Ubuntu 18.04 LTS – 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

dist-upgrade fails with unmet dependencies and held package warnings.

Environment & Reproduction

Often appears when package pins, holds, or third-party repositories conflict during upgrades.

Root Cause Analysis

Resolver cannot converge because candidate versions conflict with installed package constraints.

Quick Triage

List held packages, check broken dependencies, and review repository priorities.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Run simulation and inspect conflicts shown by apt resolver output.

Solution – Primary Fix

Release problematic holds, repair package state, and retry full upgrade.

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Temporarily disable non-Ubuntu repositories to isolate and resolve dependency chains.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Upgrade simulation completes cleanly and no held-broken package warnings remain.

Rollback Plan

Restore prior sources and hold settings if application compatibility regressions occur.

Prevention & Hardening

Audit repository ownership and pinning rules before planned patch cycles.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

You have held broken packages and unmet dependencies are commonly paired messages.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

View all Ubuntu 18.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Ubuntu apt resolver behavior, package pinning, and hold management references.