dpkg folder is missing - cannot apt-get update

woloban

Member
Mar 9, 2021
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hello, I am preparing to upgrade from 6.4 to 7. After starting with apt-get update && apt-get upgrade I got this output:

Screenshot 2022-07-08 at 17.35.26.png

After checking the content of /var/lib/ I see that the dpkg folder is missing.

Haven't been touching the node in a bit, nor backuped up. But the vms and lxc have always been running and working properly.

The repository /etc/apt/sources.list and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ are untouched and correct: usual non-enterprise (or commented out) buster.

Can somebody tell me what's happening?
 
wanted to add that the updates section on the GUI hangs with a spinning ball and the message unable to initialize AptPkg::Cache (500)
 
also

Code:
Last login: Fri Jul  8 17:19:42 CEST 2022 on pts/1
Linux pve 5.4.189-2-pve #1 SMP PVE 5.4.189-2 (Mon, 13 Jun 2022 09:39:53 +0200) x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
root@pve:~# pve6to7
= CHECKING VERSION INFORMATION FOR PVE PACKAGES =

Checking for package updates..
error reading cached package status in /var/lib/pve-manager/pkgupdates
flAbsPath on /var/lib/dpkg/status failed - realpath (2: No such file or directory)
Could not open file  - open (2: No such file or directory)
Problem opening
The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
WARN: unable to initialize AptPkg::Cache

FAIL: unable to retrieve list of package updates!

Checking proxmox-ve package version..
Could not open file  - open (2: No such file or directory)
Problem opening
The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
FAIL: unable to retrieve package version information- unable to initialize AptPkg::Cache

FAIL: proxmox-ve package not found!

= CHECKING CLUSTER HEALTH/SETTINGS =

SKIP: standalone node.

= CHECKING HYPER-CONVERGED CEPH STATUS =

SKIP: no hyper-converged ceph setup detected!

= CHECKING CONFIGURED STORAGES =

pbs: error fetching datastores - 500 Can't connect to 192.168.1.50:8007 (No route to host)
PASS: storage 'ISO2' enabled and active.
PASS: storage 'local' enabled and active.
PASS: storage 'local-lvm' enabled and active.
WARN: storage 'pbs' enabled but not active!

= MISCELLANEOUS CHECKS =

INFO: Checking common daemon services..
PASS: systemd unit 'pveproxy.service' is in state 'active'
PASS: systemd unit 'pvedaemon.service' is in state 'active'
PASS: systemd unit 'pvestatd.service' is in state 'active'
INFO: Checking for running guests..
PASS: no running guest detected.
INFO: Checking if the local node's hostname 'pve' is resolvable..
INFO: Checking if resolved IP is configured on local node..
PASS: Resolved node IP '192.168.1.21' configured and active on single interface.
INFO: Checking backup retention settings..
PASS: no problems found.
INFO: checking CIFS credential location..
PASS: no CIFS credentials at outdated location found.
INFO: Checking custom roles for pool permissions..
INFO: Checking node and guest description/note legnth..
PASS: All node config descriptions fit in the new limit of 64 KiB
PASS: All guest config descriptions fit in the new limit of 8 KiB
INFO: Checking container configs for deprecated lxc.cgroup entries
PASS: No legacy 'lxc.cgroup' keys found.
INFO: Checking storage content type configuration..
PASS: no problems found
INFO: Checking if the suite for the Debian security repository is correct..
INFO: Make sure to change the suite of the Debian security repository from 'buster/updates' to 'bullseye-security' - in /etc/apt/sources.list:9
SKIP: NOTE: Expensive checks, like CT cgroupv2 compat, not performed without '--full' parameter

= SUMMARY =

TOTAL:    22
PASSED:   14
SKIPPED:  3
WARNINGS: 2
FAILURES: 3

ATTENTION: Please check the output for detailed information!
Try to solve the problems one at a time and then run this checklist tool again.

and the repository

Code:
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian buster main contrib
deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib

# PVE pve-no-subscription repository provided by proxmox.com,
# NOT recommended for production use
deb http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve buster pve-no-subscription

# security updates
deb http://security.debian.org buster/updates main contrib
 
Last edited:
Never run "apt-get upgrade". This might screw up your entire PVE installation. Only use apt dist-upgrade or apt full-upgrade as this will make sure all dependencies will match the correct version.
 
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Reactions: semanticbeeng
Sorry, my bad. Never did apt-get upgrade but apt-get dist-upgrade, just copied the above bit out of laziness. Eventually I reinstalled and recovered what I needed. Still don't get what happened there though
 
same issue as the OP
I ran
# apt update
# apt full-upgrade

Then it was working for day or two fine. The today I wanted to instal additional package and bad luck:


Code:
root@XXX[ ~ ]# apt update
Hit:1 http://ftp.cz.debian.org/debian bullseye InRelease
Hit:2 http://ftp.cz.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates InRelease                                 
Get:3 http://security.debian.org bullseye-security InRelease [48.4 kB]                           
Hit:4 http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve bullseye InRelease               
Get:5 http://security.debian.org bullseye-security/main amd64 Packages [193 kB]
Get:6 http://security.debian.org bullseye-security/main Translation-en [122 kB]
Fetched 364 kB in 1s (678 kB/s)         
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Problem parsing dependency 21 of elastalert:all=0.2.4-1
E: Error occurred while processing elastalert (NewVersion2)
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.cz.debian.org_debian_dists_bullseye_main_binary-amd64_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
root@XXX[ ~ ]#

Any suggestions for fix?
 
fixed by removing the content of
/var/lib/apt/lists/
I'm just concerned about the root cause of this mess...hope it doesn't happen again