[Bug 1611737] Re: Can't upgrade from a release if ros packages are installed from ROS servers

[Łukasz Zemczak]

Hello Pushin, or anyone else affected,

Accepted ubuntu-release-upgrader into bionic-proposed. The package will
build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source
/ubuntu-release-upgrader/1:18.04.41 in a few hours, and then in the
-proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package.  See
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how
to enable and use -proposed.  Your feedback will aid us getting this
update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug,
mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been
performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-
bionic to verification-done-bionic. If it does not fix the bug for you,
please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-
failed-bionic. In either case, without details of your testing we will
not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification .  Thank you in
advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s)
fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in
-proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

** Changed in: ubuntu-release-upgrader (Ubuntu Bionic)
       Status: Confirmed => Fix Committed

** Tags removed: verification-done
** Tags added: verification-needed verification-needed-bionic

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1611737

Title:
  Can't upgrade from a release if ros packages are  installed from ROS
  servers

Status in ubuntu-release-upgrader package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in ubuntu-release-upgrader source package in Xenial:
  Won't Fix
Status in ubuntu-release-upgrader source package in Bionic:
  Fix Committed
Status in ubuntu-release-upgrader source package in Focal:
  Fix Released
Status in ubuntu-release-upgrader source package in Groovy:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  [Impact]

   * ROS releases are strict about the Ubuntu releases they support.
  These days a given ROS release only supports one Ubuntu LTS.

   * Attempting to upgrade Ubuntu beyond that supported release at best
  results in an unsupported situation, and at worst is known to break
  the upgrade process as it's possible to get apt into an unrecoverable
  situation.

   * The fix for this issue is to detect if ROS is installed and make
  sure the user is aware that this may not succeed.

  [Test Case]

   * The dependency problems that lead to apt breakage is very deep and
  hard to duplicate, but to paint with a broad brush: if a ROS package
  is installed, extreme caution should be exercised when upgrading as
  it's very likely that it's not supported.

   * To install ROS, follow the proper tutorial for your Ubuntu version, and install the "ros-base" metapackage:
     - Xenial: https://wiki.ros.org/kinetic/Installation/Ubuntu
     - Bionic: https://wiki.ros.org/melodic/Installation/Ubuntu
     - Focal: https://wiki.ros.org/noetic/Installation/Ubuntu

   * Now use ubuntu-release-upgrader to upgrade to the next Ubuntu
  release. Such a thing should not happen without prompting the user
  that ROS is installed and that this may lead to problems.

  [Regression Potential]

   * Detecting that ROS is installed is done with a package name
  heuristic, which isn't perfect. We look for a set of base ROS
  dependencies using a pattern that is unlikely to clash with a non-ROS-
  related package, but it's possible for this to result in a false
  positive. Worst case, the user will be warned that ROS is installed
  when in fact it isn't, but they'll still be able to continue the
  upgrade.

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