[Solved] Auto update from 26.1 stuck

KenW · February 1, 2026, 12:22am

I run freedombox on an older HP Gateway desktop PC. For about a week, when I look in Software Update I see this message:

You are running Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) and FreedomBox version 26.1. There is a new FreedomBox version available. Your Freedombox needs an update!

When I ask it to Update Setup, it attempts an update but then ends with the same message.

When I use the terminal in cockpit to try an apt update, it tells me that there is an unattended update package locking the update. It says:

Waiting for cache lock: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 2542457 (unattended-upgr)

I don’t know whether this is something that will clear on its own or whether I have broken something but it has been responding the same way for several days . . . .

KenW · February 1, 2026, 6:33am

I tried to run software update from cockpit and got this:

Applying updates failed

Please resolve the issue and reload this page.

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 2542457 (unattended-upgr)
W: Be aware that removing the lock file is not a solution and may break your system.
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?

The Overview page in cockpit says two services have failed and clicking through to the details is says apt-daily and freedombox-manual-update failed to start.

jvalleroy · February 1, 2026, 5:10pm

On the Software Update page, are any logs shown at the bottom (under “Show recent update logs”)?

KenW · February 1, 2026, 9:39pm

Yes. It says:

==> unattended-upgrades.log
2026-02-01 02:44:53,567 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting

==> unattended-upgrades-dpkg.log

jvalleroy · February 4, 2026, 1:40pm

Just to clarify: On the Software Update page, the “Update setup” button is only there to submit changes to the Configuration form above it. Meaning if you check / uncheck one of the “Enable auto-update” boxes, this is the button to submit those changes.

Further down the page is the Manual Update section, with the “Update now” button. This button will start the freedombox-manual-upgrade service, which will run unattended-upgrade command.

After you try the Manual Update, you should be able to see more logs for the freedombox-manual-upgrade service at this path:

https://<your domain name>/_cockpit/system/logs#/?prio=debug&service=freedombox-manual-upgrade.service

Does that page show any more informative logs for you?

KenW · February 5, 2026, 4:37am

Sorry, I misdescribed what I did. It was the Update Now button under Manual Update heading that I pressed. I just did it again and the logs shown after pressing the Show Recent Update Logs button now is:

==> unattended-upgrades.log
2026-02-01 02:44:53,567 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-01 18:36:58,600 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-01 21:43:43,029 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-02 13:37:04,522 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-02 13:50:39,667 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-02 18:02:03,180 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-02 21:46:07,382 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting
2026-02-04 20:32:09,150 ERROR Lock file is already taken, exiting

==> unattended-upgrades-dpkg.log

and Status still says:

You are running Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) and FreedomBox version 26.1. There is a new FreedomBox version available. Your Freedombox needs an update!

KenW · February 5, 2026, 4:41am

and I got:

February 4, 2026

8:32 PM

freedombox-manual-upgrade.service: Consumed 7.652s CPU time, 469M memory peak.

systemd

8:32 PM

Failed to start freedombox-manual-upgrade.service - Run unattended-upgrade once.

systemd

8:32 PM

freedombox-manual-upgrade.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.

systemd

8:32 PM

freedombox-manual-upgrade.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE

systemd

8:32 PM

Lock file is already taken, exiting

unattended-upgrade

8:32 PM

Reading package lists…

apt-get

8:32 PM

Fetched 17.6 MB in 4s (4,357 kB/s)

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:21 Index of /debian unstable/main Icons (64x64) [7,491 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:20 Index of /debian unstable/main Icons (48x48) [3,719 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:19 Index of /debian unstable/main amd64 Components [5,251 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:18 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main Translation-en T-2026-02-03-0759.37-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [594 B]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:17 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main amd64 Packages T-2026-02-03-1959.51-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [1,180 B]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:18 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main Translation-en T-2026-02-03-0759.37-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [594 B]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:17 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main amd64 Packages T-2026-02-03-1959.51-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [1,180 B]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:16 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main Sources T-2026-02-05-0214.56-F-2026-02-03-1402.54.pdiff [1,158 B]

apt-get

2Occurrences

8:32 PM

Get:15 Index of /debian unstable/main Translation-en T-2026-02-05-0214.56-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [15.3 kB]

apt-get

2Occurrences

8:32 PM

Get:14 Index of /debian unstable/main amd64 Packages T-2026-02-05-0214.56-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [180 kB]

apt-get

2Occurrences

8:32 PM

Get:13 Index of /debian unstable/main Sources T-2026-02-05-0214.56-F-2026-02-03-0759.37.pdiff [137 kB]

apt-get

2Occurrences

8:32 PM

Get:12 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main Translation-en.diff/Index [63.3 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:11 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main amd64 Packages.diff/Index [63.3 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:10 Index of /debian trixie-backports/main Sources.diff/Index [63.3 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:9 Index of /debian unstable/main Translation-en.diff/Index [63.6 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:8 Index of /debian-security trixie-security/main amd64 Packages [98.8 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:7 Index of /debian unstable/main amd64 Packages.diff/Index [63.6 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:6 Index of /debian-security trixie-security InRelease [43.4 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:5 Index of /debian unstable/main Sources.diff/Index [63.6 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:4 Index of /debian trixie-updates InRelease [47.3 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:3 Index of /debian trixie-backports InRelease [54.0 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Hit:2 Index of /debian trixie InRelease

apt-get

8:32 PM

Get:1 Index of /debian unstable InRelease [187 kB]

apt-get

8:32 PM

Starting freedombox-manual-upgrade.service - Run unattended-upgrade once…

system

jvalleroy · February 6, 2026, 2:16am

At this point I’m not really sure what is causing the issue. Could you try restarting the system, and see if that allows the lock to be released?

KenW · February 6, 2026, 4:43am

I have tried that from Plinth but it seems to be blocked. It doesn’t reboot.

I have tried to reboot from a terminal using
sudo reboot
and
sudo systemctl reboot
and
sudo systemctl reboot -i

It doesn’t reboot and gives me errors such as:

Operation inhibited by “APT” (PID 2561658 “unattended-upgr”, user root), reason is “APT is installing or removing packages”.
Please retry operation after closing inhibitors and logging out other users.

‘systemd-inhibit’ can be used to list active inhibitors.
Alternatively, ignore inhibitors and users with ‘systemctl reboot -i’.

Call to Reboot failed: Interactive authentication required.

Operation inhibited by “APT” (PID 2561658 “unattended-upgr”, user root), reason is “APT is installing or removing packages”.
Please retry operation after closing inhibitors and logging out other users.
‘systemd-inhibit’ can be used to list active inhibitors.
Alternatively, ignore inhibitors and users with ‘systemctl reboot -i’.

I am tempted to shut it down by powering it off and then restarting it but I am uneasy about doing that. Maybe that is the only way.

KenW · February 7, 2026, 12:06am

Powering the server down and restarting seems to have solved the problem.