DebconfError: (10, "migration-assistant/new-user/martin/ doesn't exist")

[Martin Pitt]

Binary package hint: ubiquity

I test-installed current gutsy RC candidate in auto-resize mode, with previous Ubuntu install still present. migration-assistant did not find anything useful to import from, but it does seem to stumble over the previous installation.

Right now, ubiquity is just hanging in the user/password configuration form. syslog has this exception:

Oct 10 11:26:05 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: debconffilter_done: MigrationAssistant (current: MigrationAssistant)
Oct 10 11:26:05 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: Step_before = stepMigrationAssistant
Oct 10 11:26:07 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: switched to page stepUserInfo
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: Exception in GTK frontend (invoking crash handler):
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: Traceback (most recent call last):
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/frontend/gtk_ui.py", line 912, in on_next_clicked
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: self.dbfilter.ok_handler()
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/ubiquity/components/usersetup.py", line 68, in ok_handler
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: if self.db.get(q) != '':
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/debconf.py", line 60, in <lambda>
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: lambda *args, **kw: self.command(command, *args, **kw))
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/debconf.py", line 96, in command
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: raise DebconfError(status, data)
Oct 10 11:26:14 ubuntu ubiquity[8441]: DebconfError: (10, "migration-assistant/new-user/martin/ doesn't exist")

[Martin Pitt (pitti)]

complete syslog for the records

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

The recently-introduced code in usersetup.py is wrong; it assumes that it can GET migration-assistant/new-user/%s/ % username, but in fact / isn't special to debconf itself (it's purely conventional) and no question called migration-assistant/new-user/USERNAME/ exists so this will fail. The condition should be something else.

Also, I'm not sure how this really fixes the original bug. Shouldn't ma-apply be changed to tolerate the case where the new-user questions don't exist?

I'm a bit lost in the maze at this point though, so assigning to Evan. Milestoning for RC though it might well slip to post-RC.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

ubiquity (1.6.6) gutsy; urgency=low

  [ Evan Dandrea ]
  * Back out recent test for the user existing in the m-a debconf
    section. It isn't necessary and it breaks the installer when m-a is
    used (LP: #151243).

  [ Colin Watson ]
  * Ignore IOError exceptions while fetching packages; they happen when the
    network is disconnected, and aren't important enough to result in scary
    error messages or even hangs (LP: #145012).
  * Remove apt_pkg.init() workaround for LP #131294, which had too many
    other ill effects. We're fixing this in apt-setup instead.
  * Automatic update of included source packages: apt-setup 1:0.21ubuntu4.

 -- Colin Watson <email address hidden> Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:31:50 +0100