[Bug 989585] Re: resolvconf failed to install/upgrade because /etc/resolv.conf immutable

[Thomas Hood]

Your report is actually very helpful.  Without reports like yours we
wouldn't know that people are encountering problems.

You aren't the first one to report that /etc/resolv.conf was immutable
when the resolvconf package was installed.  It was in response to an
earlier such report that code was added to the package's postinst to
print out a helpful error message under these circumstances.

We could have gone further and added a line "chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf"
to the postinst.  But in Debian and Ubuntu we try to respect the
administrator's choices and not silently override them, so we didn't add
that line.  But this decision was based on the assumption that it *is*
*administrators* who are setting the immutable bit on /etc/resolv.conf.

Given the fact that so many packages stomp on /etc/resolv.conf I can
easily imagine why administrators might resort to this.

But when enough people report exactly the same error it has to make one wonder if there isn't something else going on.  Is there, for example, a web page out there somewhere that advises people to set the immutable bit on /etc/resolv.conf as a way of solving the problem of program X stomping on that file?  Or is there a package somewhere out there whose maintainer scripts set the immutable bit?  If so then we need to know this.
-- 
Thomas

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/989585

Title:
  resolvconf failed to install/upgrade because /etc/resolv.conf
  immutable

Status in “resolvconf” package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  Failed to install during upgrade

  ProblemType: Package
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
  Package: resolvconf 1.63ubuntu11
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36-generic 3.2.14
  Uname: Linux 3.2.0-23-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu5
  AptOrdering:
   unity-scope-musicstores: Install
   resolvconf: Configure
   ubuntu-minimal: Configure
   unity-scope-musicstores: Configure
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Fri Apr 27 11:23:12 2012
  DuplicateSignature:
   Setting up resolvconf (1.63ubuntu11) ...
   resolvconf.postinst: Error: Cannot replace the current /etc/resolv.conf with a symbolic link because it is immutable. To correct this problem, gain root privileges in a terminal and run 'chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf' and then 'dpkg --configure resolvconf'. Aborting.
   dpkg: error processing resolvconf (--configure):
    subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
  ErrorMessage: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: resolvconf
  Title: package resolvconf 1.63ubuntu11 failed to install/upgrade: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-04-27 (0 days ago)

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