How do I fix a “Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock” problem?

Question

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11 Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/)

Is another process using it? How can I fix this?

Answer 1

WARNING: This answer is applicable to Ubuntu version < 11.04, do not use it in a newer version as it will hard freeze your system

As per the other answers there is a package management app holding the lock. When unsure do not manually remove the lock, first run:

sudo fuser -cuk /var/lib/dpkg/lock; sudo rm -f /var/lib/dpkg/lock

This will kill any processes opening the file before removing it.

Answer 2

You will get this message if you forget to use sudo when executing an apt command.

Otherwise this is a sign that something else is installing or removing software and has locked the apt database while it performs the actions. The programs that can do this are:

• The Software Center
• The Update Manager
• The apt link installer (I think this now goes through SC)
• The apt-get or aptitude command line utilities.

You can force the lock off by removing the file, but it's not recommended without first closing the program that's holding the lock safely, since you could cause corruption or interrupt an installation (bad). The command provided by João should close the program that holds the lock and then remove the lock but won't protect you from install interruption:

sudo fuser -cuk /var/lib/dpkg/lock; sudo rm -f /var/lib/dpkg/lock

And the same command can be used for the apt cache lock:

sudo fuser -cuk /var/cache/apt/archives/lock; sudo rm -f /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

Answer 3

You can delete the lock file with

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

after that try open synaptic again

Answer 4

Remove your /var/lib/dpkg/lock file and force package reconfiguration.

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock
sudo dpkg --configure -a

It should work after this.

Answer 5

Only one program can hold the lock. Make sure that you are not running aptitude, synaptic or adept. Close the program and run it again it should work.You may either have synaptic open, or have another terminal window open running apt-get, or have the update manager running.Check it and see if any of those are running,if any of them is running close it and try again.

Try this command in terminal to find what is running
ps -e | grep -e apt -e adept | grep -v grep

Note:
If that doesn’t make effect, type the following in terminal that will remove the lock
sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock
sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock
Now you can install any Packages.

Answer 6

Just sudo rm -f /var/lib/apt/lists/lock and try again.

apt-fast MAY be responsible for not unlocking properly; this happens sometimes when you abort apt-get or dpkg too.

Answer 7

My guess is that the most likely way to hit this is:

• boot Ubuntu
• start a terminal
• type sudo apt-get install whatever

and the command-line apt overlaps with update-manager automatically polling.

So if you try again in a few minutes that should fix it.

Answer 8

This will happen if you have 'Update Manager' running in parallel for any update check or install as install process places Lock. If you're facing the same error without 'Update Manager' running you have to remove it from /var/lib/dgkg/lock, which definitely you can't do it manually

sudo fuser -cuk /var/lib/dpkg/lock
sudo rm -f /var/lib/dpkg/lock

works fine. Taken from: http://askubuntu.com/a/15469/68707

Answer 9

Do not type the command!!!!

sudo fuser -cuk /var/lib/dpkg/lock

The process "fuser" will access the communication with the graphics card, and possibly eliminate it. If you plan to execute this command first type (ctrl+alt+F2) and execute it in a different tty session, so your graphics is not changed while it is used by your Xorg session.

I would try the classic

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

or just...

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock

If I was to do this while staying in Xorg(or the GUI)

Answer 10

After running commands told by Kern in his answer, you may try this:

sudo rm -r /var/cache/apt/archives/{lock,partial} 

Now run:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade 

Answer 11

If you have an aborted upgrade you get a lock too, for removing that lock execute following commands

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

I sometimes minimize my synaptic and forget it's open and get the error when working in terminal just close all programs synaptic. upgrade manager, and software center