Java Debconf Problems

[Richard Laager]

Binary package hint: sun-java5-doc

I tried to install the java JRE and SDK on a fresh Kubuntu machine. I (by accident) used aptitude, instead of apt-get. This pulled in the suggested sun-java5-doc. The install of the -doc package failed because apparently you have to download the file from Sun yourself.

I canceled the install (possibly with Ctrl-C, I don't remember). I then tried to do the install I wanted. It failed. I then figured I'd remove the partially-installed Java packages and try again. It still failed. The error was that the license could not be presented.

I unpacked the control data out of the deb by hand and looked at the preinst script that was failing. I then looked at /var/cache/debconf/config.dat and searched for the license info.

It was:
Name: shared/accepted-sun-dlj-v1-1
Template: shared/accepted-sun-dlj-v1-1
Owners: sun-java5-jdk, sun-java5-jre

On another machine that had Java successfully installed, it was:
Name: shared/accepted-sun-dlj-v1-1
Template: shared/accepted-sun-dlj-v1-1
Value: true
Owners: sun-java5-jdk, sun-java5-jre
Flags: seen

I added those two lines and tried the install again. It succeeded, saying the license was already accepted.

I'm not entirely sure what happened to break things, but this package should not have put Debconf into a state that I couldn't get out of.

[Richard Laager (rlaager)]

Probably a dup of 45292.