[SOLVED] config.dat locked and can't update on 18.04

[buzzmandt]

Searching I tried the following fixes.

fuser -v /cat/cache/debconf/config.dat

in order to find user process to kill it but that command hangs and returns nothing. This seems to be the right fix but isn't working for me

Also found this and also didn't work

sudo touch /var/lib/dpkg/lock
sudo dpkg --configure -a

I'm at a loss for something that might work.

Currently affected errors are

libpam-systemd
tzdata
libssl1.1
openssl
ubuntu-minimal
sane-utils
xserver-xorg-legacy
ubuntu-standard
linux-headers-4.15.0.55-generic
linux-headers-generic
linux-generic

This is my mom's computer and I only get by there once every few days so please keep the suggestions coming and I'll update once I try em.

Full error readout follows:

sudo dpkg --configure -a
[sudo] password for ********:
Setting up libpam-systemd:amd64 (237-3ubuntu10.24) ... debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

dpkg: error processing package libpam-systemd:amd64 (--configure): installed libpam-systemd:amd64 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1 Setting up tzdata (2019b-0ubuntu0.18.04) ... debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

dpkg: error processing package tzdata (--configure): installed tzdata package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1 Setting up libssl1.1:amd64 (1.1.1-1ubuntu2.1~18.04.4) ... debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

dpkg: error processing package libssl1.1:amd64 (--configure): installed libssl1.1:amd64 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of openssl: openssl depends on libssl1.1 (>= 1.1.1); however: Package libssl1.1:amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package openssl (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-minimal: ubuntu-minimal depends on tzdata; however: Package tzdata is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package ubuntu-minimal (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Setting up sane-utils (1.0.27-1~experimental3ubuntu2.1) ... debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

dpkg: error processing package sane-utils (--configure): installed sane-utils package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1 Setting up xserver-xorg-legacy (2:1.19.6-1ubuntu4.3) ... debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

dpkg: error processing package xserver-xorg-legacy (--configure): installed xserver-xorg-legacy package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ubuntu-standard: ubuntu-standard depends on libpam-systemd; however: Package libpam-systemd:amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package ubuntu-standard (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-headers-4.15.0-55-generic: linux-headers-4.15.0-55-generic depends on libssl1.1 (>= 1.1.0); however: Package libssl1.1:amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-headers-4.15.0-55-generic (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-headers-generic: linux-headers-generic depends on linux-headers-4.15.0-55-generic; however: Package linux-headers-4.15.0-55-generic is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-headers-generic (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-generic: linux-generic depends on linux-headers-generic (= 4.15.0.55.57); however: Package linux-headers-generic is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-generic (--configure): dependency problems - leaving unconfigured Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...

Errors were encountered while processing:
libpam-systemd:amd64
tzdata
libssl1.1:amd64
openssl
ubuntu-minimal
sane-utils
xserver-xorg-legacy
ubuntu-standard
linux-headers-4.15.0-55-generic
linux-headers-generic
linux-generic

[claydoh]

have you tried rebooting?
As it looks like none of the updates actually installed, there should be no problem doing that.
Maybe look for some apt or packager manager instance, or other oddity running? A reboot would kill the process.
Not sure if backing up that dat file, deleting it, updating, then restoring the file would work or not. Doesn't sound like a good idea, I don't think.



How about these steps to find the PID if what is using the file, then 'killing' it:

Find the process ID that locks the file from the error message:

lsof /var/cache/debconf/config.dat

COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
[CONSOLE]frontend 44515 root 4uW REG 252,0 60012 55592027 /var/cache/debconf/config.dat
[/CONSOLE]

Check the process via the following command:
ps auxf | grep 44515
root 44515 0.0 0.0 60700 2196 pts/0 S+ Feb18 0:00 | _ /usr/bin/perl -w /usr/share/debconf/frontend /var/lib/dpkg/info/postfix.postinst configure 3.1.0-3ubuntu0.2

Kill the process.
kill -9 44515

Of course substitute the result you get in place of the 44515 in the example.

[buzzmandt]

I forgot to list in my post I tried the lsof command and it also hangs indefinitely and returns nothing. So far I've got two votes for rebooting and see what happens. It'll be a couple days before I'm back at her place but will let you know.

Funny thing is I left her computer on LTS to avoid issues. The 6 other kubuntus I keep up are all on 19.10 dev except one on 19.04 and not one issue with any of those LOL. Oh well