apt-file fails 'There was an error creating the child process for this terminal'

[Philip Wyett]

Binary package hint: apt-file

Once apt-file is installed and run it runs it's post script to update from the sources list. However, clicking the 'Run this action now' button on the dialog results in the following error and an empty terminal on the desktop.

"There was an error creating the child process for this terminal"

This is very reproducible.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Jan 15 19:59:10 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Alpha i386 (20100113)
Package: apt-file 2.3.2
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-10.14-generic
SourcePackage: apt-file
Tags: lucid
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-10-generic i686

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

I have been installed apt-file 2.3.2 from a fully updated lucid and works fine here. I follow these steps (please if you can submit a list of detailed steps to reproduce this issue would be great):

1)sudo apt-get install apt-file 2)sudo apt-file update 3) apt-file search foo ..

Thanks in advance

[Philip Wyett (philwyett)]

To reproduce on Lucid desktop:

1. Open synaptic. Search and find 'apt-file'
2. Select for installation and install

Once installation you will presented with a dialog box that asks you to press a button and perform the update action.

3. Click on button 'Run this action now'

You will see a terminal appear.

What happens:

You see an empty terminal and receive the following error message "There was an error creating the child process for this terminal"

What should happen:

This terminal should ask for the sudo password within it and once done should then run the update process in this terminal.

Note: Running the command 'sudo apt-file update' in a new terminal does work.

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

@Philip, I am able to reproduce and confirm this issue while I was installing apt-file (following your steps). I will mark your report as confirmed, Thanks in advance.

[C de-Avillez (hggdh2)]

This is a packaging error. apt-file *suggests* menu (where 'su-to-root', the cause of this error, is provided). debian/control should be changed to a depends.

May need a Debian bug also (if not yet there).

[C de-Avillez (hggdh2)]

@Phillip: to bypass, please 'sudo apt-get install menu' (or use Synaptic to do that). Please report back if it works. Thank you.

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

a work around to fix this issue please run "sudo apt-get install menu".

[Victor Vargas (kamus)]

Additionally and according to bug report in http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=540905 you can run "apt-file update" since 2.3.2 without sudo permissions. I have changed and attached a litle patch for fix this problem.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package apt-file - 2.4.0

---------------
apt-file (2.4.0) unstable; urgency=low

  * Add -f option to read many patterns from a file or from stdin.
  * Add -D option to search for file conflicts with a given .deb
    file. Closes: #514985
  * Add https support to default apt-file.conf. Closes: #582254. LP: #331091
  * Add options to diffindex-download to set CA certificates and to
    disable certificate verification.
  * Don't use su-to-root in update-notifier anymore and drop Suggests: menu.
    LP: #508089
  * Abort 'apt-file update' if the user pressed Control-C. LP: #499039
  * Don't append an OS error string to an error or warning message if the
    message has nothing to do with the last OS operation.
  * Convert to source format 3.0 (native).
 -- Ubuntu Archive Auto-Sync <email address hidden> Thu, 27 May 2010 09:24:24 +0100