[Bug 349469] Re: debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

[Thomas Hood]

* In one of the dupes (#380491) the submitter says that running tasksel
(not as root) simultaneously with "dpkg --configure --pending" (as root)
results in the error message.

* In #419100 the submitter suggests that update-manager is conflicting
with itself when spawned in "Automatic update / Install security updates
without confirmation" mode.

* In #482523 the submitter says that the installer was also running.

* I am able to trigger the message ("debconf: DbDriver "config":
/var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: Resource
temporarily unavailable") by doing the following:

    while : ; do dpkg-reconfigure -pcritical <package-that-calls-
debconf> ; done & update-manager # Then agree to Install Updates

#434286 also mentions use of dpkg-reconfigure.

(So far I have read the dupes up through the six hundred thousands.)

I agree with Steve Langasek who wrote in #18, "You should run into locking problems with either apt or dpkg well before debconf
is involved."  Not only in the sense "I'd expect..." but in the sense "It would be better if...": the error messages printed by apt and dpkg are likely to give the user a better idea of what is going wrong (namely, that two processes are trying to carry out package management actions at the same time) than debconf's low-level "/var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process".

Can this+dupes therefore be considered bugs in dpkg-reconfigure, tasksel
and other programs not taking the right locks?

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/349469

Title:
  debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by
  another process: Resource temporarily unavailable

Status in “debconf” package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  If you have encountered this bug, please run:

    sudo fuser /var/cache/debconf/config.dat

  for each of the shown process IDs, please run:

    pstree -s $pid

  and report the output to this bug.

  Binary package hint: cups

  Crash detection report attached.

  ProblemType: Package
  Architecture: i386
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
  ErrorMessage: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  Package: cups 1.3.9-2ubuntu8
  SourcePackage: cups
  Title: package cups 1.3.9-2ubuntu8 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 1
  Uname: Linux 2.6.27-11-generic i686

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