Why can't I install packages on an LTS release?

Thundercleez

4/21/23, 6:05 PM

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS. This is supposed to be supported until April 2023. When I try to install a package with apt-get install libboost-all-dev, I get the output

Ign:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 libpython3.6-dev amd64 3.6.9-1~18.04ubuntu1.4
Ign:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 python3.6-dev amd64 3.6.9-1~18.04ubuntu1.4
Err:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 libpython3.6-dev amd64 3.6.9-1~18.04ubuntu1.4
  404 Not Found [IP: 204.68.140.232 80]
Err:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 python3.6-dev amd64 3.6.9-1~18.04ubuntu1.4
  404 Not Found [IP: 204.68.140.232 80]
Unable to correct missing packages.
E: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/p/python3.6/libpython3.6-dev_3.6.9-1~18.04ubuntu1.4_amd64.deb 404 Not Found [IP: 204.68.140.232 80]
E: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/p/python3.6/python3.6-dev_3.6.9-1~18.04ubuntu1.4_amd64.deb 404 Not Found [IP: 204.68.140.232 80]
E: Aborting install

Google results tell me this error is because the release is no longer supported. But it should still be supported, shouldn't it? I've tried following the directions to update /etc/apt/sources.list to use old-releases, but I get similar output of 404 Not Found when doing apt-get update. And if I just try to run apt-get install libboost-all-dev after updating sources.list, it's unable to locate the package, probably because it needs to update, which it can't do.

Why can't I install this package on an LTS release which is still supposed to be supported?

0 + 0

apt

N0rbert

4/21/23, 6:20 PM

Or switch to main server.

Score:1

Ubuntu

user535733

4/21/23, 6:15 PM

Those packages are in the repositories, but you're trying to install obsolete versions that have been superseded and removed. That's why you are getting a 404 error.

Work backwards:

You're getting apt 404 errors because your local database of packages is out of date. You update that database using apt update. For most folks, that's all they need to do.
But your specific case is wierder: apt update is also giving you 404 errors.

There are two possible causes:
1. You are using a bad mirror. (change mirrors)
2. Your network is blocking access to the mirror.
Figure out which of those two is the culprit.

0 + 0

Thundercleez

4/21/23, 6:22 PM

I mentioned I did apt-get update in my original comment and it gives the same 404 errors. apt update gives the same output as apt-get update, which is a bunch of 404 errors.

user535733

4/21/23, 6:48 PM

@Thundercleez yeah, you mentioned that as an afterthought so I assumed you understood how to troubleshoot it. Sorry, my mistake. Big edit to the answer to address your situation.