Apt is seemingly unable to do anything useful for me, repeatedly giving messages of this form:
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-server:
linux-server depends on linux-image-server (= 3.2.0.37.44); however:
Version of linux-image-server on system is 3.2.0.37.45.
linux-server depends on linux-headers-server (= 3.2.0.37.44); however:
Version of linux-headers-server on system is 3.2.0.37.45.
dpkg: error processing linux-server (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
This is basically the same problem as I cannot install any package (linux-image-server, linux-server dependencies errors) which got closed Duplicate to an answer that is totally useless for this situation. None of the advice in that very generic answer about dependencies helps.
Explicitly:
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get update
all have no not effect. While
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get -u dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get -o Debug::pkgProblemResolver=yes dist-upgrade
all give some form of the error message above.
Best Answer
You ran
sudo apt-get update
, and the problem still happens. So you probably just have a newer version oflinux-image-server
andlinux-headers-server
than anylinux-server
package available from your configured software sources.This could occur for a very short time even if you're using the central server (or for a longer time if there were a problem updating it). My understanding is that it can occur for longer periods of time if you use a mirror. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use a mirror--the central server (
http://archive.ubuntu.com
) is usually very slow, and national, regional, or other mirrors are much faster.A package search reveals that version 3.2.0.37.45 of both
linux-image-server
andlinux-server
exist for Ubuntu 12.04. So it's probably related to your mirror.Here are some alternatives:
Ignore It
If you're able to use the package manager for other purposes, for example, to install other packages, then you can just ignore this. When your mirror gets updated, you'll probably just get the package.
It's not a problem not to have the latest
linux-server
package, as it's a metapackage that doesn't provide any actual software. It exists only so it can list three packages as dependencies, ensuring they remain installed:You already have the latest versions of
linux-headers-server
andlinux-image-server
. My guess is that this is a 64-bit system, which is why no message aboutlinux-generic-pae
was shown. It seems like everything is fine.However:
http://security.ubuntu.com
. That server should always been enabled in/etc/apt/sources.list
. So I recommend checking to make sure that is enabled. You may want to back upsources.list
before editing it (sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.old
). The problem could also be a consequence of a caching web proxy (if you use one) with stale data. (The solutions below will work around that, too.)Change to a Different Download Server
I'd guess you're running an Ubuntu Server system and probably don't have a GUI installed. So, see:
After changing your mirror, run:
If you like, you can change your server back after
linux-server
is updated.Manually Download and Install the
.deb
Package FileYou can manually download and install the
.deb
file for the latest version of thelinux-server
metapackage in Ubuntu 12.04.cd
to wherever you want to download the package.If this is a 64-bit system, run:
If this is a 32-bit system, run this instead:
(I obtained both those links on the Launchpad page for the
linux-meta
source package in Ubuntu.)Now (for both 64-bit and 32-bit), run this command to install the package:
(Or just start typing the package's name and use Tab to complete it.)
Remove the Package
Since it's a metapackage providing software you already have, you can remove the package. Then you won't get the error anymore. You can install it again later if you like (you could periodically run
apt-get update && apt-cache policy linux-server
to see if the new version is available).There are two steps, if you want to remove it. The first is to uninstall
linux-server
. the second is to make sure the packages won't be automatically removed later.The dependencies will not be removed immediately. So it doesn't matter which of these steps you do first.
1. Uninstall
linux-server
.To uninstall
linux-server
, just run:2. Mark Its Dependencies as Manually Installed
To tell APT (the package manager) about packages that you intend to have installed even if nothing remains that declares them a dependency, mark them as manually installed.
To do that, run this command, if this is a 64-bit system:
If it's a 32-bit system, run this instead:
(You should have
apt-mark
but if you don't and you cannot install software, you can useapt-get install
instead ofapt-mark manual
--specifying a package manually for installation causes it to be marked as manually installed even if if was already installed.)Source: Mark a deb package as used, so it's not suggested for autoremoval
(In particular, Lekensteyn's answer.)