This is how to make the “Install pending software updates” checkbox go away in GNOME

If you’re using GNOME, and when you tell it you want to shut down or reboot your system it pops up a confirmation dialog with an “Install pending software update” checkbox in it, and the checkbox is checked by default, and you want to make that checkbox go away or at least be unchecked by default, then you’ve come to the right place.

There’s no perfect way to do this. Below I talk about two imperfect solutions that are available. If you think there should be an easier way, feel free to weigh in here. The GNOME developers are skeptical that anyone wants or needs this, but maybe if enough people ask for it they will reconsider.

Imperfect solution one: Open the preferences for the GNOME Software app and change “Software Updates” there from “Automatic” to “Manual”. Caveats:

• This may only work on systems, such as Fedora-based systems, where PackageKit uses a separate update cache from the system. On APT-based systems (Debian, Ubuntu, and the like), where it appears that PackageKit uses the same update cache as the underlying APT system (as it should!), then when the updates are downloaded outside of GNOME Software, you may still see the checkbox.
• If there were already updates downloaded before you switched from Automatic to Manual, you will get the checkbox. You need to install those updates (either through GNOME Software or with DNF or APT or whatever) and then refresh the GNOME Software Updates tab to make them go away there.
• If you check for updates in the GNOME Software app manually and then click the Download button, you will probably get the checkbox the next time you try to shut down or restart.

Imperfect solution two: Create the file /etc/polkit-1/rules.d/99-disable-offline-update.rules, owned by user “root” and group “polkitd”, with the following contents:

polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
 if ((action.id == "org.freedesktop.packagekit.trigger-offline-update")) {
  return polkit.Result.NO;
 }
});

Caveat: This will disable all attempts to trigger offline updates, not just the checkbox that shows up when you try to shutdown or restart your system. This means, for example, that you won’t be able to trigger “Restart and install…” updates from inside the GNOME Software app either.