frontend locking regression: dpkg::post-invoke scripts can't install packages

[Julian Andres Klode]

[Impact]
The switch to frontend locking in 1.2.28/1.6.5/1.7~ caused scripts registered in

DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs
DPkg::Pre-Invoke
DPkg::Post-Invoke

To be run with the frontend lock held. This caused problems with some installer packages like libdvd-pkg which install a locally built package in such a hook.

To reduce the impact, a fix has been applied in 1.7.0 which exports the DPKG_FRONTEND_LOCKED variable when running those scripts, allowing dpkg to be run from those scripts.

[Test case]
Make sure that the test-frontend-lock test run by autopkgtest succeeds. This checks that:

(1) the variable is correctly exported to those scripts
(2) the frontend lock is still held
(3) dpkg can be run from the post-invoke script

[Regression potential]
Depending on the script (for example, if the script starts a daemon manually or something like that), DPKG_FRONTEND_LOCKED might leak to other processes which might survive the apt call and thus revert surviving process to not using frontend locking.

[Other info]
This fix is for backwards compatibility only. Starting with the dd cycle, it will be dropped for the Pre-Install-Pkgs and Pre-Invoke scripts. Potentially for post-invoke as well, if we find a better solution for it.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Hello Julian, or anyone else affected,

Accepted apt into xenial-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/1.2.29 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested and change the tag from verification-needed-xenial to verification-done-xenial. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-xenial. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Hello Julian, or anyone else affected,

Accepted apt into bionic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/1.6.6 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested and change the tag from verification-needed-bionic to verification-done-bionic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-bionic. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Julian Andres Klode (juliank)]

The specified tests passed on both:

bionic (1.6.6):

(187/248) Testcase test-frontend-lock: P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

xenial (1.2.29):

(165/220) Testcase test-frontend-lock: P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package apt - 1.6.6

---------------
apt (1.6.6) bionic; urgency=medium

  * Set DPKG_FRONTEND_LOCKED when running {pre,post}-invoke scripts.
    Some post-invoke scripts install packages, which fails because
    the environment variable is not set. This sets the variable for
    all three kinds of scripts {pre,post-}invoke and pre-install-pkgs,
    but we will only allow post-invoke at a later time.
    (LP: #1796808)

apt (1.6.5) bionic; urgency=medium

  [ David Kalnischkies ]
  * Support records larger than 32kb in 'apt show' (Closes: #905527)
    (LP: #1787120)

  [ Julian Andres Klode ]
  * Add support for dpkg frontend lock (Closes: #869546) (LP: #1781169)
  * Set DPKG_FRONTEND_LOCKED as needed when doing selection changes
  * http: Stop pipeline after close only if it was not filled before
    (LP: #1794957)
  * pkgCacheFile: Only unlock in destructor if locked before (LP: #1794053)
  * Update libapt-pkg5.0 symbols for frontend locking

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Tue, 09 Oct 2018 12:16:51 +0200

[Łukasz Zemczak (sil2100)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for apt has completed successfully and the package has now been released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package apt - 1.2.29

---------------
apt (1.2.29) xenial; urgency=medium

  * Set DPKG_FRONTEND_LOCKED when running {pre,post}-invoke scripts.
    Some post-invoke scripts install packages, which fails because
    the environment variable is not set. This sets the variable for
    all three kinds of scripts {pre,post-}invoke and pre-install-pkgs,
    but we will only allow post-invoke at a later time.
    (LP: #1796808)

apt (1.2.28) xenial; urgency=medium

  [ Julian Andres Klode ]
  * apt.conf.autoremove: Add linux-cloud-tools to list (LP: #1698159)
  * Add support for dpkg frontend lock (Closes: #869546) (LP: #1781169)
  * Set DPKG_FRONTEND_LOCKED as needed when doing selection changes
  * http: Stop pipeline after close only if it was not filled before
    (LP: #1794957)
  * pkgCacheFile: Only unlock in destructor if locked before (LP: #1794053)
  * Update libapt-pkg5.0 symbols for frontend locking

  [ David Kalnischkies ]
  * Support records larger than 32kb in 'apt show' (Closes: #905527)
    (LP: #1787120)

 -- Julian Andres Klode <email address hidden> Tue, 09 Oct 2018 12:35:03 +0200