Could not delete variable: Invalid argument (package shim-signed 1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2 failed to install/upgrade: installed shim-signed package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1)

[localhost]

Users experiencing this bug are most likely affected by <https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1734147> and have their firmware in an incorrect state which prevents bootloader updates. Please see that bug for information on how to recover your firmware state.

[Original Description]
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (error while upgrading)
shim-signed:
  Installed: 1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2 500
        500 http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Issue occurred while doing a dist-upgrade from 17.10. to 18.04.

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: shim-signed 1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-20.21-generic 4.15.17
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64
.proc.sys.kernel.moksbstate_disabled: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/proc/sys/kernel/moksbstate_disabled'
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Apr 27 20:23:29 2018
EFIBootMgr:
 BootCurrent: 0001
 Timeout: 0 seconds
 BootOrder: 0001
 Boot0000* Windows Boot Manager HD(1,GPT,e400d6a3-e888-4f56-8a13-07967d676325,0x800,0xfa000)/File(\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi)WINDOWS.........x...B.C.D.O.B.J.E.C.T.=.{.9.d.e.a.8.6.2.c.-.5.c.d.d.-.4.e.7.0.-.a.c.c.1.-.f.3.2.b.3.4.4.d.4.7.9.5.}...7................
 Boot0001* ubuntu HD(1,GPT,a2f20e33-80dd-4536-8fd0-d2807bca7bdb,0x800,0x100000)/File(\EFI\ubuntu\shimx64.efi)
EFITables:
 apr 27 20:29:30 k2so kernel: efi: EFI v2.31 by American Megatrends
 apr 27 20:29:30 k2so kernel: efi: ACPI=0xdae9b000 ACPI 2.0=0xdae9b000 SMBIOS=0xf0000
 apr 27 20:29:30 k2so kernel: secureboot: Secure boot could not be determined (mode 0)
ErrorMessage: installed shim-signed package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-04-17 (9 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" - Release amd64 (20180105.1)
Python3Details: /usr/bin/python3.6, Python 3.6.5, python3-minimal, 3.6.5-3
PythonDetails: /usr/bin/python2.7, Python 2.7.15rc1, python-minimal, 2.7.15~rc1-1
RelatedPackageVersions:
 dpkg 1.19.0.5ubuntu2
 apt 1.6.1
SecureBoot: 6 0 0 0 0
SourcePackage: shim-signed
Title: package shim-signed 1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2 failed to install/upgrade: installed shim-signed package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to bionic on 2018-04-27 (0 days ago)

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

The error in your log is:

Setting up shim-signed (1.34.9+13-0ubuntu2) ...
Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
File descriptor 3 (pipe:[1989611]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 2523: grub-install
File descriptor 5 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 2523: grub-install
File descriptor 3 (pipe:[1989611]) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 2523: grub-install
File descriptor 5 (/dev/sda1) leaked on vgs invocation. Parent PID 2523: grub-install
Could not delete variable: Invalid argument
grub-install: error: efibootmgr failed to register the boot entry: Block device required.
dpkg: error processing package shim-signed (--configure):
 installed shim-signed package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1

It appears that there is a problem with your firmware that prevents shim from uploading the bootloader configuration variables. Is it possible that you are affected by https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1734147 ?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for shim-signed (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Andrei Borzenkov (arvidjaar-s)]

I have the same problem on Dell Latitude E5450. It is very unlikely firmware issue because

a) there was zero problems in 14.04 and 16.04. This started to happen only after update to 18.04.
b) if I reboot system and run "dpkg --configure -a", the same process ends successfully.
c) as seen in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2-signed/+bug/1787692 it affects multiple hardware models.

Note that https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2-signed/+bug/1787692 describes exactly the same problem, just hit during different package install.