release upgrade failed because of missing essential package ubuntu-minimal

[Swen Kühnlein]

While trying to do a upgrade to precise on a remote server, the upgrade process failed with
"After your package information was updated the essential package
'ubuntu-minimal' can not be found anymore so a bug reporting process
is being started. "

Additionally the screen process was terminated before I was able to report the bug via the automatically launched apport command.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: update-manager (not installed)
Uname: Linux 2.6.18-028stab094.3 x86_64
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Mar 25 23:31:26 2012
ProcEnviron:
 LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8
 LC_COLLATE=de_DE.UTF-8
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 LC_MESSAGES=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: update-manager
VarLogDistupgradeAptlog:
 Log time: 2012-03-25 23:30:19.997312
 Log time: 2012-03-25 23:30:20.753861
 Log time: 2012-03-25 23:30:33.805762
 Log time: 2012-03-25 23:30:39.923369
VarLogDistupgradeMainlog:

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Why did you end up marking this bug report Invalid? Were you able to resolve the issue somehow?

[Swen Kühnlein (swen)]

I believe this happened because the mirror used in sources.list does not yet have precise, so I decided to not upgrade to precise until it's there. The machine is a virtual server so I want to use their repositories just in case there are some adapted packages.

OTOH there should probably be a more meaningful error message.

[Swen Kühnlein (swen)]

If it would be helpful I can restart the upgrade any time, the server is currently not used for anything important.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

ubuntu-minimal seems to exist at http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/u/ubuntu-meta/. It might be helpful if you were to capture the sources.list file at the point the upgrade fails and attach it to the bug report. Thanks for your help!

[Swen Kühnlein (swen)]

The error seems to be that the mirror that is used for main, restricted and universe gets deactivated:

$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
# deb http://ubuntu.simplyroot.de/ubuntu precise main restricted universe # Bei Aktualisierung zu precise deaktiviert
# deb http://ubuntu.simplyroot.de/ubuntu lucid-updates main restricted universe # Bei Aktualisierung zu precise deaktiviert
# deb http://ubuntu.simplyroot.de/ubuntu lucid-security main restricted universe # Bei Aktualisierung zu precise deaktiviert

deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise multiverse
deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates multiverse
deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security multiverse
deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

I think the thing to do here is to improve the error message, to point users towards the necessary information on how to get their unofficial mirrors used during upgrade. The actual disabling of unknown mirrors is still quite deliberate, and guards against other more severe kinds of upgrade failures.

Swen, could you attach the pre-upgrade version of /etc/apt/sources.list?

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

sources.list is the in the clone file:

deb http://ubuntu.simplyroot.de/ubuntu lucid main restricted universe
deb http://ubuntu.simplyroot.de/ubuntu lucid-updates main restricted universe
deb http://ubuntu.simplyroot.de/ubuntu lucid-security main restricted universe

deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid multiverse
deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-updates multiverse
deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-security multiverse
deb http://de2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu lucid-backports main restricted universe multiverse

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Also in the clone file:

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/prerequists-sources.list
# sources.list fragment for pre-requists (mirror from sources.list + fallback)
# this is safe to remove after the upgrade

# when this changes from -proposed to -updates, ensure to update
# DistUpgradeController.py:1393 as well
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid-updates main

This seems to explain the strange set of requests for archive.ubuntu.com.

[dino99 (9d9)]

This version is no more supported

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

This is a triaged bug that is still present in the current version. Nothing invalid here.

[dino99 (9d9)]

ok Steve

so removing 'lucid' and set 'precise' instead

[dino99 (9d9)]

hm, 3 years in "triaged" and still unsigned

[dino99 (9d9)]

That report seems a no sense now: Lucid is gone, and Precise indeed have a ubuntu-minimal package.
So the problem was from the dist-upgrade process; and that one have no such issue with the recent releases.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

dino99, please stop tampering with the state of this bug. "Triaged" means the *developers* have all the information needed in order to fix the bug. It does not stop being triaged just because you, as a non-developer, have not taken the time to understand what the developers have written.