Bug#766260: Bug#767734: upgrade failure: perl-modules depends on perl which is not configured yet

[Niko Tyni]

On Sun, Nov 02, 2014 at 12:51:02PM +0100, Sven Joachim wrote:
> [CC'ing apt maintainers.]
> 
> On 2014-11-02 10:27 +0100, Peter Palfrader wrote:
> 
> > Package: perl
> > Version: 5.20.1-2
> > Severity: serious

> > while upgrading a sid chroot, perl fails to upgrade:

> > } Unpacking perl-modules (5.20.1-2) over (5.18.2-7) ...
> > } dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of perl-modules:
> > }  perl-modules depends on perl (>= 5.20.1-1); however:
> > }   Package perl is not configured yet.
> > } 
> > } dpkg: error processing package perl-modules (--configure):
> > }  dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
> > } Errors were encountered while processing:
> > }  perl-modules
> > } E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
> 
> The circular dependency between perl and perl-modules has been around
> for ages, and it can be broken by configuring both perl and perl-modules
> in one run and letting dpkg figure out the order.  It seems as if apt
> told dpkg to only configure perl-modules which cannot work.
> 
> I think this is the same problem as in
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/1347721, and it's
> fixed in apt 1.0.7 (you have apt 1.0.6, 0.9.9 introduced the bug).

Thanks for looking at this.

While the above sounds good, we also have a wheezy->jessie jenkins
upgrade failure with a similar error, tracked as #766260. The log looks
like it was with wheezy's apt (0.9.7.9+deb7u6), although it got bumped
to 1.0.9.3 during the upgrade.

So I wonder if there's another related apt bug or if this is something
else.

There's a full log in #766260, quoting some snippets:

  [in a just-prepared wheezy chroot]
  + apt-get -y install 'haskell-platform.*' 'libghc-.*'
  [...]
  [switch to jessie]
  + apt-get -y upgrade
  [...]
  [no change to perl-base/perl/perl-modules yet]
  + apt-get -yf dist-upgrade
  [...]
  Preparing to unpack .../perl_5.20.1-1_amd64.deb ...
  Unpacking perl (5.20.1-1) over (5.14.2-21+deb7u2) ...
  [...]
  Preparing to unpack .../perl-base_5.20.1-1_amd64.deb ...
  Unpacking perl-base (5.20.1-1) over (5.14.2-21+deb7u2) ...
  Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.0.2-1) ...
  Setting up perl-base (5.20.1-1) ...
  [...]
  Preparing to unpack .../perl-modules_5.20.1-1_all.deb ...
  Unpacking perl-modules (5.20.1-1) over (5.14.2-21+deb7u2) ...
  [...]
  dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of perl:
   perl depends on perl-modules (>= 5.20.1-1); however:
    Package perl-modules is not configured yet.

  dpkg: error processing package perl (--configure):
   dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

-- 
Niko Tyni   ntyni at debian.org