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Any install that I'm trying through the Software Center is telling me:

Requires installation of untrusted packages: The action would require the installation of packages from not authenticated sources.

I did an apt-get update from the command line, then removed the software sources that the keys were bad from (PPAs I added myself), and unchecked them in the software sources for software center, but to no avail. I can't install anything from software center anymore - only> from the command line with apt-get.

Is uninstalling/installing the only option? I don't want to break other PPAs that I have.

Additional information:

Here's a paste from apt-get update:

Reading package lists... Done
W: GPG error: http://ppa.launchpad.net oneiric Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY B725097B3ACC3965
W: GPG error: http://us.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric Release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG 40976EAF437D05B5 Ubuntu Archive Automatic Signing Key <ftpmaster@ubuntu.com>

I've tried apt-key update, and there was no effect (two keys unchanged).

The output of apt-get update and apt-get upgrade, and the contents of /etc/apt/sources.list, can be found in this pastebin post.

4 Answers4

107

Open the Terminal and enter the commands below one by one:

sudo apt-get clean
cd /var/lib/apt
sudo mv lists lists.old
sudo mkdir -p lists/partial
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update

Update: This might not help in some later versions, which might require alternative solutions like the one in the other answer, or this one that seems to do the job in some cases under Ubuntu 16.04:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Sadi
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    Thanks, but why is this required of the user, the ubuntu system updater should really try to "do the right thing" – Chris Nicola Jun 01 '12 at 16:59
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    Solved the problem! @Sadi could you please explain what is happening behind the scenes? Were some of the keys outdated or what? – Daniel Dinnyes Jul 14 '12 at 13:42
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    this works BUT depending on the country where you are, you MIIGHT get a "SOMETHING WICKED HAPPENED" while updating, indicating that there might be a SOFTWARE SOURCES problem with ubuntu software center (or synaptics). in that case, change from your country's server to main server (ubuntu software center > edit tab > software sources) – tony gil Dec 06 '12 at 01:32
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    please refer to @Tom Brossman answer, it is much better one – sepisoad Dec 10 '12 at 11:57
  • getting error 'permission denied for creating directory – Naveed Ali Jan 23 '15 at 15:01
  • @NaveedAli Are you sure you entered the command correctly, beginning with sudo and your user password to gain admin privileges? – Sadi Jan 24 '15 at 08:05
  • yes @Sadi, every thing followed correctly and rechecked it again and again – Naveed Ali Jan 26 '15 at 06:38
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    @NaveedAli This is strange... Maybe you have this directory already, maybe you can just skip this step and move on to the last two commands... Or you can try "sudo nautilus", go to "/var/lib/apt/lists" and create directory "partial" there... – Sadi Jan 26 '15 at 10:26
  • thnks @Sadi I will try it.. – Naveed Ali Jan 26 '15 at 11:11
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    This did not work for me. – Sudipta Basak Jan 13 '16 at 20:43
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    Ubuntu 16.04 and not working either. – Yan King Yin May 19 '17 at 04:38
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    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade worked for me. – Yan King Yin May 19 '17 at 04:46
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    @YanKingYin : Thanks for the update :-) Finding that a solution that worked 5 years ago doesn't work any longer is no surprise ;-) I'm currently on Ubuntu Gnome 17.04, and don't know if this answer is still good for me... – Sadi May 19 '17 at 09:41
68

This is a common problem with Launchpad PPAs. Common enough that I've copied these commands to use when I reinstall or add new Launchpad PPAs.

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys  

Then,

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys YOURKEYNUMBERHERE  

Substitute YOURKEYNUMBERHERE with the problem keys, like this:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys B725097B3ACC3965  

And

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 40976EAF437D05B5  

The first line is almost the same, minus the keys. It might even be optional, I honestly don't know. All I am sure of is that this method always fixes the problem immediately.

If anyone finds the original answer that I copied these from let me know and I'll link to it and give them the attribution.

**EDIT It's almost certainly karthik87's answer here or here I got this from. This can probably be closed as a duplicate.

Either way, don't forget to do a

sudo apt-get update  

after, to fix everything.

Note: Running apt-get update first should give you an error message mentioning which key is missing and an ID to be used with the apt-key command.

Tom Brossman
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  • This didn't work for me.. When I try to receive the keys, it show total number processed: 1, and unchanged: also 1. nothing changes. – Starx Feb 07 '12 at 07:21
  • @Starx You might be better off copying your specific error message into a search engine, or posting it here as a new question. Also, take a look at the Related Questions in the sidebar to the right. There are a lot of problems similar to this, and several different solutions. Sorry I can't be more help. – Tom Brossman Feb 07 '12 at 09:28
  • I have posted a question here. Please see it – Starx Feb 07 '12 at 10:17
  • @TomBrossman I was able to repair the GPG error using your method without the first line. – Mario Nov 06 '13 at 23:12
  • Works for me, thx! In addition you should check what apt-get update outputs in the end. E.g. Duplicate sources.list , Failed to fetch. You should resolve there errors before updates. You can disable/remove failed and duplicated sources in Software & Updates application at the Other Software tab. – milkovsky Jan 08 '16 at 09:30
6

Maybe you could try changing to Main Server in Software Sources, where it says Download from.

fohswe
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0

Requires installation of untrusted packages: The action would require the installation of packages from not authenticated sources.

I received this error from the Ubuntu Software Updater after adding a repository without adding the key for the repository. Some software repositories are good about giving you instructions on how to add their repository keys along with the instructions to add the repository, like Launchpad.Others just give you the key.

To figure out what key you need in a terminal run:

sudo apt-get update

This will download the list of available packages from your repositories which uses the keys. If a key is missing it will return an error message.

Use the information in the error message to find and download the key then add it to your apt keyring with:

sudo apt-key add /PathToTheKeyFile/KeyFile.gpg

You should get back an OK. Now to test that you have all the needed repository authentication keys to allow the Ubuntu Software Updater to run:

sudo apt-get update

This will again download the list of available packages from your repositories which uses the keys. If a key is missing it will return an error message.