<code>yum-cron</code> will work just like Debian's [[unattended upgrades]]. Use it to keep your RedHat or CentOS* host up-to-date with security patches and even regular package updates. yum-cron is an alternate interface to [[yum]], optimized for cron.
'''* Note:''' As the official CentOS repositories don't provide any security metadata, <code>update_cmd = default</code> is the only option that works "out of the box" for CentOS -- meaning you can't be choosy and can't apply only security updates. The work-arounds are: use a different distro (e.g. Scientific Linux does security updates automatically), or become a patron of Steve Meier's repository which adds in the security metadata <ref>https://updateinfo.cefs.steve-meier.de/</ref>
Similarly, you can use <code>yum autoremove</code> to remove obsolete packages from your system.