Debian 13 – dist-upgrade aborts with held broken packages

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

System upgrades stop with unresolved dependencies, leaving patch cycles incomplete.

Environment & Reproduction

Typical on hosts with package holds, mixed repositories, or pin conflicts.

Root Cause Analysis

Held packages and incompatible candidate versions prevent apt from finding a consistent solution.

Quick Triage

Check holds, broken packages, and source list consistency.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Run resolver debug simulation to identify exact package conflicts.

Solution – Primary Fix

Clear unnecessary holds, repair package state, then execute upgrade.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Disable third-party sources temporarily and retest with official Debian archives only.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

dist-upgrade simulation and execution complete without broken/held package errors.

Rollback Plan

Restore prior apt source and pin files if dependency behavior regresses.

Prevention & Hardening

Enforce package governance and repository change control before maintenance windows.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Related errors include unmet dependencies, package kept back, and no installation candidate.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Debian 13.

View all Debian 13 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Debian apt resolver and pinning documentation.