π ~1 min read
Table of contents
Symptom & Impact
dist-upgrade stops with unmet dependencies and held package warnings.
Environment & Reproduction
Often triggered by pinned packages or mixed third-party repositories.
Root Cause Analysis
Package holds and candidate conflicts prevent apt resolver convergence.
Quick Triage
Check held packages, broken package state, and configured repositories.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis
Run resolver simulation and inspect package conflict output.
Solution – Primary Fix
Release holds, repair package state, and rerun full upgrade.
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Solution – Alternative Approaches
Temporarily disable external repositories and test with Ubuntu archives only.
Verification & Acceptance Criteria
No held or broken packages remain and simulation completes cleanly.
Rollback Plan
Restore previous source-list files and holds if application regressions occur.
Prevention & Hardening
Review package holds before patch windows and document repository ownership.
Related Errors & Cross-Refs
Related errors include no installation candidate and kept back packages.
Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
View all Ubuntu 22.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub β
Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.
References & Further Reading
Ubuntu 22.04 apt resolver and package pinning references.
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