I installed the version of base-files from Ubuntu 18.04's proposed repository and after installation of the package not timer was running for motd-news. I rebooted to see if that would active the timer and it did not.
bdmurray@clean-xenial-amd64:~$ ls -lh /var/cache/motd-news -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Jul 18 12:32 /var/cache/motd-news bdmurray@clean-xenial-amd64:~$ systemctl list-timers --all NEXT LEFT LAST PASSED UNIT ACTIVATES Thu 2019-07-18 21:33:41 PDT 8h left Thu 2019-07-18 12:20:38 PDT 1h 8min ago apt-daily.timer apt-daily.service Fri 2019-07-19 06:01:14 PDT 16h left Thu 2019-07-18 12:20:38 PDT 1h 8min ago apt-daily-upgrade.timer apt-daily-upgrade.service Fri 2019-07-19 12:47:35 PDT 23h left Thu 2019-07-18 12:47:35 PDT 41min ago systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service n/a n/a n/a n/a snapd.refresh.timer n/a n/a n/a n/a snapd.snap-repair.timer snapd.snap-repair.service n/a n/a n/a n/a ureadahead-stop.timer ureadahead-stop.service 6 timers listed. bdmurray@clean-xenial-amd64:~$ uptime 13:29:32 up 57 min, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 bdmurray@clean-xenial-amd64:~$ apt-cache policy base-files base-files: Installed: 9.4ubuntu4.10 Candidate: 9.4ubuntu4.10 Version table: *** 9.4ubuntu4.10 100 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status 9.4ubuntu4.8 500 500 https://ubuntu.osuosl.org/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages 9.4ubuntu4 500 500 https://ubuntu.osuosl.org/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1637800 Title: add a motd script for news To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/1637800/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs