How to exit apt-get?

Question

When I try to install new software from the Ubuntu Software Center, it says "waiting for apt-get to exit". How I can exit apt-get?

Answer 1

It is more likely that you have another instance of apt-get running at the same time. The way to exit it is:

1. If apt-get was started by you, either wait for it to finish or if you are at the "Y/n" prompt, answer it.
2. If it's running in the background, just wait for it to finish. Normally this happens when apt is updating or upgrading packages.

You can see what apt is doing by opening a terminal and typing ps ax | grep apt. This will tell you what apt-get is doing at the moment:

$ ps ax | grep apt
26890 pts/1    S+     0:00 sudo apt-get upgrade
26956 pts/4    S+     0:00 grep apt

Please do not try to forcefully end apt. It's more likely that you will end up with a crippled system if you do.