Update Count Plugin

A compact Noctalia bar widget that periodically checks for available system updates and displays the current update count. Clicking the widget spawns a terminal to execute the configured system update command.

Features

Periodic Update Checks: Polls at a configurable interval and updates the displayed count.
Package Manager Detection: Supports common update-check/update flows for supported distros (see Requirements).
Click to Update: Launches a terminal to execute the configured system update command.
Custom Commands: Optional custom commands for both “get number of updates” and “do system update”.

Installation

This plugin is part of the noctalia-plugins repository.

Configuration

Configure the plugin in Noctalia settings:

Hide on Zero Updates: Hides the widget when the available update count is 0.
Update Check Interval: Polling interval used for update checks.
Icon Identifier / Select Icon: View and change the currently used icon name.
Custom Update Count Command: Shell command that must output a single integer.
Custom System Update Command: Shell command used to perform the update.
Terminal Emulator: Command used to spawn a terminal for the update action.
- If the value contains {}, it will be replaced with the update command.
- If {} is not present, the update command is appended.

Usage

Display: Shows an icon and the current update count.
Click: Spawns the configured terminal command and executes the system update command.
Hover: Shows a tooltip indicating whether updates are available or not.

Requirements

Noctalia Shell: 3.6.0 or later.
Update backend: one of the supported package managers defined in updaterConfigs.json (recommended, but not required).
- Paru/Yay: Default updaterConfigs.json requires checkupdates

Technical Details

Updater selection:
- Built-in update handling is driven by updaterConfigs.json, which defines the commands used to:
  - determine the number of available updates (cmdGetNumUpdates), and
  - perform the system update (cmdDoSystemUpdate).
- At runtime, the plugin selects the first available updater whose required executable checks succeed.
- If no updater matches, the plugin relies on the custom command settings.
Supported package managers / tools:
- Arch Linux: pacman; yay, paru (AUR helpers)
- Fedora: dnf
- Void Linux: xbps