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Ubuntu – Configuring dpkg fails with error "Package dpkg is not configured yet."

Something is definitely discombobulated and it’s related to dpkg. No idea what caused it. Here are the symptoms:

The commands sudo apt upgrade, sudo apt install <any package>, sudo apt remove <any package> and sudo apt install -f all fail with the following error:

Setting up dpkg (1.21.1ubuntu2.1) ...
head: error reading 'info.bak': Is a directory
dpkg: error processing package dpkg (--configure):
 installed dpkg package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 dpkg

sudo apt update runs without issue.

Here is the output of sudo dpkg --configure -a, although I don’t have the technical know how to make heads or tails of what it means:

Setting up dpkg (1.21.1ubuntu2.1) ...
head: error reading 'info.bak': Is a directory
dpkg: error processing package dpkg (--configure):
 installed dpkg package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libdpkg-perl:
 libdpkg-perl depends on dpkg (>= 1.18.11); however:
  Package dpkg is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package libdpkg-perl (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of dpkg-dev:
 dpkg-dev depends on libdpkg-perl (= 1.21.1ubuntu2); however:
  Package libdpkg-perl is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package dpkg-dev (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of pkg-config:
 pkg-config depends on libdpkg-perl; however:
  Package libdpkg-perl is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package pkg-config (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libglib2.0-dev:amd64:
 libglib2.0-dev:amd64 depends on pkg-config; however:
  Package pkg-config is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package libglib2.0-dev:amd64 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libdbus-1-dev:amd64:
 libdbus-1-dev:amd64 depends on pkg-config; however:
  Package pkg-config is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package libdbus-1-dev:amd64 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for install-info:
 install-info depends on dpkg (>= 1.16.1); however:
  Package dpkg is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package install-info (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed
dpkg: dependency problems prevent processing triggers for sgml-base:
 sgml-base depends on dpkg (>= 1.16.4); however:
  Package dpkg is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package sgml-base (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving triggers unprocessed
Errors were encountered while processing:
 dpkg
 libdpkg-perl
 dpkg-dev
 pkg-config
 libglib2.0-dev:amd64
 libdbus-1-dev:amd64
 install-info
 sgml-base

I saw another thread on a similar topic that suggested the output of stat / /dev /var may be useful (though I’m not sure what for). Here it is anyway:

  File: /
  Size: 4096        Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   directory
Device: 801h/2049d  Inode: 2           Links: 20
Access: (0755/drwxr-xr-x)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2022-06-11 12:23:55.966935477 +1000
Modify: 2022-03-28 17:02:40.336120240 +1100
Change: 2022-06-11 12:15:41.459498623 +1000
 Birth: 2020-12-31 15:04:54.000000000 +1100
  File: /dev
  Size: 4720        Blocks: 0          IO Block: 4096   directory
Device: 5h/5d   Inode: 1           Links: 21
Access: (0755/drwxr-xr-x)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2022-06-11 11:59:38.006513248 +1000
Modify: 2022-06-11 11:59:17.901323228 +1000
Change: 2022-06-11 11:59:17.901323228 +1000
 Birth: -
  File: /var
  Size: 4096        Blocks: 8          IO Block: 4096   directory
Device: 801h/2049d  Inode: 5767169     Links: 15
Access: (0755/drwxr-xr-x)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2022-04-28 09:42:56.569785898 +1000
Modify: 2021-08-18 10:28:44.011762167 +1000
Change: 2021-08-18 10:28:44.011762167 +1000
 Birth: 2020-12-31 15:04:58.512613837 +1100

Running sudo chown root / did not make any difference.

My system:

                          ./+o+-       mblizzard@HP248G1
                  yyyyy- -yyyyyy+      OS: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
               ://+//////-yyyyyyo      Kernel: x86_64 Linux 5.15.0-23-generic
           .++ .:/++++++/-.+sss/`      Uptime: 1h 5m
         .:++o:  /++++++++/:--:/-      Packages: 4191
        o:+o+:++.`..```.-/oo+++++/     Shell: bash 5.1.16
       .:+o:+o/.          `+sssoo+/    Resolution: 2646x1024
  .++/+:+oo+o:`             /sssooo.   DE: Xfce
 /+++//+:`oo+o               /::--:.   WM: Xfwm4
 +/+o+++`o++o               ++////.   WM Theme: Sweet-Ambar
  .++.o+++oo+:`             /dddhhh.   GTK Theme: Sweet-Dark [GTK2]
       .+.o+oo:.          `oddhhhh+    Icon Theme: TheOne
        +.++o+o``-````.:ohdhhhhh+     Font: Noto Sans 10
         `:o+++ `ohhhhhhhhyo++os:      Disk: 791G / 916G (91%)
           .o:`.syhhhhhhh/.oo++o`      CPU: Intel Core i5-4200U @ 4x 2.6GHz [40.0°C]
               /osyyyyyyo++ooo+++/     GPU: Mesa Intel(R) HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
                   ````` +oo+++o:     RAM: 4823MiB / 7871MiB
                          `oo++.

Thanks in advance!

Tags:

3

Answers


  1. Chosen as BEST ANSWER
    0

    Solved my own problem by running sudo mv /var/lib/dpkg/info/dpkg* /tmp, followed by sudo apt install -f and sudo dpkg --configure -a.

    Have a read of https://itsfoss.com/dpkg-returned-an-error-code-1/ to see why that works.


  2. 0

    So, this answer will not be the most helpful ever, but I experienced a similar problem today, where ‘out of the blue’ I got the message about some package not yet being configured.

    The command sudo apt install -f initially didn’t work, though. Only after I ran sudo dpkg --configure -a and then the former command, all seemed well again.

    It’s still a mystery to me, how all this came to be, but I’m glad Mblizzard found the solution, that also worked in my case. Thanks!

    Note: I’m using Pop!_OS 22.04 and I noticed the first signs of trouble when the Pop!_Shop app wouldn’t update installed applications anymore. Instead it just closed without any notice.

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  3. 0

    There might be a symbolik link inside /var/lib/dpkg with name dpkg pointing to this folder. Removing it before configuring helps

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