Stuck on "waiting for apt-get to exit" in Software Centre

Question

I'm trying to download something, and it's stuck on "waiting for apt-get to exit". Also, when I'm trying to use the terminal it says "unable to lock the administration directory" after I type in a command.

I got this after setting up auto-update in 18.04 and waiting 5-10 minutes was enough time for the lock to be released by the background update. — user5389726598465, May 25 '18 at 14:27

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 06 '13 at 14:43

2

apt-get is a tool for handling dpkg packages and handles one package at a time. There's may be a case that your previous action is still engaging the apt-get engine. Just like @karel suggested, 'close first and then only try another'

Note: If its not solving the problem and neither rebooting, maybe some old apt-get thread was halted while executing, leaving apt locked. You'll need to delete the lock file with sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock and also the lock file in cache directory with sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

answered Jul 06 '13 at 14:43

kern

1,439

1

I just tried and it did not work. – Ramon Suarez Dec 27 '18 at 12:27
Old topic but it still happens even in Ubuntu & Ubuntu PRO 22.04 in 2023. Solution: sudo killall apt apt-get. – Marius Nov 14 '23 at 01:04

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 06 '13 at 13:02

0

Maybe you had two conflicting package download commands trying to run at the same time, so neither command would run. If so, try closing all your open windows, and then open only the Ubuntu Software Center and try again to install your package.

answered Jul 06 '13 at 13:02

karel

114,770

Stuck on "waiting for apt-get to exit" in Software Centre

2 Answers2