# Error when installing package with 'apt' module, not so when installing directly **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [November 24, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102 "2012-11-24T18:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harm\_Aarts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Harm\_Aarts](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Harm_Aarts)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/1 "2012-11-24T18:42:15Z")
Dear list, I’ve run into a puzzling issue. I’m creating a playbook to install Crashplan on my Raspberry Pi. On of the steps involves installing the Java lib “libjna-java”. This does not work: PLAY [pi] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* GATHERING FACTS \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* REMOTE\_MODULE setup ok: [pi] TASK: [install java packages] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* REMOTE\_MODULE apt pkg=libjna-java state=installed failed: [pi] =\> {“failed”: true} msg: 'apt-get install ‘libjna-java’ ’ failed: E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2) FATAL: all hosts have already failed – aborting PLAY RECAP \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* pi : ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=1 Going to the machine via SSH and issueing: ‘apt-get install libjna-java’ works without a hitch. I’m a bit at a loss here. How do I debug this? During the playbook execution I ran ‘ps ax’ to see what commands where issued, nothing strange as far as I can tell. For completeness sake: /bin/sh -c DEBIAN\_FRONTEND=noninteractive DEBIAN\_PRIORITY=critical /usr/bin/apt-get --option Dpkg::Options::=–force-confold -q -y install ‘libjna-java’ I hope someone knows what’s up. With kind regards, ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/2 "2012-11-24T19:24:06Z")
Something in the package script wanted a real TTY? – Michael ---
**Author:** ![Harm\_Aarts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Harm\_Aarts](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Harm_Aarts)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/3 "2012-11-24T19:27:54Z")
When running apt-get local it just installed. Quite literally ‘no questions asked’. It’s just a lib. That is how you’d know there was a TTY right? When some user input is required? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/4 "2012-11-24T20:26:08Z")
no idea, java famously required X for years. Maybe someone else can take a look at the package source. – Michael ---
**Author:** ![Lorin\_Hochstein1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@Lorin\_Hochstein1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Lorin_Hochstein1)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/5 "2012-11-24T22:15:15Z")
I tried installing the libjna-java package using ansible on an ubuntu virtual machine, and I didn’t have any issues. This is what I did: $ ansible vm -s -m apt -a “pkg=libjna-java” vm | success \>\> { “changed”: true } Then, checked inside the machine to see if it was installed: vagrant@precise64:~$ dpkg -l | grep libjna-java ii libjna-java 3.2.7-4 Dynamic access of native libraries from Java without JNI Take care, Lorin ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Wieers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Dag\_Wieers](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Dag_Wieers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/6 "2012-11-24T23:42:00Z")
Looking at the output, I wonder why there is an additional quoting in that msg. I would have expected:    msg: 'apt-get install libjna-java '    failed: E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg Somehow it feels as if you added quotes that shouldn't be there. In YAML, strings don't have to be quoted ! ---
**Author:** ![Harm\_Aarts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Harm\_Aarts](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Harm_Aarts)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/7 "2012-11-25T01:05:28Z")
Thanks for all the responses! I’ve made some headway but the mystery deepens. I’m starting to suspect that it has something to do with the fact that the Pi is an ARM machine, seeing that Lorin is able to install without issues. The quoting isn’t it. I double checked my YAML file. The playbook defines 2 packages to be installed, one ‘libjna-java’, the other ‘openjdk-6-jre’ (see it in a Gist: [https://gist.github.com/4141972](https://gist.github.com/4141972)). I’ve added line 8: “-name: install JNA”. Now the playbook fails on the ‘openjdk-6-jre’ package! With the same error (aside from the package name). This is getting weird. Harm ---
**Author:** ![Harm\_Aarts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Harm\_Aarts](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Harm_Aarts)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/8 "2012-11-25T01:27:50Z")
I found the issue; installing as root works, with sudo it doesn’t. I’ve tested with a random other package, in this case ‘curl’. With sudo: TASK: [install curl] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ESTABLISH CONNECTION FOR USER: pi on PORT 22 TO pi EXEC /bin/sh -c ‘mkdir -p $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806171.19-173008960117788 && chmod a+rx $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806171.19-173008960117788 && echo $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806171.19-173008960117788’ REMOTE\_MODULE apt pkg=curl state=installed PUT /var/folders/rd/8nngsjnd0ds0y690\_x0j18k80000gn/T/tmpaYtqFr TO /home/pi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806171.19-173008960117788/apt EXEC /bin/sh -c ‘sudo -k && sudo -p “[sudo via ansible, key=prcrexrotbynmicxjtowyyhldqrigudq] password: " -u root /bin/sh -c '”’“‘/usr/bin/python -tt /home/pi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806171.19-173008960117788/apt; rm -rf /home/pi/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806171.19-173008960117788/ \>/dev/null 2\>&1’”‘"’’ failed: [pi] =\> {“failed”: true} msg: 'apt-get install ‘curl’ ’ failed: E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2) FATAL: all hosts have already failed – aborting With root: TASK: [install curl] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* ESTABLISH CONNECTION FOR USER: root on PORT 22 TO pi EXEC /bin/sh -c ‘mkdir -p $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806498.34-90561343419662 && echo $HOME/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806498.34-90561343419662’ REMOTE\_MODULE apt pkg=curl state=installed PUT /var/folders/rd/8nngsjnd0ds0y690\_x0j18k80000gn/T/tmpF1zDoj TO /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806498.34-90561343419662/apt EXEC /bin/sh -c ‘/usr/bin/python -tt /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806498.34-90561343419662/apt; rm -rf /root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-1353806498.34-90561343419662/ \>/dev/null 2\>&1’ changed: [pi] =\> {“changed”: true} I’m not sure what the problem is… Some unbalanced quotes perhaps? Harm ---
**Author:** ![Karl\_Ostendorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Karl\_Ostendorf](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Karl_Ostendorf)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/9 "2013-05-14T08:50:53Z")
I was having the exact problem on Wheezy Debian 7 x64 - using a normal user to install packages with sudo. I was however able to reproduce the problem by logging in via ssh to the machine and executing apt-get on the command line. In my case, I was trying to install rsync: apt-get -y install rsync The problem was that dpkg was not in the normal user’s path as were all the normal root paths: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin. So to solve the problem you need to explicitly set the path for the apt module as follows - name: install debian packages apt: pkg=rsync state=latest environment: PATH: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin Hope this helps! karl | [karl@ostendorf.com](mailto:karl@ostendorf.com) | [https://ostendorf.com/](https://ostendorf.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 9:22am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/10 "2013-05-14T09:22:14Z")
This is indeed a case that happens on Debian, as Ubuntu tends to put sbin paths also in a regular user’s folder. You might consider extending the path for your sudo user also. The best solution would be to let the apt module look for the apt-get|aptitude binaries and execute them with full absolute path, whereas it now just calls the binary by name without path. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:13pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/11 "2013-05-14T12:13:35Z")
Yes, this should definitely use the find module code in lib/ansible/module\_common. We should not be relying on user paths. Please file a ticket and (if you are feeling generous) look around some of the other modules for how they do it and apply a fix 🙂 –Michael ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/12 "2013-05-14T13:13:28Z")
This path is normally set correctly in the sudoers file (by default). Brian Coca ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/13 "2013-05-14T18:04:25Z")
> This path is normally set correctly in the sudoers file (by default). ​Seems so, yes. According to sudoers(5)​: \* By default, the env\_reset option is enabled. This causes commands to > be executed with a new, minimal environment. On AIX (and Linux systems > without PAM), the environment is initialized with > \*\* the contents of the /etc/environment file. The new environment > contains the TERM, PATH, HOME, MAIL, SHELL, LOGNAME, USER, USERNAME and > SUDO\_\* variables in addition to variables from the > \*\* invoking process permitted by the env\_check and env\_keep options. > This is effectively a whitelist for environment variables.\* ​on my system (ubuntu) /etc/environments contains: \*​serge@cyberlab:~$ cat /etc/environment > \*\* > PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games" > \* However, on a Debian 6, I see that environment file is empty. So validating executables with the common\_module methods would still be a good idea. Serge ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/14 "2013-05-14T18:56:03Z")
I would almost qualify this as a 'bug' in Debian 6 ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/15 "2013-05-14T18:56:48Z")
or you should have it set in sudoers file itself: Defaults secure\_path=“/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin” ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/16 "2013-05-14T19:00:51Z")
Repeating myself… 🙂 We need to use the find module code and not rely on the users path. ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/17 "2013-05-14T19:30:28Z")
agreed, but this should still work ‘as is’ in most cases. Will patch apt tonight, should be quick one. ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Coca1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Brian\_Coca1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Brian_Coca1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/18 "2013-05-14T19:40:03Z")
refraining from rewriting the whole thing to avoid ‘global’, but this is what patch should look like: diff --git a/library/packaging/apt b/library/packaging/apt index 41380e6..1a0ea84 100644 — a/library/packaging/apt +++ b/library/packaging/apt @@ -117,8 +117,6 @@ import os import datetime # APT related constants -APTITUDE\_CMD = “aptitude” -APT\_GET\_CMD = “apt-get” APT\_ENVVARS = “DEBIAN\_FRONTEND=noninteractive DEBIAN\_PRIORITY=critical” DPKG\_OPTIONS = ‘-o “Dpkg::Options::=–force-confdef” -o “Dpkg::Options::=–force-confold”’ APT\_GET\_ZERO = “0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.” @@ -265,6 +263,9 @@ def main(): except: module.fail\_json(msg=“Could not import python modules: apt, apt\_pkg. Please install python-apt package.”) - global APTITUDE\_CMD = module.get\_bin\_path(“aptitude”) - global APT\_GET\_CMD = module.get\_bin\_path(“apt-get”) ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/19 "2013-05-14T19:49:45Z")
Testing this on my Debian 6 box, i was actually not able to reproduce this (OK, the OP did mention Debian 7…): > serge@cyberlab:~/src/ansible$ ansible debian6 -u serge -K -m apt -a “pkg=sshpass state=latest” -vvv > sudo password: > debian6 | success \>\> { > “changed”: true > } > serge@cyberlab:~/src/ansible$ ansible debian6 -u serge -K -m shell -a “echo $PATH” -vvv > sudo password: > debian6 | success | rc=0 \>\> > /home/serge/bin:/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games > serge@cyberlab:~/src/ansible$ ansible debian6 -u serge -K -m shell -a “which apt-get; which dpkg” -vvv > sudo password: > debian6 | success | rc=0 \>\> > /usr/bin/apt-get > /usr/bin/dpkg I’m also puzzled by the OP mentioning this error: msg: 'apt-get install ‘curl’ ’ failed: E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2) which seems to tell us apt-get is ran fine, and the path to dpkg is no problem either. Are we looking at some other bug than this $PATH thing? Serge ---
**Author:** ![Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@Serge\_van\_Ginderacht](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Serge_van_Ginderacht)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102/20 "2013-05-14T19:53:43Z")
​Brian,​ > + global APTITUDE\_CMD = module.get\_bin\_path("aptitude") > + global APT\_GET\_CMD = module.get\_bin\_path("apt-get") Ii see one problem with this: Whilst apt-get can be expected to be installed on any debian based system, ​aptitude cannot. A very bare system won't have it (which was the reason for one of my previous patches on this module), so this should remain optional, and only checked if explicitly chosen a option needing aptitude. (PS: unrelated, we might also consider letting users choose between apt-get and aptitude for other tasks besides upgradingn wchis is now the only case where aptitude gets used) Serge [Next page](https://forum.ansible.com/t/error-when-installing-package-with-apt-module-not-so-when-installing-directly/12102.md?page=2)