blog/Circular_package_dependencies_harms_apt_recovery.html

   1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
   2           "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
   3 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr">
   4   <head>
   5     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
   6     <title>Petter Reinholdtsen: Circular package dependencies harms apt recovery</title>
   7     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/style.css" />
   8     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/vim.css" />
   9   </head>
  10   <body>
  11     <div class="title">
  12  <h1>
  13      <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/">Petter Reinholdtsen</a>
  14
  15  </h1>
  16
  17 </div>
  18
  19
  20     <div class="entry">
  21       <div class="title">Circular package dependencies harms apt recovery</div>
  22       <div class="date">27th July 2010</div>
  23       <div class="body"><p>I discovered this while doing
  24 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Automatic_upgrade_testing_from_Lenny_to_Squeeze.html">automated
  25 testing of upgrades from Debian Lenny to Squeeze</a>.  A few packages
  26 in Debian still got circular dependencies, and it is often claimed
  27 that apt and aptitude should be able to handle this just fine, but
  28 some times these dependency loops causes apt to fail.</p>
  29
  30 <p>An example is from todays
  31 <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/~pere/debian-upgrade-testing//test-20100727-lenny-squeeze-kde-aptitude.txt">upgrade
  32 of KDE using aptitude</a>.  In it, a bug in kdebase-workspace-data
  33 causes perl-modules to fail to upgrade.  The cause is simple.  If a
  34 package fail to unpack, then only part of packages with the circular
  35 dependency might end up being unpacked when unpacking aborts, and the
  36 ones already unpacked will fail to configure in the recovery phase
  37 because its dependencies are unavailable.</p>
  38
  39 <p>In this log, the problem manifest itself with this error:</p>
  40
  41 <blockquote><pre>
  42 dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of perl-modules:
  43  perl-modules depends on perl (>= 5.10.1-1); however:
  44   Version of perl on system is 5.10.0-19lenny2.
  45 dpkg: error processing perl-modules (--configure):
  46  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
  47 </pre></blockquote>
  48
  49 <p>The perl/perl-modules circular dependency is already
  50 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/527917">reported as a bug</a>, and will
  51 hopefully be solved as soon as possible, but it is not the only one,
  52 and each one of these loops in the dependency tree can cause similar
  53 failures.  Of course, they only occur when there are bugs in other
  54 packages causing the unpacking to fail, but it is rather nasty when
  55 the failure of one package causes the problem to become worse because
  56 of dependency loops.</p>
  57
  58 <p>Thanks to
  59 <a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2010/06/msg00116.html">the
  60 tireless effort by Bill Allombert</a>, the number of circular
  61 dependencies
  62 <a href="http://debian.semistable.com/debgraph.out.html">left in Debian
  63 is dropping</a>, and perhaps it will reach zero one day. :)</p>
  64
  65 <p>Todays testing also exposed a bug in
  66 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590605">update-notifier</a> and
  67 <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/590604">different behaviour</a> between
  68 apt-get and aptitude, the latter possibly caused by some circular
  69 dependency.  Reported both to BTS to try to get someone to look at
  70 it.</p>
  71 </div>
  72
  73       <div class="tags">Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.</div>
  74
  75
  76     </div>
  77
  78
  79
  80
  81     <div id="sidebar">
  82
  83
  84
  85 <h2>Archive</h2>
  86 <ul>
  87
  88 <li>2012
  89 <ul>
  90
  91 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
  92
  93 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
  94
  95 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
  96
  97 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
  98
  99 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
 100
 101 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
 102
 103 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
 104
 105 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 106
 107 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (9)</a></li>
 108
 109 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/10/">October (17)</a></li>
 110
 111 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/11/">November (10)</a></li>
 112
 113 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/12/">December (1)</a></li>
 114
 115 </ul></li>
 116
 117 <li>2011
 118 <ul>
 119
 120 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
 121
 122 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
 123
 124 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
 125
 126 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
 127
 128 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
 129
 130 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
 131
 132 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
 133
 134 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 135
 136 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
 137
 138 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 139
 140 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 141
 142 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
 143
 144 </ul></li>
 145
 146 <li>2010
 147 <ul>
 148
 149 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
 150
 151 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
 152
 153 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
 154
 155 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
 156
 157 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 158
 159 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
 160
 161 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
 162
 163 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
 164
 165 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
 166
 167 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
 168
 169 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
 170
 171 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
 172
 173 </ul></li>
 174
 175 <li>2009
 176 <ul>
 177
 178 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
 179
 180 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
 181
 182 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
 183
 184 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
 185
 186 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 187
 188 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
 189
 190 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
 191
 192 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
 193
 194 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
 195
 196 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 197
 198 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 199
 200 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
 201
 202 </ul></li>
 203
 204 <li>2008
 205 <ul>
 206
 207 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
 208
 209 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
 210
 211 </ul></li>
 212
 213 </ul>
 214
 215
 216
 217 <h2>Tags</h2>
 218 <ul>
 219
 220  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
 221
 222  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
 223
 224  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
 225
 226  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (3)</a></li>
 227
 228  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (12)</a></li>
 229
 230  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
 231
 232  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (57)</a></li>
 233
 234  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (116)</a></li>
 235
 236  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (9)</a></li>
 237
 238  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (7)</a></li>
 239
 240  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
 241
 242  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (161)</a></li>
 243
 244  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (20)</a></li>
 245
 246  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
 247
 248  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (9)</a></li>
 249
 250  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (9)</a></li>
 251
 252  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (32)</a></li>
 253
 254  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (17)</a></li>
 255
 256  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (8)</a></li>
 257
 258  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (5)</a></li>
 259
 260  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
 261
 262  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (25)</a></li>
 263
 264  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (216)</a></li>
 265
 266  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (147)</a></li>
 267
 268  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (6)</a></li>
 269
 270  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
 271
 272  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (39)</a></li>
 273
 274  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (60)</a></li>
 275
 276  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
 277
 278  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
 279
 280  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (2)</a></li>
 281
 282  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (4)</a></li>
 283
 284  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
 285
 286  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
 287
 288  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
 289
 290  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (28)</a></li>
 291
 292  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
 293
 294  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (4)</a></li>
 295
 296  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (39)</a></li>
 297
 298  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (3)</a></li>
 299
 300  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (5)</a></li>
 301
 302  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (12)</a></li>
 303
 304  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin (1)</a></li>
 305
 306  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (7)</a></li>
 307
 308  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (35)</a></li>
 309
 310  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (4)</a></li>
 311
 312  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (26)</a></li>
 313
 314 </ul>
 315
 316
 317     </div>
 318     <p style="text-align: right">
 319  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.4</a>
 320 </p>
 321
 322   </body>
 323 </html>