[bionic] no unattended installation

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

Package: tzdata
Version: 2018d-1
Ubuntu release: 18.04

There appears to be a regression with the preseeding data for tzdata in the 18.04 release.
When running

   apt-get install tzdata

I now _always_ drop into an interactive selection of the timezone 'area' and 'zone'. This was not the case before; it is also not the case in Debian 'unstable' right now.

I looked into the postinst script, but I can't figure out where the preseeded info would be. I tried debconf-set-selections with a preseed file, but no luck.

This blocks usage of tzdata in Docker containers and is there for a bit annoying.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.10
Package: tzdata 2017c-0ubuntu0.17.10
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.13.0-41.46-generic 4.13.16
Uname: Linux 4.13.0-41-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.7-0ubuntu3.8
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun May 27 13:17:42 2018
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-12-31 (147 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" - Release amd64 (20171017.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=screen-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: tzdata
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Dirk Eddelbuettel (edd)]

Note that I filed this on my 17.10 machine so the final paragraph is mildly inaccurate.

[Dirk Eddelbuettel (edd)]

Also, it is not the package per se but possibly the debconf settings -- installing tzdata_2018e-1 from Debian reveals the same issue.

[Dirk Eddelbuettel (edd)]

Update:

A friend just pointed out that setting `export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive` helps,
and I verified that in Docker. So _maybe_ we just dropped that setting?

edd@rob:~$ docker run --rm -ti ubuntu:bionic
root@cf1720b38f97:/# apt-get update
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease [83.2 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease [242 kB]
Get:3 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/universe Sources [3783 B]
Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/universe amd64 Packages [18.8 kB]
Get:5 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/multiverse amd64 Packages [1066 B]
Get:6 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security/main amd64 Packages [88.7 kB]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates InRelease [83.2 kB]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports InRelease [65.5 kB]
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe Sources [11.5 MB]
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/multiverse amd64 Packages [186 kB]
Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/universe amd64 Packages [11.3 MB]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 Packages [1344 kB]
Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/restricted amd64 Packages [13.5 kB]
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe Sources [28.7 kB]
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages [1660 B]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/universe amd64 Packages [79.3 kB]
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 Packages [127 kB]
Fetched 25.2 MB in 4s (5655 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
root@cf1720b38f97:/# export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
root@cf1720b38f97:/# apt-get install -y tzdata
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  tzdata
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 11 not upgraded.
Need to get 188 kB of archives.
After this operation, 3088 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic/main amd64 tzdata all 2018d-1 [188 kB]
Fetched 188 kB in 1s (271 kB/s)
debconf: delaying package configuration, since apt-utils is not installed
Selecting...

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

This was going to be my recommended approach, as it's the authoritative way to have a noninteractive install. I haven't had a chance to look into the package yet given the holiday weekend. Do you think there is a bug here that still warrants investigating, or do you think this was a configuration regression on your side?

[Dirk Eddelbuettel (edd)]

Hi Steve,

On 28 May 2018 at 22:47, Steve Langasek wrote:
| This was going to be my recommended approach, as it's the authoritative
| way to have a noninteractive install. I haven't had a chance to look
| into the package yet given the holiday weekend. Do you think there is a
| bug here that still warrants investigating, or do you think this was a
| configuration regression on your side?

I have the feeling that one important variable setting may have gotten
dropped at your end because if I look at my GH repo here:

   https://github.com/rocker-org/rocker/tree/master/r-apt

you will see essentially identical Dockerfile setups that worked for

   precise
   trusty
   wily
   xenial
   yakkety
   zesty
   artful

and then all of a sudden failed for

   bionic

I will add the setting, but methinks you guys set it before. Or maybe one of
the Debian packages involved did.

Dirk

--
http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | <email address hidden>

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Ok, I see what's happening here. The reason artful doesn't prompt is because /etc/localtime is prepopulated within the image:

$ tar tvf ubuntu-artful-core-cloudimg-amd64-root.tar.gz |grep zoneinfo
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2018-05-24 13:44 etc/localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC
$

This is despite the fact that the tzdata package itself is not installed.

In bionic, this symlink is not present:

$ tar tvf ubuntu-bionic-core-cloudimg-amd64-root.tar.gz |grep zoneinfo
$

This is in fact a deliberate change in bionic as part of the minimal image work; in livecd-rootfs live-build/auto/build:

        if [ "${SUBPROJECT:-}" = minimized ] \
           && ! Chroot chroot dpkg -l tzdata 2>&1 |grep -q ^ii; then
                # workaround for tzdata purge not removing these files
                rm -f chroot/etc/localtime chroot/etc/timezone
        fi

The behavior you're seeing in bionic is the *expected* behavior on a completely fresh install of the tzdata package. The reason you don't see this behavior in prior releases is that it's not truly a fresh install, and there is cruft left on the filesystem in the form of /etc/localtime. If /etc/localtime already exists, tzdata has no need to prompt instead of using the existing configuration on the system. If it doesn't exist, tzdata will ask debconf, which means a prompt by default.

So your setting DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive, if you don't care about /etc/localtime and just tzdata to use the default, is the correct fix here.

[Dirk Eddelbuettel (edd)]

Hi Steve,

On 30 May 2018 at 00:10, Steve Langasek wrote:
| Ok, I see what's happening here. The reason artful doesn't prompt is
| because /etc/localtime is prepopulated within the image:
|
| $ tar tvf ubuntu-artful-core-cloudimg-amd64-root.tar.gz |grep zoneinfo
| lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2018-05-24 13:44 etc/localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/UTC
| $
|
| This is despite the fact that the tzdata package itself is not
| installed.
|
| In bionic, this symlink is not present:
|
| $ tar tvf ubuntu-bionic-core-cloudimg-amd64-root.tar.gz |grep zoneinfo
| $
|
| This is in fact a deliberate change in bionic as part of the minimal
| image work; in livecd-rootfs live-build/auto/build:
|
| if [ "${SUBPROJECT:-}" = minimized ] \
| && ! Chroot chroot dpkg -l tzdata 2>&1 |grep -q ^ii; then
| # workaround for tzdata purge not removing these files
| rm -f chroot/etc/localtime chroot/etc/timezone
| fi
|
| The behavior you're seeing in bionic is the *expected* behavior on a
| completely fresh install of the tzdata package. The reason you don't
| see this behavior in prior releases is that it's not truly a fresh
| install, and there is cruft left on the filesystem in the form of

Nice. I was always a big fan of the minimal ubuntu-server installations "way
back when" a decade or so ago, and am glad to see them back.

| /etc/localtime. If /etc/localtime already exists, tzdata has no need to
| prompt instead of using the existing configuration on the system. If it
| doesn't exist, tzdata will ask debconf, which means a prompt by default.
|
| So your setting DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive, if you don't care about
| /etc/localtime and just tzdata to use the default, is the correct fix
| here.

Agreed. I have set that in the corresponding bionic Dockerfile and will use
it going forward.

Cheers, Dirk

| ** Changed in: tzdata (Ubuntu)
| Status: New => Invalid
|
| --
| You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
| report.
| https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1773687
|
| Title:
| [bionic] no unattended installation
|
| To manage notifications about this bug go to:
| https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tzdata/+bug/1773687/+subscriptions

--
http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | <email address hidden>