Using tracer to point out service restart needs

If you’re seeing this via Fedora Planet, you probably saw Miroslav Suchý’s post from a few days ago about a project called Tracer. Tracer is a friendly tool to tell you what outdated services are running. With the dnf plugin installed, you get a list at the end of the upgrade process.

For example, right after I installed the plugin and ran an upgrade, I was told that I needed to restart the Samba service. In addition, there were several programs that needed to be manually restarted (KeePassX and Spider Oak, to name two). Plus, one process required a logout, and one required a full system reboot.

I’ve found this to be pretty useful, since I don’t always realize what services need to be restarted after package updates. I have a decade of system administration experience, so it’s not too bad for me. For others, this is a great way to shine light on exactly what needs to be restarted and how.