Kubuntu distribution upgrade 10.10 to 11.04 behind http proxy fails with "Could not download the release notes Please check your internet connection"

[Geoff Williams]

Binary package hint: update-manager

Hi,

I'm trying to upgrade an amd64 box from Kubuntu 10.10 to 11.04 behind an http proxy.

I have set a systemwide http proxy in kde system settings using the "Manually specify the proxy settings" option and have the correct proxy details specified in the following files (real server address has been replaced with proxy_address):

/etc/apt/apt.conf (Acquire::http::Proxy "http://proxy_address:8080/";)
~/.kde/share/config/kioslaverc (httpProxy=http://proxy_address:8080/)
/etc/environment (http_proxy="http://proxy_address:8080/")
/etc/wgetrc (http_proxy= http://proxy_address:8080/)
/etc/PackageKit/PackageKit.conf (ProxyHTTP=proxy_address:8080)

I am able to download and install regular updates and packages using kpackagekit with no problems but when kpackagekit attempts to upgrade the distribution to kubuntu 11.04 the upgrade always fails. I believe the problem is in that the script:

/usr/share/pyshared/UpdateManager/DistUpgradeFetcherKDE.py

It does not seem to be using the proxy settings correctly and can be seen as a long running process when attempting to upgrade the system. dpkg -S reports the file as belonging to update-manager-kde so I've filed this bug against update-manager.

Steps to reproduce:
1) configure system as above
2) restart X
3) run kpackagekit as normal user behind an http proxy
4) click software updates, then "upgrade to natty 11.04"
5) click continue
6) enter password for sudo when prompted
7) wait for the requests to timeout - eventually you get the following message:

Sorry - Dist Upgrade Fetcher

Could not download the release notes
Please check your internet connection

OK

Workaround:
1) Edit the above script and add the following code after the imports and before the class definition:

urllib2.install_opener(
    urllib2.build_opener(
        urllib2.ProxyHandler({'http': 'proxy_address:8080'})
    )
)

The above is suitable for a proxy which does not require authentication, I think you have to do more to get it to send a username and password as well.

2) Rerun steps to reproduce 3 to 6 inclusive
3) The release notes now appear.
4) After proceeding, you are allowed to upgrade as usual.

Ubuntu version (lsb_release -rd)
Description: Ubuntu 10.10
Release: 10.10

Software versions:

update-manager:
  Installed: 1:0.142.23
  Candidate: 1:0.142.23
  Version table:
 *** 1:0.142.23 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ maverick-updates/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1:0.142.19 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ maverick/main amd64 Packages

kpackagekit:
  Installed: 0.6.2-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 0.6.2-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 0.6.2-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ maverick/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

python2.6:
  Installed: 2.6.6-5ubuntu1
  Candidate: 2.6.6-5ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 2.6.6-5ubuntu1 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ maverick/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

python-qt4:
  Installed: 4.7.4-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 4.8.3-2 **** after sources.list has been changed for natty ****
  Version table:
     4.8.3-2 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ natty/main amd64 Packages
 *** 4.7.4-0ubuntu1 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

python-support:
  Installed: 1.0.9ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1.0.10ubuntu3 **** after sources.list has been changed for natty ****
  Version table:
     1.0.10ubuntu3 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ natty/main amd64 Packages
 *** 1.0.9ubuntu1 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

python-sip:
  Installed: 4.10.5-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 4.12.1-1 **** after sources.list has been changed for natty ****
  Version table:
     4.12.1-1 0
        500 http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/ natty/main amd64 Packages
 *** 4.10.5-0ubuntu1 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Expected behaviour:
update-manager-kde script should use the http proxy details from kde system settings

Actual behaviour
Update-manager-kde script ignores the http proxy and eventually times out causing a segfault. The KDE Crash Handler diaglogue that appears has the report bug button greyed out because no bug reporting address is provided. I tried installing the debug symbols but the crash reporter says its unable to find symbols for:
/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/sip.so
/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.6/PyQt4/QtGui.so

Stack trace only gets 1 star at the end so I haven't included it in this report.

Thanks,
Geoff