[SOLVED] "Package is in a very bad inconsistent state"

ness2616 · 03-17-2015, 08:34 PM

I logged into my server today and received multiple error messages right away. I couldn't figure out what they were until I happened to check my fail2ban for unrelated reasons. Here are the types of messages I see:

Code:

root@myserver /etc/fail2ban # sudo apt-get install --reinstall fail2ban
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 104 kB of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ wheezy/main fail2ban all 0.8.6-3wheezy3 [104 kB]
Fetched 104 kB in 0s (218 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package fail2ban.
(Reading database ... 119957 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace fail2ban 0.8.6-3wheezy3 (using .../fail2ban_0.8.6-3wheezy3_all.deb) ...
[....] Stopping authentication failure monitor: fail2banTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 68, in <module>
    import os
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 49, in <module>
    import posixpath as path
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/posixpath.py", line 17, in <module>
    import warnings
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/warnings.py", line 8, in <module>
    import types
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/types.py", line 36, in <module>
    BufferType = buffer
NameError: name 'buffer' is not defined
. ok
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 68, in <module>
    import os
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 49, in <module>
    import posixpath as path
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/posixpath.py", line 17, in <module>
    import warnings
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/warnings.py", line 8, in <module>
    import types
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/types.py", line 36, in <module>
    BufferType = buffer
NameError: name 'buffer' is not defined
dpkg: warning: subprocess old pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
[....] Stopping authentication failure monitor: fail2banTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 68, in <module>
    import os
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 49, in <module>
    import posixpath as path
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/posixpath.py", line 17, in <module>
    import warnings
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/warnings.py", line 8, in <module>
    import types
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/types.py", line 36, in <module>
    BufferType = buffer
NameError: name 'buffer' is not defined
. ok
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 68, in <module>
    import os
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 49, in <module>
    import posixpath as path
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/posixpath.py", line 17, in <module>
    import warnings
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/warnings.py", line 8, in <module>
    import types
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/types.py", line 36, in <module>
    BufferType = buffer
NameError: name 'buffer' is not defined
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/fail2ban_0.8.6-3wheezy3_all.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess new pre-removal script returned error exit status 1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 68, in <module>
    import os
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 49, in <module>
    import posixpath as path
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/posixpath.py", line 17, in <module>
    import warnings
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/warnings.py", line 8, in <module>
    import types
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/types.py", line 36, in <module>
    BufferType = buffer
NameError: name 'buffer' is not defined
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/fail2ban_0.8.6-3wheezy3_all.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I have tried apt-get install --reinstall fail2ban, apt-get remove --purge fail2ban, and none of those worked. Fail2ban is not functioning and I cannot get it to reinstall or be removed at all. Everything was working totally fine until today when all of a sudden fail2ban stopped working.

Another typical sort of error from this:

Code:

dpkg: error processing fail2ban (--configure):
 Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration.
Errors were encountered while processing:
 fail2ban
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Has anyone encountered this error before? Does anyone know why this is happening? I have no idea how to fix it. Thank you...

Raspberry Pi on Raspbian

evo2 · 03-17-2015, 08:58 PM

Hi,

it looks like the apt/fail2ban problems are just symptoms of a python problem. What happens if you run the following?

Code:

echo "import types" | python

Evo2.

ness2616 · 03-17-2015, 10:07 PM

Hmm... nothing happens if I enter that into the terminal.

By the way, upon restarting the server, I was able to uninstall and reinstall fail2ban. However, the fail2ban service will not start, so I don't know where the problem really is. If I enter "service fail2ban status," it always gives "fail2ban is not running... failed!"

ness2616 · 03-17-2015, 10:38 PM

Seems that something about Fail2ban must have changed, because when I disabled my jail.local file and restarted fail2ban, it restarted just fine. Perhaps there were two issues here: a python error that was resolved by rebooting and reinstalling fail2ban; and a fail2ban error, resolved by disabling several jails in jail.local that prevented fail2ban from functioning. I disabled a few jails and now it works. Shrug. Going to mark this as SOLVED but if anyone has input I'd still love to hear it. I don't really consider this a fix so much as a "huh, it works now... cool."