I meant to uninstall exim but I uninstalled much more!!!!!!

waffe · 10-20-2003, 08:29 PM

I made a big mistake when trying to uninstalling exim. By default, dpkg was removed. I ran this command to remove exim:

dpkg --purge --force- exim

And boooom took out a whole chunk of my server. OUCH!

Some of it has been put back together, I do have sendmail bacck up and running along with apache, perl, ftp, ssh, ect.....

if I type dselect I get:
bash: dselect: command not found

If I type dpkg:
bash: dpkg: command not found

When I type apt-get install php4:
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
Sorry, php4 is already the newest version.
You might want to run `apt-get -f install' to correct these:
Sorry, but the following packages have unmet dependencies:
apache: Depends: dpkg (> 1.9.0) but it is not going to be installed
man-db: Depends: dpkg (>= 1.4.1.17) but it is not going to be installed
spamassassin: Depends: dpkg (>= 1.8.1) but it is not going to be installed
sysvinit: Depends: dpkg (>= 1.4.0.21) but it is not going to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

I am sure there are more errors then these, but I assume you get the point. I am to scared to run 'apt-get -f install' What to do? Help ME!!!! PLEASE!!!! I really F#($% up.

Bill

ToniT · 10-28-2003, 01:07 PM

Seems like you have accdentally uninstalled dpkg, the debian package management system.

You have to get the dpkg running by hand (that is, without using dpkg).

Fetch yourself a dpkg package from your favorite mirror.
Open the package with ar
Code:
```
ar x dpkg_*_i386.deb
```
untar the data.tar.gz found from the inside. Now you should have access to the dpkg program.
With this program, can now install the dpkg by running something like
Code:
```
sudo /home/me/tmp/usr/bin/dpkg --install dpkg_*_i386.deb
```
(the path here depends on your user account and the location where you extracted the dpkg package.)
now you should have a working package management system.

waffe · 10-28-2003, 09:06 PM

Thanks, for the info! Didn't think any one would have info on this topic. From what I have seen on the net, I am the only one that has made this mistake and posted it.

Because I have a good friend and he has a good friend, I am working on what seems to be a fully functioning system.

I assume he did something similar as you posted Tonit, I don't know.

I too was trying to install dpkg without dpkg, but I never tried the instructions that you have posted. Looks promising to the next person that has falling into this trap.

Thanks for the input ToniT

BIll