Failed to install Ubuntu security update "The package system is broken

Question

When performing a security update to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, I received the above error message. Running apt-get install -f returns the following:

josh@josh-HP-Pavilion-dv4-Notebook-PC:~$ sudo apt-get install -f
[sudo] password for josh: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  endless-sky-data gir1.2-rb-3.0 gir1.2-secret-1
  libdmapsharing-3.0-2 librhythmbox-core9
  libsdl2-2.0-0 libsndio6.1 linux-headers-4.4.0-21
  linux-headers-4.4.0-21-generic
  linux-headers-4.4.0-36
  linux-headers-4.4.0-36-generic
  linux-headers-4.4.0-38
  linux-headers-4.4.0-38-generic
  linux-image-4.4.0-21-generic
  linux-image-4.4.0-36-generic
  linux-image-4.4.0-38-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-21-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-36-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-38-generic python3-mako
   rhythmbox-data ubuntu-core-launcher
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
  linux-headers-4.4.0-72-generic linux-headers-generic
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  linux-headers-4.4.0-72-generic
The following packages will be upgraded:
  linux-headers-generic
1 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 11 not upgraded.
4 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 786 kB of archives.
After this operation, 7,366 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Err:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64     linux-headers-4.4.0-72-generic amd64 4.4.0-72.93
  Temporary failure resolving 'us.archive.ubuntu.com'
Ign:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64     linux-headers-generic amd64 4.4.0.72.78
Err:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64     linux-headers-4.4.0-72-generic amd64 4.4.0-72.93
   Temporary failure resolving 'us.archive.ubuntu.com'
Err:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64     linux-headers-generic amd64 4.4.0.72.78
   Temporary failure resolving 'us.archive.ubuntu.com'
E: Failed to fetch      http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux/linux-headers-4.4.0-     72-generic_4.4.0-72.93_amd64.deb  Temporary failure resolving      'us.archive.ubuntu.com'

 E: Failed to fetch      http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-meta/linux-headers-     generic_4.4.0.72.78_amd64.deb  Temporary failure resolving 'us.archive.ubuntu.com'

E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with     --fix-missing?

It looks like you have (a possibly temporary) network problem. In terminal type host security.ubuntu.com and host us.archive.ubuntu.com and see if you get answers. If you do, retry your earlier commands. — heynnema, Aug 01 '17 at 19:33
Possible duplicate of apt-get update fails to fetch files, “Temporary failure resolving …” error — karel, Aug 15 '18 at 11:39

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 01 '17 at 18:44

0

Try to enter:

sudo apt update

into the terminal to update the package list. You can also try:

sudo apt --fix-broken install

to fix broken packages; now try to update your system and it should work.

answered Aug 01 '17 at 18:44

Krish

11
2

Both commands return different errors. I'd post the code but I'm new to stack exchange and I'm unsure how to do so in the comments without it looking like a jumbled mess. – Joshua Sager Aug 07 '17 at 19:44
Try to enter this as well: sudo sh -c "apt-get update;apt-get dist-upgrade;apt-get autoremove;apt-get autoclean" This should clean up your system. Then try to update the package list using the code mentioned above. Also make sure the fix broken packages. – Krish Aug 07 '17 at 23:45

Failed to install Ubuntu security update "The package system is broken

1 Answers1