Stuck at 0% [waiting for headers]

Question

On googling this error it seems that a lot of people are having this issue.

apt-get upgrade hangs at 0% [waiting for headers] apt-get install apache2 hangs at 0% [waiting for headers]. Some apt-get commands are working, but only certain packages.

Any ideas? I don't think this is an issue with slow repos because I've had it up for a long while and it hasn't budged from 0%. I have edited sources.list but I removed the lines I added when this issue presented itself and it hasn't made a difference.

Any clues would be really useful.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/156650/apt-get-update-very-slow-stuck-at-waiting-for-headers
read the mtu related answer, might be a help — Eslam Shapsough, Oct 05 '14 at 22:30
I have tried all the solutions above, none of them work. I even tried a reboot at the command prompt, still the same,the 0% remains stuck forever. This is a serious issue because it hampers, slows down, or even prevents the user from installing and running programs or apps. I have never seen this happen in Ubuntu 14.04. I don't think it's caused by problems of Internet connection, because whenever the problem occurs I keep checking my browser by going to different websites and I am able to surf with no problem. I think it's a bug in Ubuntu 16.04 and it needs to be fixed fast. — Plutarc, Nov 28 '16 at 22:39
For me it was because I was connected to my work VPN - couldn't connect to deb.nodesource.com, for instance. Disconnected from VPN - no problem. Connect again to VPN - problem. Won't be the source of the problem for everyone but if you are using a VPN and having this problem, try disconnecting. (can't post answer 'cause not enough rep) — drkvogel, Dec 17 '20 at 11:29
I echo @drkvogel. As soon as I came off my VPN, quick and easy results. I also can't post because I don't have enough reputation. — Casivio, Apr 19 '22 at 17:19

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:25

7

Try to change the server selecting update manager, definitions,downloading from, then select a server more near you. and then try again.

Edit: see this link on how to add it by editing sources.list. How can I get apt to use a mirror close to me, or choose a faster mirror?

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:25

Community

1

answered Jan 12 '12 at 09:53

Celso

432

2

any idea how to do this over ssh? – Thomas Clayson Jan 12 '12 at 10:31
2

You edit /etc/apt/sources.list to point to a different mirror – tumbleweed Jan 12 '12 at 10:35

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 05 '13 at 22:52

4

The easiest approach consist of following commands:

sudo apt-get clean

&

sudo apt-get update

then

sudo apt-get install <package_name>

Cheers

Let me know if it works

answered Dec 05 '13 at 22:52

igauravsehrawat

407

1

It worked for me.. – igauravsehrawat Dec 06 '13 at 08:41
9

Didn't work for me. – isomorphismes Mar 28 '14 at 08:09
@isomorphismes can you describe more ? maybe error or some screenshots – igauravsehrawat Mar 28 '14 at 14:10
I posted the question here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/439829/what-is-ubuntus-default-web-proxy-server – isomorphismes Mar 29 '14 at 04:03
@isomorphismes i guess that is different issue seems like misconfiguration of proxy settings. – igauravsehrawat Apr 14 '14 at 11:49
1

@iguarav May or may not be, depends on the next googler... – isomorphismes Apr 15 '14 at 07:17

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 26 '18 at 13:00

3

I had to

sudo apt-key update
sudo apt-get update

From manpages:

apt-key is used to manage the list of keys used by apt to authenticate packages. Packages which have been authenticated using these keys will be considered trusted.

answered Jan 26 '18 at 13:00

Stiin

492

1

apt-key does not magically make HTTP responses happen. – Chai T. Rex Jan 26 '18 at 20:17
@ChaiT.Rex It does however update the keyring which solved the problem for me. – Stiin Jan 29 '18 at 21:25
The keyring isn't the problem with 0% [waiting for headers]. The problem with 0% [waiting for headers] is that the HTTP connection has stalled. Retrying the command will start a new HTTP connection, which might not get stuck. That (running sudo apt-get update again) is what solved the specific problem of 0% [waiting for headers] for you. Keys are involved in the process after the HTTP connection is finished, when checking the finished downloads. – Chai T. Rex Jan 29 '18 at 21:28
Worked for me on Ubuntu 22 (WLS). – dfcorbin Apr 06 '23 at 12:08

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 17 '19 at 16:06

1

If you are using a proxy server and have those settings in your user environment, try:

sudo -E apt update

to run the command as root but using your current user's environment.

edited Sep 17 '19 at 16:06

BeastOfCaerbannog

14,585

answered Sep 17 '19 at 07:44

O Sharv

111

Noddy · Answer 5 · 2020-01-31T17:47:53.207

(Just reposting this as the original was inexplicably deleted)

I noticed this problem on a VM running Xenial in a data centre this week that had been running for 10 years ( upgraded through many Ubuntu LTS releases in that time).

I got tcpdump running to log requests to the URLs in /etc/apt/sources.list and didn't see any requests when I ran apt-get update

e.g.

 tcpdump -i eth0 host archive.ubuntu.com

If I tried to fetch from the host using wget , it worked fine

e.g.

wget archive.ubuntu.com/

Eventually I found that the ISP had set a proxy for apt in /etc/apt/apt.conf on my VM back in 2009 when the VM was first activated.

Acquire
{
  http 
  {
      Proxy "http://apt2.memset.net:3128";
  };
};

Evidently the proxy recently stopped working correctly.

I deleted the block above from my /etc/apt.conf and normality was restored

Stuck at 0% [waiting for headers]

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