Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_binary-amd64_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)

[Alin Andrei]

Apt fails if more than 40 keyrings are in use.

Old description:
"sudo apt-get build-dep" fails every single time with a big list of errors like the one below:

E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_quantal_main_binary-amd64_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
Package: apt 0.9.7.5ubuntu5.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-20.31-generic 3.5.7.1
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-20-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.6.1-0ubuntu9
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue Dec 11 20:58:30 2012
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-09-14 (88 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Alpha amd64 (20120914)
MarkForUpload: True
SourcePackage: apt
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Alin Andrei (nilarimogard)]

Still occurs on trusty...

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Michael Vogt (mvo)]

Thanks for your bugreport.

If you can still reproduce this issue, could you please attach your /etc/apt/sources.list and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/* files?

[Alin Andrei (nilarimogard)]

I have removed all PPAs and third-party repository GPG keys, re-imported them and the issue is gone. So I can't reproduce it any more. I guess it occurs when a lot of GPG keys are imported on a system...

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

We have not seen any other reports of this issue on more recent versions, so I assume it's fixed. If it happens again on xenial or newer, feel free to reopen the bug or open a new one.

[Seb Bonnard (sebma)]

@juliank It's not fixed :
$ aptitude search -F '%p' "?origin(jonathonf-vim) ( ?architecture(amd64) | ?architecture(all) ) ?installed"
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_universe_binary-i386_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_restricted_binary-i386_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_main_binary-i386_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_multiverse_binary-amd64_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_universe_binary-amd64_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_restricted_binary-amd64_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
E: Could not open file /var/lib/apt/lists/fr.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_trusty_main_binary-amd64_Packages - open (24: Too many open files)
$ echo $?
255

Can you please change the status back to "Confirmed" ?

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

Check that you have less files in /var/lib/apt/lists than ulimit -n has a value. You probably have too many repositories or too low a ulimit. Otherwise, open a new bug with ubuntu-bug/apport.