Ubuntu repository does not have a Release file

Question

This is similar to Xenial repository does not have a Release file, but the fix in there does not work for me.

When running sudo apt-get update on a few-day old installation of Ubuntu 16.04, it returns the following error messages:

    $ sudo apt-get update
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease [247 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease [102 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease [102 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease [102 kB]
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages [1,201 kB]
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main i386 Packages [1,196 kB]
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main Translation-en_GB [426 kB]
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main Translation-en [568 kB]
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [733 kB]
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [409 kB]
Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/restricted amd64 Packages [8,344 B]
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/restricted i386 Packages [8,684 B]
Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/restricted Translation-en_GB [2,556 B]
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/restricted Translation-en [2,908 B]
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [186 B]
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 Packages [7,532 kB]
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe i386 Packages [7,512 kB]                                                    
Get:18 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe Translation-en_GB [3,040 kB]                                                
Get:19 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe Translation-en [4,354 kB]                                                   
Get:20 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [3,410 kB]                                            
Get:21 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [7,448 kB]                                               
Get:22 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse amd64 Packages [144 kB]                                                   
Get:23 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse i386 Packages [140 kB]                                                    
Get:24 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse Translation-en_GB [88.1 kB]                                               
Get:25 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse Translation-en [106 kB]                                                   
Get:26 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [63.8 kB]                                           
Get:27 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/multiverse DEP-11 64x64 Icons [230 kB]                                               
Get:28 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages [700 kB]                                                 
Get:29 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 Packages [654 kB]                                                  
Get:30 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main Translation-en [292 kB]                                                 
Get:31 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [308 kB]                                          
Get:32 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [221 kB]                                             
Get:33 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/restricted amd64 Packages [7,604 B]                                          
Get:34 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/restricted i386 Packages [7,604 B]                                           
Get:35 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/restricted Translation-en [2,272 B]                                          
Get:36 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [157 B]                                     
Get:37 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe amd64 Packages [574 kB]                                             
Get:38 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe i386 Packages [535 kB]                                              
Get:39 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe Translation-en [232 kB]                                             
Get:40 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [185 kB]                                      
Get:41 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [262 kB]                                         
Get:42 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages [16.2 kB]                                          
Get:43 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [15.3 kB]                                           
Get:44 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse Translation-en [8,052 B]                                          
Get:45 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [5,888 B]                                   
Get:46 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/multiverse DEP-11 64x64 Icons [14.3 kB]                                      
Get:47 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main amd64 Packages [4,840 B]                                              
Get:48 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main i386 Packages [4,832 B]                                               
Get:49 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main Translation-en [3,220 B]                                              
Get:50 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [3,324 B]                                       
Get:51 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [29 B]                                             
Get:52 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [194 B]                                   
Get:53 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/universe amd64 Packages [6,612 B]                                          
Get:54 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/universe i386 Packages [6,600 B]                                           
Get:55 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/universe Translation-en [3,768 B]                                          
Get:56 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [4,712 B]                                   
Get:57 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [2,716 B]                                      
Get:58 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [216 B]                                   
Get:59 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports/multiverse DEP-11 64x64 Icons [29 B]                                       
Get:60 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages [425 kB]                                                
Get:61 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main i386 Packages [385 kB]                                                 
Get:62 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main Translation-en [186 kB]                                                
Get:63 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [62.8 kB]                                        
Get:64 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main DEP-11 64x64 Icons [66.2 kB]                                           
Get:65 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/restricted amd64 Packages [7,224 B]                                         
Get:66 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/restricted i386 Packages [7,224 B]                                          
Get:67 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/restricted Translation-en [2,152 B]                                         
Get:68 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [200 B]                                    
Get:69 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe amd64 Packages [196 kB]                                            
Get:70 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe i386 Packages [161 kB]                                             
Get:71 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe Translation-en [101 kB]                                            
Get:72 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [51.3 kB]                                    
Get:73 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/universe DEP-11 64x64 Icons [85.1 kB]                                       
Get:74 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/multiverse amd64 Packages [3,208 B]                                         
Get:75 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/multiverse i386 Packages [3,380 B]                                          
Get:76 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/multiverse Translation-en [1,408 B]                                         
Get:77 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]                                    
Get:78 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/multiverse DEP-11 64x64 Icons [29 B]                                        
Fetched 45.0 MB in 28s (1,577 kB/s)                                                                                                 
Reading package lists... Error!
E: Read error - read (5: Input/output error)
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
E: The package cache file is corrupted

/etc/apt/sources/list:

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS _Xenial Xerus_ - Release amd64 (20170801)]/ xenial main restricted

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main restricted
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial universe
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates universe
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates multiverse

## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu xenial partner

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com xenial universe
# deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com xenial universe
# deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse

$ grep -nwFe Release /etc/apt/sources.list{,.d/*.list}
/etc/apt/sources.list:1:# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS _Xenial Xerus_ - Release amd64 (20170801)]/ xenial main restricted

I have tried sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* and my /etc/apt/sources/list already has line 52 commented out, and line 54 doesn't exist. (Both solutions I've found on this and other forums).

Answer 1

The third line from the bottom in your /etc/apt/sources.list seems to be wrong:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com xenial universe

I think that line is what's causing the error, so I'd suggest that you remove it.

After doing so there may be a need to clean up the package cache, which you can do by running:

sudo rm -r /var/lib/apt/lists/*

and then:

sudo apt update

Answer 2

In my case the issue was really dumb. I had no network access outside my server. It took me quite a while to realize that was my problem ;-)

Answer 3

In my case (16.04 LTS) the remote download server must have had some problems under the hood. I received notifications that it was an Undocumented error. I changed the download server and it worked. I have documented this solution in this other post.

Answer 4

A proxy could be set

Look in

• /etc/apt/apt.conf
• /etc/apt/apt.conf.d
• http_proxy environment variable

Answer 5

This is a common error when trying to install a package which does not have a release for your Ubuntu version ... so solution is to update the file in your /etc/apt to use a previous release of Ubuntu ( Top Tip: if your machine's Ubuntu release is not the most current Ubuntu LTS https://releases.ubuntu.com then update file mentioned below to use the LTS version of the package )

for example I am on Ubuntu 20.10

 cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=20.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=groovy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 20.10"

and I see below error

Hit:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu groovy-backports InRelease  
Hit:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu groovy-security InRelease                   
Hit:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu groovy-proposed InRelease                   
Hit:10 https://packagecloud.io/slacktechnologies/slack/debian jessie InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/azure-cli groovy Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

this means that package does not have a version for groovy which is my OS release ( very often packages do not ship a release for every Ubuntu version ) so just update the install file to use a prior Ubuntu release ( good suggestion is to use the most recent long term stable release LTS see https://releases.ubuntu.com/ )

so since my machine is Ubuntu 20.10 ( groovy ) and the LTS is 20.04 ( focal ) simply update below to stop using groovy and to instead use focal ... as per

Every two years Ubuntu releases a new LTS always on even years and only for the xx.04 release

cd /etc/apt
grep -r azure-cli # to find offending file responsible for error

which shows

sources.list.d/azure-cli.list:deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/azure-cli/ groovy main

so edit above file

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/azure-cli.list

and replace mention of groovy with focal

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/azure-cli.list

# deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/azure-cli/ groovy main
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/azure-cli/ focal main

Done ... now your machine is pointing to a good source for that package lets install the package

sudo apt-get install azure-cli  #  

Answer 6

Try these two commands:

sudo snap install cmake --classic
cmake --version

They worked for me.