Can't install basic packages on Debian EC2 with Aptitude/apt-get

Question

I'm trying to install Tsung (based on erlang) on my EC2 instance (m1.large) with Debian squeeze.

My Tsung setup file is "tsung_1.4.2-1.1_amd64.deb". When I "dpkg -i" it, I got an error:

Preparing to replace tsung 1.4.2-1.1 (using tsung_1.4.2-1.1_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement tsung ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of tsung:
 tsung depends on gnuplot; however:
  Package gnuplot is not installed.
 tsung depends on libtemplate-perl; however:
  Package libtemplate-perl is not installed.
 tsung depends on python-matplotlib; however:
  Package python-matplotlib is not installed.
 tsung depends on erlang-abi-15.b; however:
  Package erlang-abi-15.b is not installed.
  Package erlang-base which provides erlang-abi-15.b is not configured yet.
 tsung depends on erlang-asn1 (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-asn1 on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
 tsung depends on erlang-base (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg) | erlang-base-hipe (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Package erlang-base is not configured yet.
  Package erlang-base-hipe is not installed.
 tsung depends on erlang-crypto (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-crypto on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
 tsung depends on erlang-inets (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-inets on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
 tsung depends on erlang-os-mon (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-os-mon on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
 tsung depends on erlang-snmp (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-snmp on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
 tsung depends on erlang-ssl (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-ssl on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
 tsung depends on erlang-xmerl (>= 1:15.b.1-dfsg); however:
  Version of erlang-xmerl on system is 1:14.a-dfsg-3squeeze1.
dpkg: error processing tsung (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 tsung

When I'm trying to install all the missing package, there are another packages missing, and so on.

I tried to install erlang with all its additional packages through aptitude, but not all of the packages are available there. I tried with apt-get one by one and again, they are depends on another package which depends on another...

Is there a way to install the basic required packages in one command? or the enable the aptitude? (most of the packages are signed as "v" and cannot be added to install list)

Thanks

you might want to ask your question at [su] – umläute Jul 25 '13 at 16:04 — umläute, Jul 25 '13 at 16:04

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 25 '13 at 20:34

If you install a package using dpkg that doesn't have all it's dependencies, you can fix it by running:

apt-get install -f

Note that it will only find packages in your current repositories. If some are still missing, try apt-get update. If that still doesn't work, you will need to find an apt repo which hosts those packages, or install the packages manually.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 26 '13 at 15:59

The version of Erlang/OTP in Debian squeeze seems to be R14A, while the Tsung package you're trying to install requires R15B01.

It seems like R15B01 is present in squeeze-backports. Follow the instructions for activating backports, and install the new Erlang packages.

Can't install basic packages on Debian EC2 with Aptitude/apt-get

2 Answers2