bash syntax error in the postinst script

[Ankit Pati]

Description: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Release: 16.04

grub-efi-amd64:
  Installed: 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.10
  Candidate: 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.10
  Version table:
 *** 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.10 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-proposed/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.9 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages
     2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages

Line 699 of the following post-installation script

/var/lib/dpkg/info/grub-efi-amd64.postinst

reads thus, after the latest update.

      if dpkg --compare-versions "$2" lt-nl 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.10 then

Notice the missing semicolon before the then clause of the if statement.

It should really be

      if dpkg --compare-versions "$2" lt-nl 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.10 ; then

Fortunately, I noticed the issue from the dist-upgrade output, and fixed it before rebooting the machine as requested by Software Updater, or there is no telling where I could have been stuck.

After patching it, one needs to rerun

sudo apt -y dist-upgrade

so the postinst script is actually correctly run.

This is a major bug for an LTS release.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: grub-efi-amd64 2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.10
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-79.100-generic 4.4.67
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-79-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.6
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Sat May 20 12:20:02 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-05-23 (361 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
JournalErrors:
 Error: command ['journalctl', '-b', '--priority=warning', '--lines=1000'] failed with exit code 1: Hint: You are currently not seeing messages from other users and the system.
       Users in the 'systemd-journal' group can see all messages. Pass -q to
       turn off this notice.
 No journal files were opened due to insufficient permissions.
SourcePackage: grub2
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

The attachment "This file has just a single semicolon more than the original shipped with the latest update." seems to be a patch. If it isn't, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are a member of the ~ubuntu-reviewers, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issues please contact him.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl)]

Confirmed on multiple machines with -proposed enabled. Please ensure we address before that moves to -updates.

[Simon Déziel (sdeziel)]

I can confirm that the new -proposed package (2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.11) doesn't have the issue.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Sorry for missing this. A new version of grub2 has been uploaded to xenial-proposed that fixes the postinst bug, and has now been published.

[Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl)]

Phew, thanks. Confirmed fixed on all machines.

Mark

[Ankit Pati (ankitpati)]

Thank you for the really prompt response.