Re: apt-get totally broken: "/var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked"
> Andrew Schulman wrote:
> > This morning I made the mistake of remotely killing an 'apt-get update'
> > that had not finished running on another terminal. Now, apt-get is
> > totally broken. Whenever I try to install anything, I get:
> >
> > debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by
> > another process
> >
> > and everything fails. Right now I have 11 uninstallable packages.
> >
> > I have hunted down and killed every running process that matches apt*,
> > dpkg*, or debconf*. Still the accursed lock remains. I can't find any
> > obvious lock files in /var/lock or /var/cache/debconf.
>
> The lock is a flock() lock which can only be held open if the process
> remains running, so you obviously missed killing something. Try lsof.
Okay, thanks for the tip. I rebooted for other reasons, and the problem
went away. But next time I'll try lsof to hunt down the offender.
Thanks,
Andrew.
Reply to: