All Helper Scripts Fail

[JakeBr]

Hey there, I'm new to Proxmox and LXC so I've been trying to stand up apps using helper scripts. Every attempt—regardless of the application—fails with Exit Code 255approximately 2 minutes after creation.

The Symptoms:

1. The script successfully creates the container.
2. I manually start the container.
3. The script hangs for about 2 minutes.
4. After the timeout, it fails with: in line 3814: exit code 255 (DPKG: Fatal internal error): while executing command pct start "$CTID".

The Environment:

• PVE Version: 9.1.5 (pve-manager: 9.1.5)
• Kernel: 6.17.9-1-pve
• Storage: LVM-Thin (pve/data)
• Template: debian-13-standard_13.1-2_amd64.tar.zst

What I have tried:

1. AppArmor: Currently disabled at the kernel level (apparmor=0 in GRUB). aa-status confirms it is not running.
2. Max Release: Modified /usr/share/perl5/PVE/LXC/Setup/Debian.pm to allow versions up to 15.
3. Tested both Privileged and Unprivileged modes; same result.
4. Nesting and Keyctl enabled or disabled; same result.

Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[janus57]

Hi,

You should ask the maintainer of the script. Here it's the proxmox forum.

Best regards,

 

[rcw88]

I've had the same error installing the smokeping script, its a different line number but the same effect. The error isn't generated by the install script as such, but by DPKG generating a Fatal error. The script is trying to start a container using its containerID.

My environment:

• PVE Version 8.4.11 (Kernel: 6.8.12-13-pve) pve-manager/8.4.11
• Template debian-13-standard_13.1-2_amd64.tar.zst [local]
• Storage: nas mounted share

So there's something else going on, a swift look in dpkg.log shows [in my case]

status triggers-pending libc-bin:amd64 2.36-9+deb12u10
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status half-configured lxc-pve:amd64 6.0.0-1
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status unpacked lxc-pve:amd64 6.0.0-1
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status half-installed lxc-pve:amd64 6.0.0-1
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status triggers-pending man-db:amd64 2.11.2-2
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status unpacked lxc-pve:amd64 6.0.0-2
2026-04-21 11:09:28 upgrade pve-container:all 5.3.0 5.3.3
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status triggers-pending pve-ha-manager:amd64 4.0.7
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status triggers-pending pve-manager:all 8.4.11
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status half-configured pve-container:all 5.3.0
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status unpacked pve-container:all 5.3.0
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status half-installed pve-container:all 5.3.0
2026-04-21 11:09:28 status unpacked pve-container:all 5.3.3

This is because the smokeping install script prompted me with
 An update for the Proxmox LXC stack is available
pve-container: installed=5.3.3 candidate=5.3.4
lxc-pve : installed=6.0.0-2 candidate=6.0.0-2

[1] Upgrade LXC stack now (recommended)
[2] Use an older debian template instead (may not work with all scripts)
[3] Cancel

I chose option 1, which means I have broken the dpkg installation on this node [I have a two, (yeah I know), node cluster, it will be three], running the install script on the second node generates the Update prompt also, so I am going to fix dpkg first.

Tried fixing dpkg, ran apt update, ran apt upgrade, node now completely borked. Will not boot using any existing boot image nor into recovery mode, stalls at about 5 seconds in.. It is version 8.x..