apt install <> = "Configuration item specification must have an =<val>"

Question

Im getting this error "Configuration item specification must have an =" after apt install snapd. Apparently I have two versions available:

snapd/focal-updates,focal-security,now 2.54.3+20.04.1ubuntu0.2 amd64 [residual-config]
snapd/focal 2.44.3+20.04 amd64 [residual-config]

I'm a bit surprised there is nothing on Google for this error. I'm sure just need to enter a version with the =val, but not sure how yet.

Answer 1

As you've already identified, installing a specific version is generally done like this:

sudo apt install {package}={version}

So, to install snapd version 2.54.3, you would do this:

sudo apt install snapd=2.54.3

If you continue to receive errors, you may want to first deal with the [residual-config] messages that are part of your listing to ensure that some residual configuration files are not creating problems for the new installation.

Answer 2

From man apt, "install pkg [{=pkg_version_number.." and "A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by following the package name with an equals (=) and the version of the package to select."

I'm assuming no space, but I still get the same error with putting apt install snapd=anything. I'm going to try to remove the plain focal repo from sources.list, but that isnt a good solution.

I commented out the main focal repo line. I am using UbuntuAdvantage cips which has extra source lists in the source.list.d dir. Removing just the main focal repo, makes apt list only one version. However, I still get the same error.

Okay, that is strange. I had a hunch it could be from my apt alias (which is alias apt='sudo apt ' so I don't have to type sudo every time) and sure enough it succeeded. I don't know why.

Putting \ before any alias will unalias it.