Bug#1111649: apt: Fails to detect systemd on mdadm system during dist-upgrade

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>
Subject: Bug#1111649: apt: Fails to detect systemd on mdadm system during dist-upgrade
From: Thorsten Behrens <thorsten.behrens@galaxy.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:09:36 +0000
Message-id: <[🔎] 175570257634.1898758.3790949589786001378.reportbug@aztec-prover-test-09>
Reply-to: Thorsten Behrens <thorsten.behrens@galaxy.com>, 1111649@bugs.debian.org
Package: apt
Version: 3.0.3
Severity: important
X-Debbugs-Cc: thorsten.behrens@galaxy.com

Dear Maintainer,

   * What led up to the situation?
   
   I am coming from a Debian 12 system to Debian 13 using apt dist-upgrade. This gives me an error message
   that systemd cannot be found. The system uses mdadm and is a bare metal server by provider OVH. In
   some cases when testing this, grub EFI wasn't updated and restart failed.

   I can reproduce this and have a small zoo of test servers to continue testing, should you confirm this
   is a bug and wish to have me test a fix

   * What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or
     ineffective)?
     ```
     sudo sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
     sudo find /etc/apt/sources.list.d -type f -exec sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' {} \;
     sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade --autoremove -y
     ```
   * What was the outcome of this action?
     apt showed an error message:
     ```
     no systemd init system detected

     The root filesystem of this system was detected to be on a RAID device, so mdadm might be required to run during boot to properly start your system.

     Beginning with newer versions of the madm package, init-system integration is available for systemd only. This system seems to use an alternative init-system which might or might not leave your system unbootable and will not run any of the maintenance jobs automatically.
     ```
   * What outcome did you expect instead?
     apt detects the existing Debian 12 systemd correctly and does what it needs to do to function on mdadm

     df -h output:
     ```
     debian@aztec-prover-test-09:~$ df -h
     Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
     udev             63G     0   63G   0% /dev
     tmpfs            13G  2.0M   13G   1% /run
     /dev/md3        878G   26G  807G   4% /
     tmpfs            63G     0   63G   0% /dev/shm
     tmpfs           5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
     /dev/md2        988M  191M  730M  21% /boot
     /dev/nvme1n1p1  511M  4.5M  507M   1% /boot/efi
     ```

     lsblk output:
     ```
     debian@aztec-prover-test-09:~$ lsblk
     NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINTS
     nvme0n1     259:0    0 894.3G  0 disk
     |-nvme0n1p1 259:2    0   511M  0 part
     |-nvme0n1p2 259:3    0     1G  0 part
     | `-md2       9:2    0  1022M  0 raid1 /boot
     |-nvme0n1p3 259:4    0 892.3G  0 part
     | `-md3       9:3    0 892.1G  0 raid1 /
     |-nvme0n1p4 259:5    0   512M  0 part
     `-nvme0n1p5 259:6    0     2M  0 part
     nvme1n1     259:1    0 894.3G  0 disk
     |-nvme1n1p1 259:7    0   511M  0 part  /boot/efi
     |-nvme1n1p2 259:8    0     1G  0 part
     | `-md2       9:2    0  1022M  0 raid1 /boot
     |-nvme1n1p3 259:9    0 892.3G  0 part
     | `-md3       9:3    0 892.1G  0 raid1 /
     `-nvme1n1p4 259:10   0   512M  0 part
     ```
     
     apt list for systemd:
     ```
     debian@aztec-prover-test-09:~$ apt list --installed | grep systemd

     WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

     libpam-systemd/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed]
     libsystemd-shared/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
     libsystemd0/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed]
     systemd-cryptsetup/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
     systemd-resolved/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed]
     systemd-sysv/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
     systemd/stable,now 257.7-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
     ```

-- Package-specific info:

-- apt-config dump --

APT "";
APT::Architecture "amd64";
APT::Build-Essential "";
APT::Build-Essential:: "build-essential";
APT::Install-Recommends "1";
APT::Install-Suggests "0";
APT::Key "";
APT::Key::Assert-Pubkey-Algo ">=rsa2048,ed25519,ed448,nistp256,nistp384,nistp512,brainpoolP256r1,brainpoolP320r1,brainpoolP384r1,brainpoolP512r1,secp256k1";
APT::Key::Assert-Pubkey-Algo::Next ">=rsa2048,ed25519,ed448,nistp256,nistp384,nistp512";
APT::Key::Assert-Pubkey-Algo::Future ">=rsa3072,ed25519,ed448";
APT::Sandbox "";
APT::Sandbox::User "_apt";
APT::NeverAutoRemove "";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^firmware-linux.*";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-firmware$";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-image-[a-z0-9]*$";
APT::NeverAutoRemove:: "^linux-image-[a-z0-9]*-[a-z0-9]*$";
APT::VersionedKernelPackages "";
APT::VersionedKernelPackages:: "linux-.*";
APT::VersionedKernelPackages:: "kfreebsd-.*";
APT::VersionedKernelPackages:: "gnumach-.*";
APT::VersionedKernelPackages:: ".*-modules";
APT::VersionedKernelPackages:: ".*-kernel";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections "";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "metapackages";
APT::Never-MarkAuto-Sections:: "tasks";
APT::Move-Autobit-Sections "";
APT::Move-Autobit-Sections:: "oldlibs";
APT::Periodic "";
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";
APT::Periodic::Download-Upgradeable-Packages "1";
APT::Periodic::CleanInterval "7";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1";
APT::Architectures "";
APT::Architectures:: "amd64";
APT::Compressor "";
APT::Compressor::. "";
APT::Compressor::.::Name ".";
APT::Compressor::.::Extension "";
APT::Compressor::.::Binary "";
APT::Compressor::.::Cost "0";
APT::Compressor::zstd "";
APT::Compressor::zstd::Name "zstd";
APT::Compressor::zstd::Extension ".zst";
APT::Compressor::zstd::Binary "zstd";
APT::Compressor::zstd::Cost "60";
APT::Compressor::zstd::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::zstd::CompressArg:: "-6";
APT::Compressor::zstd::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::zstd::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::lz4 "";
APT::Compressor::lz4::Name "lz4";
APT::Compressor::lz4::Extension ".lz4";
APT::Compressor::lz4::Binary "false";
APT::Compressor::lz4::Cost "50";
APT::Compressor::gzip "";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Name "gzip";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Extension ".gz";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Binary "gzip";
APT::Compressor::gzip::Cost "100";
APT::Compressor::gzip::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::gzip::CompressArg:: "-6n";
APT::Compressor::gzip::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::gzip::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::xz "";
APT::Compressor::xz::Name "xz";
APT::Compressor::xz::Extension ".xz";
APT::Compressor::xz::Binary "xz";
APT::Compressor::xz::Cost "200";
APT::Compressor::xz::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::xz::CompressArg:: "-6";
APT::Compressor::xz::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::xz::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::bzip2 "";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Name "bzip2";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Extension ".bz2";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Binary "bzip2";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::Cost "300";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::CompressArg:: "-6";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::bzip2::UncompressArg:: "-d";
APT::Compressor::lzma "";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Name "lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Extension ".lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Binary "xz";
APT::Compressor::lzma::Cost "400";
APT::Compressor::lzma::CompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::lzma::CompressArg:: "--format=lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::CompressArg:: "-6";
APT::Compressor::lzma::UncompressArg "";
APT::Compressor::lzma::UncompressArg:: "--format=lzma";
APT::Compressor::lzma::UncompressArg:: "-d";
Dir "/";
Dir::State "var/lib/apt";
Dir::State::lists "lists/";
Dir::State::cdroms "cdroms.list";
Dir::State::extended_states "extended_states";
Dir::State::status "/var/lib/dpkg/status";
Dir::Cache "var/cache/apt";
Dir::Cache::archives "archives/";
Dir::Cache::srcpkgcache "srcpkgcache.bin";
Dir::Cache::pkgcache "pkgcache.bin";
Dir::Etc "etc/apt";
Dir::Etc::sourcelist "sources.list";
Dir::Etc::sourceparts "sources.list.d";
Dir::Etc::main "apt.conf";
Dir::Etc::netrc "auth.conf";
Dir::Etc::netrcparts "auth.conf.d";
Dir::Etc::parts "apt.conf.d";
Dir::Etc::preferences "preferences";
Dir::Etc::preferencesparts "preferences.d";
Dir::Etc::trustedparts "trusted.gpg.d";
Dir::Etc::apt-listchanges-main "listchanges.conf";
Dir::Etc::apt-listchanges-parts "listchanges.conf.d";
Dir::Boot "boot";
Dir::Usr "usr";
Dir::Bin "";
Dir::Bin::methods "/usr/lib/apt/methods";
Dir::Bin::solvers "";
Dir::Bin::solvers:: "/usr/lib/apt/solvers";
Dir::Bin::planners "";
Dir::Bin::planners:: "/usr/lib/apt/planners";
Dir::Bin::dpkg "/usr/bin/dpkg";
Dir::Bin::gzip "/bin/gzip";
Dir::Bin::bzip2 "/bin/bzip2";
Dir::Bin::xz "/usr/bin/xz";
Dir::Bin::lz4 "/usr/bin/lz4";
Dir::Bin::zstd "/usr/bin/zstd";
Dir::Bin::lzma "/usr/bin/xz";
Dir::Media "";
Dir::Media::MountPath "/media/apt";
Dir::Log "var/log/apt";
Dir::Log::Terminal "term.log";
Dir::Log::History "history.log";
Dir::Log::Planner "eipp.log.xz";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently "";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "~$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.disabled$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.bak$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.dpkg-[a-z]+$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.ucf-[a-z]+$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.save$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.orig$";
Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently:: "\.distUpgrade$";
Acquire "";
Acquire::AllowInsecureRepositories "0";
Acquire::AllowWeakRepositories "0";
Acquire::AllowDowngradeToInsecureRepositories "0";
Acquire::cdrom "";
Acquire::cdrom::mount "/media/cdrom/";
Acquire::IndexTargets "";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb "";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages "";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages::MetaKey "$(COMPONENT)/binary-$(ARCHITECTURE)/Packages";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages::flatMetaKey "Packages";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages::ShortDescription "Packages";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages::Description "$(RELEASE)/$(COMPONENT) $(ARCHITECTURE) Packages";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages::flatDescription "$(RELEASE) Packages";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Packages::Optional "0";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Translations "";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Translations::MetaKey "$(COMPONENT)/i18n/Translation-$(LANGUAGE)";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Translations::flatMetaKey "$(LANGUAGE)";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Translations::ShortDescription "Translation-$(LANGUAGE)";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Translations::Description "$(RELEASE)/$(COMPONENT) Translation-$(LANGUAGE)";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Translations::flatDescription "$(RELEASE) Translation-$(LANGUAGE)";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src "";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources "";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources::MetaKey "$(COMPONENT)/source/Sources";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources::flatMetaKey "Sources";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources::ShortDescription "Sources";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources::Description "$(RELEASE)/$(COMPONENT) Sources";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources::flatDescription "$(RELEASE) Sources";
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb-src::Sources::Optional "0";
Acquire::Changelogs "";
Acquire::Changelogs::URI "";
Acquire::Changelogs::URI::Origin "";
Acquire::Changelogs::URI::Origin::Debian "https://metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs/@CHANGEPATH@_changelog";;
Acquire::Changelogs::URI::Origin::Ubuntu "https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/@CHANGEPATH@/changelog";;
Acquire::Changelogs::AlwaysOnline "";
Acquire::Changelogs::AlwaysOnline::Origin "";
Acquire::Changelogs::AlwaysOnline::Origin::Ubuntu "1";
Acquire::Snapshots "";
Acquire::Snapshots::URI "";
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Origin "";
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Origin::Debian "https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Origin::Ubuntu "https://snapshot.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Override "";
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Override::Label "";
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Override::Label::Debian-Security "https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian-security/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host "";
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host::archive.ubuntu.com "https://snapshot.ubuntu.com/@PATH@/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host::deb.debian.org "https://snapshot.debian.org/archive/@PATH@/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host::.archive.ubuntu.com "https://snapshot.ubuntu.com/@PATH@/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host::security.ubuntu.com "https://snapshot.ubuntu.com/@PATH@/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host::ppa.launchpadcontent.net "https://snapshot.ppa.launchpadcontent.net/@PATH@/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Snapshots::URI::Host::ppa.launchpad.net "https://snapshot.ppa.launchpadcontent.net/@PATH@/@SNAPSHOTID@/";;
Acquire::Languages "";
Acquire::Languages:: "en";
Acquire::Languages:: "none";
Acquire::CompressionTypes "";
Acquire::CompressionTypes::xz "xz";
Acquire::CompressionTypes::bz2 "bzip2";
Acquire::CompressionTypes::lzma "lzma";
Acquire::CompressionTypes::gz "gzip";
Acquire::CompressionTypes::lz4 "lz4";
Acquire::CompressionTypes::zst "zstd";
DPkg "";
DPkg::Path "/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs "";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs:: "/usr/bin/apt-listchanges --apt || test $? -lt 10";
DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs:: "/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt || true";
DPkg::Tools "";
DPkg::Tools::Options "";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/bin/apt-listchanges "";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/bin/apt-listchanges::Version "2";
DPkg::Tools::Options::/usr/bin/apt-listchanges::InfoFD "20";
DPkg::Post-Invoke "";
DPkg::Post-Invoke:: "test -x /usr/lib/needrestart/apt-pinvoke && /usr/lib/needrestart/apt-pinvoke || true";
Unattended-Upgrade "";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern "";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern:: "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename}-updates";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern:: "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename},label=Debian";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern:: "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename},label=Debian-Security";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern:: "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename}-security,label=Debian-Security";
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern:: "origin=Docker";
Unattended-Upgrade::Mail "engineering@cryptomanufaktur.io";
Unattended-Upgrade::MailReport "only-on-error";
Unattended-Upgrade::Remove-Unused-Kernel-Packages "true";
Unattended-Upgrade::Remove-New-Unused-Dependencies "true";
Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "true";
Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-Time "17:00";
Binary "apt-config";
Binary::apt-cdrom "";
Binary::apt-cdrom::APT "";
Binary::apt-cdrom::APT::Internal "";
Binary::apt-cdrom::APT::Internal::OpProgress "";
Binary::apt-cdrom::APT::Internal::OpProgress::EraseLines "0";
Binary::apt "";
Binary::apt::APT "";
Binary::apt::APT::Color "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Output-Version "30";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache "";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::Show "";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::Show::Version "2";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::AllVersions "0";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::ShowVirtuals "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::Search "";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::Search::Version "2";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::ShowDependencyType "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Cache::ShowVersion "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Get "";
Binary::apt::APT::Get::Upgrade-Allow-New "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Get::Update "";
Binary::apt::APT::Get::Update::InteractiveReleaseInfoChanges "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Cmd "";
Binary::apt::APT::Cmd::Show-Update-Stats "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Cmd::Pattern-Only "1";
Binary::apt::APT::Keep-Downloaded-Packages "0";
Binary::apt::DPkg "";
Binary::apt::DPkg::Progress-Fancy "1";
Binary::apt::DPkg::Lock "";
Binary::apt::DPkg::Lock::Timeout "-1";
Binary::apt::Pager "1";
CommandLine "";
CommandLine::AsString "apt-config dump";

-- (no /etc/apt/preferences present) --


-- (no /etc/apt/preferences.d/* present) --


-- /etc/apt/sources.list --

# See /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources

-- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources --

Types: deb deb-src
URIs: mirror+file:///etc/apt/mirrors/debian.list
Suites: trixie trixie-updates trixie-backports
Components: main contrib non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

Types: deb deb-src
URIs: mirror+file:///etc/apt/mirrors/debian-security.list
Suites: trixie-security
Components: main contrib non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

-- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/download_docker_com_linux_debian.list --

deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian trixie stable

-- /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teleport.list --

deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/teleport-archive-keyring.asc] https://apt.releases.teleport.dev/debian trixie stable/cloud

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 13.0
  APT prefers stable-updates
  APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable-security'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 6.1.0-38-amd64 (SMP w/32 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=C.UTF-8 (charmap=locale: Cannot set LC_MESSAGES to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_ALL to default locale: No such file or directory
UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled

Versions of packages apt depends on:
ii  adduser                 3.152
ii  base-passwd             3.6.7
ii  debian-archive-keyring  2025.1
ii  libapt-pkg7.0           3.0.3
ii  libc6                   2.41-12
ii  libgcc-s1               14.2.0-19
ii  libseccomp2             2.6.0-2
ii  libssl3t64              3.5.1-1
ii  libstdc++6              14.2.0-19
ii  libsystemd0             257.7-1
ii  sqv                     1.3.0-3

Versions of packages apt recommends:
ii  ca-certificates  20250419

Versions of packages apt suggests:
pn  apt-doc                      <none>
pn  aptitude | synaptic | wajig  <none>
ii  dpkg-dev                     1.22.21
ii  gnupg                        2.4.7-21
pn  powermgmt-base               <none>

-- debconf information:
perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
	LANGUAGE = (unset),
	LC_ALL = (unset),
	LC_CTYPE = "C.UTF-8",
	LC_NUMERIC = (unset),
	LC_COLLATE = (unset),
	LC_TIME = (unset),
	LC_MESSAGES = (unset),
	LC_MONETARY = (unset),
	LC_ADDRESS = (unset),
	LC_IDENTIFICATION = (unset),
	LC_MEASUREMENT = (unset),
	LC_PAPER = (unset),
	LC_TELEPHONE = (unset),
	LC_NAME = (unset),
	LANG = "en_US.UTF-8"
    are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C").
Reply to:
Follow-Ups:
- Bug#1111649: apt: Fails to detect systemd on mdadm system during dist-upgrade
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