[SOLVED] Trouble updating ubuntu server 10.04 dpkg fails

cyco · 02-28-2011, 11:18 AM

I attemted to run updates on my server today and after running,

Code:

sudo apt-get upgrade

I got this error:

Code:

dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
 syntax error: unknown user 'backuppc' in statoverride file
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)

I deleted the user backup pc a while ago but apparently not all the way. How can I find this file "statoverride", and how can I prevent this from happening again?

Ephracis · 02-28-2011, 04:07 PM

The file is located at:
/var/lib/dpkg/statoverride

You can update it by running:
dpkg-statoverride --remove /etc/exim4/passwd.client

Hope that helps.

cyco · 02-28-2011, 04:19 PM

Thank you.

Quote:

You can update it by running:
dpkg-statoverride --remove /etc/exim4/passwd.client

When i enter this i get:

Code:

lynx@Tabby:~$ dpkg-statoverride --remove /etc/exim4/passwd.client
dpkg-statoverrides: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
 syntax error: unknown user 'backuppc' in statoverride file

Even running as "sudo" dosnt work. Am i doing something wrong here?

cyco · 02-28-2011, 04:24 PM

Ha! Thanx so much. I just removed the entry with 'backuppc' from '/var/lib/dpkg/statoverride' and now its working. Is this caused by removing the user 'backuppc' with the command 'userdel'?

Ephracis · 02-28-2011, 04:28 PM

Try this:

Code:

sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/statoverride /var/lib/dpkg/statoverride.old
sudo cat /var/lib/dpkg/statoverride | grep -Gv "^backuppc " > /var/lib/dpkg/statoverride

Ephracis · 02-28-2011, 04:30 PM

I am not sure why dpkg didn't update the file. I usually use either deluser or the GUI tools if I have X running. But the two lines above would have removed the backuppc user anyway.

Glad it helped!

cyco · 02-28-2011, 04:42 PM

Thanks again for the location of that file. Now that I know where it is I can nip this in the butt right away if I see it again.