[Bug 1648934] Re: Dpkg fails to reinstall MTA Exim4 due to; "exim: failed to find uid for user name "Debian-exim"

Adam Conrad adconrad at 0c3.net
Mon Apr 10 09:42:51 UTC 2017 

** Package changed: dpkg (Ubuntu) => exim4 (Ubuntu)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1648934

Title:
  Dpkg fails to reinstall MTA Exim4 due to; "exim: failed to find uid
  for user name "Debian-exim"

Status in exim4 package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  nate at frontier:~$ lsb_release -a
  No LSB modules are available.
  Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
  Description:	Ubuntu 16.10
  Release:	16.10
  Codename:	yakkety

  I had installed Exim4 MTA.  I had a problem in Exim4 unrelated to the
  dpkg error.  I reinstalled Exim4 MTA and became entangled in
  dependency hell.  This always happens with Exim4.  Dpkg does something
  to get confused.  This is very much a bug.  Postfix is not an option.
  I have another vm running Exim4 at the moment, but would like to get
  Exim4 running on the Ubuntu machine.

  I tried following this howto to solve it and that failed;
  https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2309546

  Here is the output of trying to reinstall;

  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt install exim4
  [sudo] password for nate: 
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
    linux-headers-4.8.0-22 linux-headers-4.8.0-22-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-26
    linux-headers-4.8.0-26-generic linux-image-4.8.0-22-generic
    linux-image-4.8.0-26-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-22-generic
    linux-image-extra-4.8.0-26-generic
  Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
  The following additional packages will be installed:
    exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light
  Suggested packages:
    eximon4 exim4-doc-html | exim4-doc-info spf-tools-perl swaks
  The following NEW packages will be installed:
    exim4 exim4-base exim4-config exim4-daemon-light
  0 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  Need to get 1,638 kB of archives.
  After this operation, 3,780 kB of additional disk space will be used.
  Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
  Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety/main amd64 exim4-config all 4.87-3ubuntu1 [302 kB]
  Get:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety/main amd64 exim4-base amd64 4.87-3ubuntu1 [884 kB]
  Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety/main amd64 exim4-daemon-light amd64 4.87-3ubuntu1 [444 kB]
  Get:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety/main amd64 exim4 all 4.87-3ubuntu1 [7,872 B]
  Fetched 1,638 kB in 14s (112 kB/s)                                             
  Preconfiguring packages ...
  Selecting previously unselected package exim4-config.
  (Reading database ... 427338 files and directories currently installed.)
  Preparing to unpack .../0-exim4-config_4.87-3ubuntu1_all.deb ...
  Unpacking exim4-config (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Selecting previously unselected package exim4-base.
  Preparing to unpack .../1-exim4-base_4.87-3ubuntu1_amd64.deb ...
  Unpacking exim4-base (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Selecting previously unselected package exim4-daemon-light.
  Preparing to unpack .../2-exim4-daemon-light_4.87-3ubuntu1_amd64.deb ...
  Unpacking exim4-daemon-light (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Selecting previously unselected package exim4.
  Preparing to unpack .../3-exim4_4.87-3ubuntu1_all.deb ...
  Unpacking exim4 (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Setting up exim4-config (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  exim: failed to find uid for user name "Debian-exim"
  Invalid new configfile /var/lib/exim4/config.autogenerated.tmp, not installing 
  /var/lib/exim4/config.autogenerated.tmp to /var/lib/exim4/config.autogenerated
  dpkg: error processing package exim4-config (--configure):
   subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
  Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
  ureadahead will be reprofiled on next reboot
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-base:
   exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.82) | exim4-config-2; however:
    Package exim4-config is not configured yet.
    Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
    Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is not configured yet.

  dpkg: error processing package exim4-base (--configure):
   dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
  No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                            No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
                                                      dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4:
   exim4 depends on exim4-base (>= 4.87-3ubuntu1); however:
    Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
   exim4 depends on exim4-base (<< 4.87-3ubuntu1.1); however:
    Package exim4-base is not configured yet.

  dpkg: error processing package exim4 (--configure):
   dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
  Processing triggers for doc-base (0.10.7) ...
  Processing 3 added doc-base files...
  Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
  Processing triggers for systemd (231-9ubuntu1) ...
  Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-daemon-light:
   exim4-daemon-light depends on exim4-base (>= 4.87); however:
    Package exim4-base is not configured yet.

  dpkg: error processing package exim4-daemon-light (--configure):
   dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
  No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already
                                                                Errors were encountered while processing:
   exim4-config
   exim4-base
   exim4
   exim4-daemon-light
  E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)


  Here are some things I tried;

  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get clean exim4
  [sudo] password for nate: 
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get clean exim4
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt update
  Hit:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety-security InRelease
  Hit:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety InRelease                    
  Hit:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/atareao/ubuntu yakkety InRelease        
  Hit:4 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu yakkety InRelease                    
  Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety-updates InRelease [102 kB]   
  Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/stellarium/stellarium-releases/ubuntu yakkety InRelease
  Hit:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net/system76-dev/stable/ubuntu yakkety InRelease    
  Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety-backports InRelease [102 kB]
  Fetched 204 kB in 1s (191 kB/s)   
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  All packages are up to date.
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get autoremove
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  The following packages will be REMOVED:
    linux-headers-4.8.0-22 linux-headers-4.8.0-22-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-26
    linux-headers-4.8.0-26-generic linux-image-4.8.0-22-generic
    linux-image-4.8.0-26-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-22-generic
    linux-image-extra-4.8.0-26-generic
  0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 8 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  3 not fully installed or removed.
  After this operation, 628 MB disk space will be freed.
  Do you want to continue? [Y/n] n
  Abort.
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --remove exim4
  dpkg: warning: ignoring request to remove exim4, only the config
   files of which are on the system; use --purge to remove them too
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge exim4
  (Reading database ... 427523 files and directories currently installed.)
  Removing exim4 (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Purging configuration files for exim4 (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  nate at frontier:~$ dpkg -l | grep exim4
  iU  exim4-base                                      4.87-3ubuntu1                               amd64        support files for all Exim MTA (v4) packages
  iF  exim4-config                                    4.87-3ubuntu1                               all          configuration for the Exim MTA (v4)
  iU  exim4-daemon-light                              4.87-3ubuntu1                               amd64        lightweight Exim MTA (v4) daemon
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge exim4-base
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of exim4-base:
   exim4-daemon-light depends on exim4-base (>= 4.87).

  dpkg: error processing package exim4-base (--purge):
   dependency problems - not removing
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   exim4-base
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge exim4-config
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of exim4-config:
   exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.82) | exim4-config-2; however:
    Package exim4-config is to be removed.
    Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
    Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is to be removed.
   exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.82) | exim4-config-2; however:
    Package exim4-config is to be removed.
    Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
    Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is to be removed.

  dpkg: error processing package exim4-config (--purge):
   dependency problems - not removing
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   exim4-config
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq exim4-base
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of exim4-base:
   exim4-daemon-light depends on exim4-base (>= 4.87).

  dpkg: error processing package exim4-base (--purge):
   dependency problems - not removing
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   exim4-base
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq exim4-daemon-light
  (Reading database ... 50%
  (Reading database ... 427523 files and directories currently installed.)
  Removing exim4-daemon-light (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Purging configuration files for exim4-daemon-light (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
  nate at frontier:~$ 
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq exim4-config
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of exim4-config:
   exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.82) | exim4-config-2; however:
    Package exim4-config is to be removed.
    Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
    Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is to be removed.
   exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.82) | exim4-config-2; however:
    Package exim4-config is to be removed.
    Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
    Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is to be removed.

  dpkg: error processing package exim4-config (--purge):
   dependency problems - not removing
  Errors were encountered while processing:
   exim4-config
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq exim4-base
  (Reading database ... 427495 files and directories currently installed.)
  Removing exim4-base (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Purging configuration files for exim4-base (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
  Processing triggers for doc-base (0.10.7) ...
  Processing 3 removed doc-base files...
  Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
  Processing triggers for systemd (231-9ubuntu1) ...
  Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
  ureadahead will be reprofiled on next reboot
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --purge --force-remove-reinstreq exim4-config
  (Reading database ... 427422 files and directories currently installed.)
  Removing exim4-config (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  Purging configuration files for exim4-config (4.87-3ubuntu1) ...
  dpkg-statoverride: warning: no override present
  dpkg: warning: while removing exim4-config, directory '/var/lib/exim4' not empty so not removed
  Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt update
  Hit:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety InRelease
  Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety-security InRelease [102 kB]    
  Hit:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/atareao/ubuntu yakkety InRelease        
  Hit:4 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu yakkety InRelease                    
  Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety-updates InRelease [102 kB]   
  Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/stellarium/stellarium-releases/ubuntu yakkety InRelease
  Hit:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net/system76-dev/stable/ubuntu yakkety InRelease    
  Get:8 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu yakkety-backports InRelease [102 kB]
  Fetched 306 kB in 0s (310 kB/s)   
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  All packages are up to date.
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt upgrade
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  Calculating upgrade... Done
  The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
    linux-headers-4.8.0-22 linux-headers-4.8.0-22-generic linux-headers-4.8.0-26
    linux-headers-4.8.0-26-generic linux-image-4.8.0-22-generic
    linux-image-4.8.0-26-generic linux-image-extra-4.8.0-22-generic
    linux-image-extra-4.8.0-26-generic
  Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
  0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get clean exim4
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get clean exim4-config
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get clean exim4-base
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo apt-get clean exim4-daemon-light
  nate at frontier:~$ sudo dpkg --configure -a

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.10
  Package: dpkg 1.18.10ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.8.0-30.32-generic 4.8.6
  Uname: Linux 4.8.0-30-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.20.3-0ubuntu8
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Fri Dec  9 22:23:45 2016
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_US
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: dpkg
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to yakkety on 2016-10-17 (54 days ago)

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