Problem updating Ubuntu in OVH server

[walkman79]

Hello, I hope someone help me with this problem.

I have rented a server from OVH.com, a kimsufi with Ubuntu 8.0.4 LTS as the OS. Every thing was fine till I tried to update the system. Now, apt-get doesn't work at all:

$ sudo apt-get upgrade
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

Neither Synaptic or the Update Manager . I can't install any program unless I do it manually of course. Every time I want to use any of the package/update manager I get this:

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

But if I run that command:

$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
Setting up initramfs-tools (0.85eubuntu39.1) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)

Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
Cannot find /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic
update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
dpkg: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1

I looked into that folder and I actually don't have "/lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic":

$ ls -la /lib/modules/
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 2008-06-03 08:27 .
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 2008-07-24 01:31 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2008-06-03 08:27 2.6.24-17-generic

Btw, I don't have GRUB installed, I don't have physical access to the server, and as I said apt-get doesn't work at all.

Someone suggest me to remove the postrm scripts files that fail apt from removing/reconfiguring these packages but it didn't work:

$ sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-backports-modules-2.6.24-16-generic.postrm
rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-backports-modules-2.6.24-16-generic.postrm': No such file or directory

$ sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-16-generic.postrm
rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-16-generic.postrm': No such file or directory

$ sudo apt-get remove linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-16-generic
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
$ sudo apt-get removelinux-backports-modules-2.6.24-16-generic
E: Invalid operation removelinux-backports-modules-2.6.24-16-generic
$ sudo apt-get remove linux-backports-modules-2.6.24-16-generic
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

These are the things which begins with "linux-" I have on that folder:

$ ls -la /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-
linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic.list linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-12-generic.postrm
linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic.md5sums linux-restricted-modules-common.conffiles
linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic.postinst linux-restricted-modules-common.list
linux-headers-2.6.24-16.list linux-restricted-modules-common.md5sums
linux-headers-2.6.24-16.md5sums linux-restricted-modules-common.postinst
linux-headers-2.6.24-17-generic.list linux-restricted-modules-common.postrm
linux-headers-2.6.24-17-generic.md5sums linux-sound-base.config
linux-headers-2.6.24-17-generic.postinst linux-sound-base.list
linux-headers-2.6.24-17.list linux-sound-base.md5sums
linux-headers-2.6.24-17.md5sums linux-sound-base.postinst
linux-headers-generic.list linux-sound-base.postrm
linux-headers-generic.md5sums linux-sound-base.templates
linux-libc-dev.list linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-12-generic.list
linux-libc-dev.md5sums linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-12-generic.postrm
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-12-generic.list

Could anyone please tell me how to fix this ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[goodkat]

but can you sudo apt-update your repositories?

What happens if you install a specific program>? (sudo apt-get install name)

I hope this thread might help you futher!

[KaySterling]

I got the same exakt problem once with my OVH box with Ubuntu as OS.
I asked on alot of boards but i could never figure out how to fix it.

I found a way to install ".deb" packages, first download them to the computer.
Then open up a terminal and typing "dpkg xxxxxxx.deb". (might have been some options included like -i or something, don't remember)
That way i could install the important stuff i needed to continue.

But i ended up reinstalling the box..

[walkman79]

but can you sudo apt-update your repositories?

What happens if you install a specific program>? (sudo apt-get install name)

I hope this thread might help you futher!

sudo apt-update isn't recognized. I think you were trying to say "sudo apt-get update"
This is what I got:

$ sudo apt-get update
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy Release.gpg
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy Release.gpg
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/multiverse Translation-en_GB
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/main Translation-en_GB
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/universe Translation-en_GB
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/main Translation-en_GB
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/restricted Translation-en_GB
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/restricted Translation-en_GB
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/universe Translation-en_GB
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/multiverse Translation-en_GB
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy Release
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates Release.gpg
Get: 1 ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/main Translation-en_GB
Ign ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/main Translation-en_GB
Get: 2 ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/restricted Translation-en_GB
Ign ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/restricted Translation-en_GB
Get: 3 ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/universe Translation-en_GB
Ign ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/universe Translation-en_GB
Get: 4 ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/multiverse Translation-en_GB
Ign ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/multiverse Translation-en_GB
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy Release
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates Release
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/multiverse Packages
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/main Packages
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/universe Packages
Hit http://ftp.tiscali.nl hardy/restricted Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/main Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/restricted Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/main Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/restricted Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/universe Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/universe Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/multiverse Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy/multiverse Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/main Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/restricted Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/main Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/restricted Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/universe Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/universe Sources
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/multiverse Packages
Hit ftp://mir1.ovh.net hardy-updates/multiverse Sources
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

Again the same error:

E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

As I said I can't run any of the package tools like synaptic, aptitude or apt-get because I always get that error.

I hope there is a solution without using a package tool. Otherwise, I will have to reinstall the server

I got the same exakt problem once with my OVH box with Ubuntu as OS.
I asked on alot of boards but i could never figure out how to fix it.

I found a way to install ".deb" packages, first download them to the computer.
Then open up a terminal and typing "dpkg xxxxxxx.deb". (might have been some options included like -i or something, don't remember)
That way i could install the important stuff i needed to continue.

But i ended up reinstalling the box..

Yeah, I know about .deb packages. But it's annoying to run deb packages every time I need to install something. Sometimes, there are dependencies which I have to install manually by compiling the source code etc.

Thanks for your answers.

[goodkat]

indeed sudo apt-get update!

But can you install using sudo apt-get install packagename?

Anyway it looks quite bad, i'm not an expert. Did you try my link? Do you have grub installed?

[riparide]

Reinstall it to CentOS 5.
I had a Kimsufi too ... first with Debian ... then reinstalled to Ubuntu.
Both versions had several problems.

I did another reinstall to CentOS 5... now... everything works great.

C ya

[goodkat]

Reinstall it to CentOS 5.
I had a Kimsufi too ... first with Debian ... then reinstalled to Ubuntu.
Both versions had several problems.

I did another reinstall to CentOS 5... now... everything works great.

C ya

how did you get a kimisurf since you're from Brazil? any tips?

[222MHz]

First off is should have been

sudo apt-get update and then sudo apt-get safe-upgrade

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get safe-upgrade -y

I myself prefer aptitude


Do you have kernel headers installed?

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

[walkman79]

Thanks for your replies but none of you has actually read my first post. I can't run any sudo apt-get command, that's my problem.
For instance:

$ sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.

and I don't have GRUB installed. Please read my first post carefully. Thanks anyway for the effort.

I think I will reinstall it to CentOS as riparide suggested. However, if someone find a solution for this it will help a lot of people with the same problem.

@ goodkat: I tried that link but the problem is a bit different, the updating process never froze, and those steps doesn't work for me because I don't have grub installed and I don't have physical access to the server.

[kross]

Don't waste your time and reinstall your server.

By the way, those guys who're saying Debian and Ubuntu are buggies are just poor admins.
Some of my customers and I are using these distro on our servers. The only one who has severe bugs (amongst those distro provided by OVH) is the 64bits version of Ubuntu.