Bug#952451: exim4-config: Installing exim4-config before util-linux prevents configuration from ever working

[James Le Cuirot]

Package: exim4-config
Version: 4.93-11
Severity: normal

Dear Maintainer,

util-linux is generally expected to be installed but it may be missing from some minimal container images. Attempting to install exim4-config before util-linux results in the following because getopt is missing.

Setting up exim4-config (4.93-11) ...
Adding system-user for exim (v4)
/usr/sbin/update-exim4defaults: 82: getopt: not found
Terminating...
dpkg: error processing package exim4-config (--configure):
 installed exim4-config package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 exim4-config

After installing util-linux, the error changes to this.

Setting up exim4-config (4.93-11) ...
dpkg: error processing package exim4-config (--configure):
 installed exim4-config package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 20
Errors were encountered while processing:
 exim4-config

Setting EX4DEBUG=1 reveals where it fails.

+ IFS= 
+ printf %s\n FSET exim4/dc_other_hostnames mailname 
+ IFS=

+ read -r _db_internal_line
+ IFS= 	

+ RET=20 Incorrect number of arguments
+ return 20

It only successfully configures after deleting /etc/exim4/update-exim4.conf.conf. Presumably the blank entries as seen below are throwing the script off. I suggest making the script more resilient and possibly adding a dependency on util-linux.

Regards,
James

-- Package-specific info:
# /etc/exim4/update-exim4.conf.conf
#
# Edit this file and /etc/mailname by hand and execute update-exim4.conf
# yourself or use 'dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config'
#
# Please note that this is _not_ a dpkg-conffile and that automatic changes
# to this file might happen. The code handling this will honor your local
# changes, so this is usually fine, but will break local schemes that mess
# around with multiple versions of the file.
#
# update-exim4.conf uses this file to determine variable values to generate
# exim configuration macros for the configuration file.
#
# Most settings found in here do have corresponding questions in the
# Debconf configuration, but not all of them.
#
# This is a Debian specific file

dc_eximconfig_configtype=
dc_other_hostnames=
dc_local_interfaces=
dc_readhost=
dc_relay_domains=
dc_minimaldns=
dc_relay_nets=
dc_smarthost=
CFILEMODE=
dc_use_split_config=
dc_hide_mailname=
dc_mailname_in_oh=
dc_localdelivery=

-- System Information:
Debian Release: bullseye/sid
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 3.10.0-1062.12.1.el7.x86_64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores)
Kernel taint flags: TAINT_OOT_MODULE, TAINT_UNSIGNED_MODULE
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE=C (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: unable to detect

Versions of packages exim4-config depends on:
ii  adduser                3.118
ii  debconf [debconf-2.0]  1.5.73

exim4-config recommends no packages.

exim4-config suggests no packages.

-- debconf information:
  exim4/dc_readhost:
  exim4/dc_eximconfig_configtype: local delivery only; not on a network
  exim4/dc_local_interfaces: 127.0.0.1 ; ::1
  exim4/use_split_config: false
  exim4/dc_relay_nets:
  exim4/dc_localdelivery: mbox format in /var/mail/
  exim4/dc_minimaldns: false
  exim4/mailname: ae83f2afb63b
  exim4/exim4-config-title:
  exim4/dc_relay_domains:
  exim4/dc_postmaster:
  exim4/hide_mailname:
  exim4/no_config: true
  exim4/dc_smarthost:
  exim4/dc_other_hostnames: ae83f2afb63b