pi-up

The goal of this project is to execute a custom update script on a Raspberry Pi according to a desired schedule and be notified of the results.

Background

Truthfully, this project could be used to execute any custom script on a Raspberry Pi according to a desired schedule.

The primary focus with this project though, is to update a Raspberry Pi. Also, this project currently assumes the Raspberry Pi is running Pi-hole and will attempt to update that as well.

Usage

Prerequisites

• Must have SSH access to Raspberry Pi
• Must know the IP address of your Raspberry Pi
• Git must be installed: apt-get install git
• Node.js must be installed on Raspberry Pi
• Must have sendmail package installed: apt-get install sendmail

Configuration

To get started you will want to update the config.json file in this repo. Below is a sample configuration:

{
    "scheduleCron": "0 0 18 * * *",
    "runOnInit": true,
    "scriptPath": "/home/pi/pi-up/custom-update.sh",
    "email": "[email protected]"
}

• scheduleCron - crontab describing schedule of which to run update script. 6 fields supported, finest granularity being 1 second.
• runOnInit - Whether or not the update script should be ran on initialization of schedule or not. When false, first run will happen on next scheduled occurrence.
• scriptPath - Path to custom script containing update routine. It's much safer to use the exact path, instead of a relative path to the script.
• email - Optional field for email address, email is sent to this address with results of update routine. Simply leave empty to not send an email.
• name - Optional field to identify your Raspberry Pi, this will be included in the subject of the email sent to you.

Starting scheduled update

1. SSH into Raspberry Pi

   ssh pi@<your-pi-ip-address>

2. Git clone this repo (on Raspberry Pi):

   git clone https://github.com/rcasto/pi-up

3. Change directory into repository folder:

   cd pi-up

4. Install npm package dependencies:

   npm install

5. Adjust configuration and script to your liking
6. Start update schedule:

   npm start

Running on Raspberry Pi bootup

Edit /etc/rc.local, adding:

node /home/pi/pi-up/index.js &

Note: You will want to have changed your scriptPath in the configuration to use an exact path.

Resources

• SSH Raspberry Pi
• Install Node.js and Npm on Raspberry Pi
• Helpful crontab scheduling editor
• Run command on Raspberry Pi bootup
• Pi-hole
• Big Blocklist Collection