I haven't verified that it creates precisely the user necessary. If I remember correctly, /bin/false means no shell access so make sure the user created does in fact have /bin/false in passwd. Also it has no group (65534). That is it really.
Finally check the directory situation:
ls -la /var/lib/update-notifier/package-data-downloads/
drwxr-xr-x 2 _apt root 4096 Nov 9 10:23 partial
As you can see "_apt" is properly listed as the owner. If not,
My system already had an _apt user, but did not have proper directory permissions. At least, I have to assume that this is a proper fix. If not, somebody more knowledgeable should be speaking up and sorting this out...
Check to see if you have an _apt user:
cat /etc/passwd | grep apt
_apt:x: 105:65534: :/nonexistent: /bin/false
If you do, no need to add the user. Otherwise,
adduser --force-badname --system --home /nonexistent --no-create-home --quiet _apt || true
I haven't verified that it creates precisely the user necessary. If I remember correctly, /bin/false means no shell access so make sure the user created does in fact have /bin/false in passwd. Also it has no group (65534). That is it really.
Finally check the directory situation:
ls -la /var/lib/ update- notifier/ package- data-downloads/
drwxr-xr-x 2 _apt root 4096 Nov 9 10:23 partial
As you can see "_apt" is properly listed as the owner. If not,
sudo chown _apt /var/lib/ update- notifier/ package- data-downloads/ partial/
My system already had an _apt user, but did not have proper directory permissions. At least, I have to assume that this is a proper fix. If not, somebody more knowledgeable should be speaking up and sorting this out...