diff --git a/tools/pve/update-lxcs-cron.sh b/tools/pve/update-lxcs-cron.sh
index a6d6f0987..68e523a5b 100644
--- a/tools/pve/update-lxcs-cron.sh
+++ b/tools/pve/update-lxcs-cron.sh
@@ -1,23 +1,43 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
-# Copyright (c) 2021-2026 tteck
-# Author: tteck (tteckster)
-# License: MIT
-# https://github.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/raw/main/LICENSE
+# Copyright (c) 2021-2026 community-scripts ORG
+# Author: MickLesk (CanbiZ)
+# License: MIT | https://github.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/raw/main/LICENSE
+#
+# This script is installed locally by cron-update-lxcs.sh and executed
+# by cron. It updates all LXC containers using their native package manager.
+
+CONF_FILE="/etc/update-lxcs.conf"
 
 echo -e "\n $(date)"
+
+# Collect excluded containers from arguments
 excluded_containers=("$@")
+
+# Merge exclusions from config file if it exists
+if [[ -f "$CONF_FILE" ]]; then
+  conf_exclude=$(grep -oP '^\s*EXCLUDE\s*=\s*\K[0-9,]+' "$CONF_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)
+  IFS=',' read -ra conf_ids <<<"$conf_exclude"
+  for id in "${conf_ids[@]}"; do
+    id="${id// /}"
+    [[ -n "$id" ]] && excluded_containers+=("$id")
+  done
+fi
+
 function update_container() {
-  container=$1
-  name=$(pct exec "$container" hostname)
-  echo -e "\n [Info] Updating $container : $name \n"
+  local container=$1
+  local name
+  name=$(pct exec "$container" hostname 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
+  local os
   os=$(pct config "$container" | awk '/^ostype/ {print $2}')
+  echo -e "\n [Info] Updating $container : $name (os: $os)"
   case "$os" in
   alpine) pct exec "$container" -- ash -c "apk -U upgrade" ;;
   archlinux) pct exec "$container" -- bash -c "pacman -Syyu --noconfirm" ;;
   fedora | rocky | centos | alma) pct exec "$container" -- bash -c "dnf -y update && dnf -y upgrade" ;;
-  ubuntu | debian | devuan) pct exec "$container" -- bash -c "apt-get update && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" dist-upgrade -y; rm -rf /usr/lib/python3.*/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED" ;;
+  ubuntu | debian | devuan) pct exec "$container" -- bash -c "apt-get update && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get -o Dpkg::Options::='--force-confold' dist-upgrade -y; rm -rf /usr/lib/python3.*/EXTERNALLY-MANAGED" ;;
   opensuse) pct exec "$container" -- bash -c "zypper ref && zypper --non-interactive dup" ;;
+  *) echo " [Warn] Unknown OS type '$os' for container $container, skipping" ;;
   esac
 }
 
@@ -34,16 +54,19 @@ for container in $(pct list | awk '{if(NR>1) print $1}'); do
     sleep 1
   else
     status=$(pct status "$container")
-    template=$(pct config "$container" | grep -q "template:" && echo "true" || echo "false")
-    if [ "$template" == "false" ] && [ "$status" == "status: stopped" ]; then
+    if pct config "$container" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "^template:"; then
+      echo -e "[Info] Skipping template $container"
+      continue
+    fi
+    if [ "$status" == "status: stopped" ]; then
       echo -e "[Info] Starting $container"
       pct start "$container"
       sleep 5
-      update_container "$container"
+      update_container "$container" || echo " [Error] Update failed for $container"
       echo -e "[Info] Shutting down $container"
-      pct shutdown "$container" &
+      pct shutdown "$container" --timeout 60 &
     elif [ "$status" == "status: running" ]; then
-      update_container "$container"
+      update_container "$container" || echo " [Error] Update failed for $container"
     fi
   fi
 done