Unable to sudo tasksel

Question

When I type the command sudo tasksel, I get a list of server packages that I can install. I only have the basic Ubuntu server installed at moment. My version is 12.04. When I select, for example, samba file server and OK it, I get an error. tasksel: aptitude failed (100).

I also get errors trying to sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop. (unable to locate package)

I can ping Google and other site and I do seem to have Internet connectivity. How can I fix this?

Answer 1

Tasksel throws error code 100 because there are errors with the package manager. You can try the following steps to fix it:

1. Update the repository list:

   sudo aptitude update
   

2. Enable the universe and main repository:

   sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main universe"
   sudo aptitude update
   

3. Try running force install:

   sudo aptitude -f install
   

4. Check for error messages in the installation:

   sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop^ 
   

   If the above returned an error then you need to first fix it before installing the package using tasksel. The following links may be of assistance:

• How do I resolve unmet dependencies after adding a PPA?

• Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages

• Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/) is another process using it?

• "Unable to locate package" while trying to install packages with APT

5. Try purging and reinstalling tasksel:

   sudo apt remove --purge tasksel
   sudo apt install tasksel
   

6. Install the package again, using tasksel:

   sudo tasksel install ubuntu-desktop
   

That's it!
Good Luck!

Answer 2

Run sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade to retrieve the update information.

Try to reconfigure the Packages through

 sudo dpkg --configure -a    

And try installing through tasksel, if still then do the above update command and it will resolve .