nats_port	MUC_NATS_PORT	4222	Port for embedded NATS server
db_path	MUC_DB_PATH	systems.db	Path to BoltDB database file
http_port	MUC_HTTP_PORT	8080	Web server port
consul_url	MUC_CONSUL_URL	http://localhost:8500	Consul agent URL for service registration
consul_tags	MUC_CONSUL_TAGS	(none)	Comma-separated Consul service tags

CLI Flags:

• --dev: Enable dev mode (debug logging enabled)
• --json: Output logs in JSON format (default: text format)

Example using environment variables:

export MUC_HTTP_PORT=3000
export MUC_DB_PATH=/var/lib/muc/systems.db
export MUC_CONSUL_TAGS=production,us-east-1
./muc-server --dev

Example .env file:

MUC_HTTP_PORT=3000
MUC_DB_PATH=/var/lib/muc/systems.db
MUC_CONSUL_URL=http://consul.local:8500
MUC_CONSUL_TAGS=production,us-east-1

Example config.yml:

nats_url: embedded
nats_port: 4222
db_path: /var/lib/muc/systems.db
http_port: 8080
consul_url: http://consul.local:8500
consul_tags:
  - production
  - us-east-1

Client Configuration

The client supports automatic server discovery using multiple methods, tried in order:

1. Environment Variable Override: MUC_NATS_URL (highest priority)
2. DNS SRV Records: Looks for _muc-server._tcp, _muc-nats._tcp, or _nats._tcp service records (tried in order)
3. Consul Service Discovery: Queries Consul for nats, muc-nats, or muc-server services (tried in order, most generic first)
4. Environment Variable Fallback: MUC_NATS_SERVER_IP with default port 4222
5. Hardcoded Default: 192.168.1.157:4222 (last resort)

Environment Variables:

• MUC_NATS_URL: NATS server URL (e.g., nats://192.168.1.157:4222) - explicit override, highest priority
• MUC_NATS_SERVER_IP: NATS server IP address (fallback if discovery fails)
• MUC_NATS_PORT: NATS server port (default: 4222)
• MUC_NATS_DISCOVERY_DOMAIN: Domain for DNS SRV lookup (default: tries hostname domain, local, lan, home.arpa)
• MUC_NATS_DISCOVERY_SERVICE: Service name for DNS SRV lookup (default: tries muc-server, muc-nats, nats in order)
• MUC_CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR: Consul API address (default: localhost:8500)
• MUC_NATS_CONSUL_SERVICE: Consul service name to query (default: tries nats, muc-nats, muc-server in order)

CLI Flags:

• --dev: Enable dev mode (debug logging enabled)
• --json: Output logs in JSON format (default: text format)

Examples:

Explicit configuration:

export MUC_NATS_URL=nats://192.168.1.157:4222
./muc-client --dev

DNS SRV record discovery (requires DNS configuration):

# Configure DNS SRV records (tried in order):
# - _muc-server._tcp.example.com (most specific, tried first)
# - _muc-nats._tcp.example.com
# - _nats._tcp.example.com (generic, tried last)
# Example: _muc-server._tcp.example.com -> server.example.com:4222
export MUC_NATS_DISCOVERY_DOMAIN=example.com
./muc-client

# Or specify a specific service name:
export MUC_NATS_DISCOVERY_DOMAIN=example.com
export MUC_NATS_DISCOVERY_SERVICE=muc-server
./muc-client

Consul service discovery:

# Ensure Consul is running and service is registered
# Service names tried in order: nats, muc-nats, muc-server
export MUC_CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR=consul.example.com:8500
export MUC_NATS_CONSUL_SERVICE=nats  # Optional: specify a specific service name
./muc-client

Automatic discovery (no configuration needed if DNS/Consul is set up):

./muc-client  # Will try DNS SRV, then Consul, then fallback to default

Logging

The application uses structured logging with log/slog:

• Default: Info level, text format (syslog-like) on stdout
• Dev Mode (--dev): Debug level enabled, shows detailed debug information
• JSON Output (--json): Outputs logs in JSON format for log aggregation systems

Examples:

# Default: Info level, text format
./muc-server

# Dev mode: Debug level, text format
./muc-server --dev

# JSON output
./muc-server --json

# Dev mode with JSON output
./muc-server --dev --json

Running as a Service

The client can be run as a systemd service. See client/contrib/systemd.unit for an example systemd unit file.

Usage

1. Start the server:

   cd server
   make run
   # Or with dev mode for debug logging:
   ./muc-server --dev

   The web interface will be available at http://localhost:8080 (or your configured MUC_HTTP_PORT).

2. Run clients on each machine:

   cd client
   ./muc-client
   # Or with dev mode for debug logging:
   ./muc-client --dev

   The client will automatically connect to the NATS server and start reporting system information.

3. View the dashboard: Open your browser to the server's HTTP port to see all systems and their update status.

Web Interface

The web dashboard provides:

• Overview of all monitored systems
• System details (hostname, OS, architecture, IP address)
• Pending update lists with package names and versions
• Sortable columns
• Expandable rows to view detailed update information
• Last seen timestamps

Alternatives

Instead of using this tool, you could run a cron job or systemd timer to auto-update. However, this approach has drawbacks:

• Sometimes reboots are required after updates
• Services (like Docker) may crash during updates
• You lose visibility and control over when updates are applied

This tool gives you visibility into pending updates across all your systems, allowing you to plan updates appropriately.

License

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