A basic python script that executes apt-get -s dist-upgrade | grep "^Inst" and logs the pending packages for upgrade, the purpose is to use the generated log as a source for an Azure Log Analytics Workspace custom log table. All files will be deployed into /opt/patchlogger.

Sample log entry:

2020-11-03 01:31:30,616 Name=openssh-server Architecture=amd64 Version=1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.10 Repository=Ubuntu:16.04/xenial-updates

• A new user patchlogger is created.
• A new file is created in /etc/sudoers.d/ directory to grant sudo to patchlogger user to /opt/patchlogger/APTUpdates.sh script.
• All files are copied into /opt/patchlogger/ directory.
• A file is placed into /etc/cron.d/patchlogger.
  • It runs the patchInventory.py script every 12 hrs.
  • It adds a logrotate job to check every 12 hrs.

To setup the custom log as a data source for a log analytics workspace refer to the official docs