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Ubuntu update error: “waiting for unattended-upgr to exit”

Solutons:


I would first try a softer way.

  1. Stop the automatic updater.

    sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

    At the first prompt, choose not to download and install updates.
    Make a reboot.

  2. Make sure any packages in an unclean state are installed correctly.

    sudo dpkg --configure -a

  3. Get your system up-top-date.

    sudo apt update && sudo apt -f install && sudo apt full-upgrade

  4. Turn the automatic updater back on, now that the blockage is cleared.

    sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

    Select the package unattended-upgrades again.

Do not jump to deleting lock files as soon as you see this issue. There might be some process actually updating packages. It might be worth waiting for a few mins.

For me it gave below error:

athakur:~$ sudo apt-get upgrade
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?

I had logged in to my Ubuntu System after a long time and some internal process was updating something. It got resolved on it’s own (took like 5 mins).

You can check this with commands like

  • sudo ps -eaf | grep -i apt
  • sudo lsof /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend

If you see a process like “apt.systemd.daily” running you can wait for some time.
If not you can kill those processes and resume what you wanted.

  • sudo kill -9 PID

Replace PID with PIDs you get from the above command. Then you can run 

sudo dpkg --configure -a

to let dpkg fix itself. Either case, delete lock files only as last resort.

I simply copy-pasted a solution from another question on Ask Ubuntu, “Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/) is another process using it”. All the credit goes to zurdo.

This should be used as last resort. If you use this carelessly you can end up with a broken system. Please try the other answers before doing this.

You can delete the lock file with the following command:

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock

You may also need to delete the lock file in the cache directory

sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock

After this you should be able to do your updates!

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