0

I'm using Ubuntu 20.04.1 on a desktop. It's possible that, months ago, I overwrote the python2 binary with the python3 file to make something work. (Why do any normal systems still have python2 installed anyway?)

In any case, I just tried to run apt upgrade and it failed, blaming the python-apt package.

$ sudo apt upgrade

Preparing to unpack .../python-apt_2.0.0ubuntu0.20.04.2_amd64.deb ...
  File "/usr/bin/pyclean", line 63
    except (IOError, OSError), e:
                             ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
dpkg: warning: old python-apt package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead ...
  File "/usr/bin/pyclean", line 63
    except (IOError, OSError), e:

SyntaxError: invalid syntax
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/python-apt_2.0.0ubuntu0.2
0.04.2_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 new python-apt package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status
 1
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pycompile", line 35, in <module>
    from debpython.version import SUPPORTED, debsorted, vrepr, \
  File "/usr/share/python/debpython/version.py", line 24, in <module>
    from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'ConfigParser'
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
 installed python-apt package post-installation script subprocess returned error
 exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/python-apt_2.0.0ubuntu0.20.04.2_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I tried purging the package but that failed, too:

$ apt purge python-apt
[...]
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 
dpkg: error processing package python-apt (--remove):
 package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
 reinstall it before attempting a removal
dpkg: too many errors, stopping
Errors were encountered while processing:
 python-apt
Processing was halted because there were too many errors.
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Here's what the binaries look like:

$ ll /usr/bin | grep python
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root   root           1057 Mar 13  2020 dh_python2*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root             23 Aug  4 07:16 pdb2.7 -> ../lib/python2.7/pdb.py*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root             23 Jul 28 08:59 pdb3.8 -> ../lib/python3.8/pdb.py*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root             31 Mar 13  2020 py3versions -> ../share/python3/py3versions.py*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root              7 Apr 15  2020 python -> python2*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root              9 Mar 13  2020 python2 -> python2.7*
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root   root        5486352 Oct 25 14:14 python2.7*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root              9 Mar 13  2020 python3 -> python3.8*
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root   root        5486352 Jul 28 08:59 python3.8*
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root   root            384 Mar 27  2020 python3-futurize*
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root   root            388 Mar 27  2020 python3-pasteurize*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root   root             29 Mar 13  2020 pyversions -> ../share/python/pyversions.py*

And here's my version information:

$ python --version
Python 3.8.5
$ python2 --version
Python 3.8.5

The Python2 one, considering the symlinks in /usr/bin, is a bit strange. Does anyone have any ideas?

Update: I just noticed a different part of that error message:

"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'ConfigParser'" 

I saw someone writing online that Python 3 calls it 'configparser' (lowercase). Could that be the problem? If it is, why isn't everyone else experiencing it, too?

2
  • the apt error message said you should reinstall it before attempting a removal. Did you try this?
    – Banana
    Dec 17, 2020 at 16:01
  • I tried that now, but got the same error. Thanks.
    – dlanced
    Dec 17, 2020 at 17:24

1 Answer 1

0

For some reason, it turned out that I needed to recreate the Python2 binary. I found my solution on this page Here's how it worked:

apt-get download python2.7-minimal
ar x python2.7-minimal_2.7.18-1~20.04_amd64.deb data.tar.xz
sudo tar xJf data.tar.xz -C / './usr/bin/python2.7'
rm data.tar.xz

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .