libc-bin update error

[byroniac]

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Please fill out the below information:

• Your Windows build number: (Type ver at a Windows Command Prompt)
  Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.535]

• What you're doing and what's happening: (Copy&paste the full set of specific command-line steps necessary to reproduce the behavior, and their output. Include screen shots if that helps demonstrate the problem.)
  sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

• What's wrong / what should be happening instead:
  libc-bin update fails with errors (maybe a Canonical problem, not sure)
  Only solution I know of at this point is to reset the app and reinstall everything into Ubuntu WSL so I can do apt-get updates in the future.

Copy paste what is on my screen:
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
dmeventd dmsetup libdevmapper-event1.02.1 libdevmapper1.02.1 liblvm2app2.2 liblvm2cmd2.02 lvm2
7 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/2191 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2048 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...
Aborted (core dumped)
/sbin/ldconfig.real: Can't stat /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu: No such file or directory
/sbin/ldconfig.real: Path /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu' given more than once /sbin/ldconfig.real: Path /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu' given more than once
/usr/local/lib:
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:
Aborted (core dumped)
dpkg: error processing package libc-bin (--configure):
installed libc-bin package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 134
Errors were encountered while processing:
libc-bin
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

• Strace of the failing command, if applicable: (If some_command is failing, then run strace -o some_command.strace -f some_command some_args, and link the contents of some_command.strace in a gist here).

• For WSL launch issues, please collect detailed logs.

[byroniac]

I believe this is the same issue, no answer here. apt not working: installed libc-bin package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 134

[sirredbeard]

Are you upgrading from 16.04 or performing a routine upgrade on an existing 18.04?

[byroniac]

Routine upgrade on 18.04.

[byroniac]

I usually just go ahead and reset the app when I get this error (about every few weeks, roughly once a month). I decided to just wait and see if anyone had any ideas that I could look at, first. Weird thing is, it seems to have resolved itself(?) and I have no idea why. I was able to install libc-bin and a few other packages and looking at my /var/log/dpkg.log seems to confirm it. So now I feel like the boy who cried wolf, only there was a real wolf before it disappeared.

[byroniac]

I think a reboot is essentially "fixing" the problem, at least partially. It just cropped up in a Windows 10 VM I have (1909, 18363.535). Before the reboot I did (in a sudo -i session): "rm /var/cache/ldconfig/aux-cache" and "ldconfig". The ldconfig aborted with error. After VM reboot, I was able to do a "sudo apt-get install --reinstall libc-bin" and it complained that "W: APT had planned for dpkg to do more than it reported back (0 vs 4)" but I had also tried to install aptitude somewhere in the mix. Anyways, that reinstall of libc-bin finished successfully. So, rebooting resets or fixes something. For what it is worth, this WSL has been upgraded (wslconfig /upgrade ubuntu) but I had this problem occasionally before the upgrade process was available.

[Geker]

I reboot the computer,but the problem just still there

[byroniac]

This happened again to me recently, and this time, a reboot no longer fixed the issue (in this particular circumstance, I received an update for "wslu", and I believe that it is the offending package, or at least is the package where the error occurred). I was forced to reset the app and do all apt updates and customization again.

[therealkenc]

Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up libc-bin (2.27-3ubuntu1) ...
Aborted (core dumped)
/sbin/ldconfig.real: Can't stat /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu: No such file or directory
/sbin/ldconfig.real: Path /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu' given more than once /sbin/ldconfig.real: Path /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu' given more than once
/usr/local/lib:
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu:
Aborted (core dumped)

That fail (particularly the segfault) is all in userspace so there is (unfortunately) no WSL actionable. Standard operating procedure is doing various apt rain dances of questionable efficacy and reinstall when all else fails. Hat tip for the ubuntu forum link above.

[byroniac]

I suspect this is a Canonical problem? Not sure. I wish someone could figure it out and resolve it. I for sure can't, other than resetting the app which works great, but have to start all over again of course.

[therealkenc]

I suspect this is a Canonical problem?

Probably not, narrowly speaking. I imagine the problem, educated guess, applies to any Debian based distro (ubuntu or otherwise). Whatever (scary quote) "the problem" is/was. Once a distro is hooped down at the ldconfig and libc system layer that's a deep hole to climb out of. It is almost certainly possible to recover without resorting to a reinstall (because anything possible), but likely you would be chasing diminishing returns in the effort. Note you can get the equivalent of a reboot with a wsl.exe --shutdown if you (or anyone else) bangs on it further. You don't need to resort to the red button. Bonne chance.

[byroniac]

Thank you for that explanation. I didn't think of that. Makes sense. I love Windows 10. I love Ubuntu. I really like the entire idea behind Ubuntu WSL, and I'd actually love it, if I wasn't cursed with this problem (one of the few, the proud... lol). As far as I know, I'm not doing anything to cause it. I'll try that wsl.exe --shutdown thing next time (I'd cross my fingers, but I'm not exactly hopeful).

[byroniac]

Well, it just happened again, and wsl.exe --shutdown did not fix it. For what it's worth. Why does this happen to me and almost no one else? Is no one else even trying to update their Ubuntu WSL on a regular basis? I imagine they would want to do so, for security fixes if nothing else.

[byroniac]

/etc/ld.so.conf:
include /etc/ld.so.conf.d/*.conf
I'm kind of curious, because I think I got a faulty /etc/ld.so.conf this time which tripped it up. It should say something like the above, but I remember it being something different. According to dpkg -S ld.so.conf, that gets installed with the libc-bin package. Also, the /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ directory got some fakeroot file which is not there on a fresh install (after doing the sudo apt update and sudo apt full-upgrade, even). Next time it crashes, in about a month, I'll try looking up this Github comment and seeing if it fixes it (skeptical).

[byroniac]

Oops. The /etc/ld.so.conf.d/fakeroot-x86_64-linux-gnu.conf file came in with the fakeroot package, which I think is a dependency of python3-venv (if it matters, I also tend to have python3-pip installed). Just commenting for the historical record, in case this matters.