---
name: recover-dpkg-interrupted
risk_class: reversible_low
verification: "dpkg --audit (should be clean); apt-get check"
---

# Runbook — recover from dpkg-interrupted state

You're here because an apt run got killed mid-transaction and the target now
has packages that are **unpacked but not configured**. Symptoms:

- `apt` refuses to do anything new: `Error: dpkg was interrupted, you must
  manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.`
- `dpkg --audit` lists packages with header
  `The following packages have been unpacked but not yet configured.`
- `dpkg --audit` on the host directly shows unpacked-not-configured packages
  (there's no fleet-wide audit tool anymore — check per-host).

The system is still running the **old** binaries (still in memory), but the
**new** binaries are unpacked and waiting for their postinst to run. Two
worst-case manifestations from the 2026-05-21 sweep:

- LXC 121 caddy: leftover state from a prior aborted apt run; caddy itself was
  still serving but the new caddy binary on disk hadn't been wired up.
- hubris: ssh master died mid-Wave-6 → 135 packages unpacked-not-configured,
  including `systemd`, `openssh-server`, `sudo`, `netbird`. The half-
  configured netbird daemon dropped the mesh peer, and we got locked out
  until we recovered from the PVE web UI Shell.

**Do not reboot until dpkg is clean.** A reboot tries to start the new
binaries' services, which may fail because postinst never ran (missing users,
config dirs, capabilities, etc.). The system might not come back up cleanly.

## Path A — target is still reachable over ssh (preferred)

```
ssh <host> -- bash -c 'DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive dpkg --configure -a && apt -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold upgrade'
```

Or for an LXC by name (via the MCP `run` tool, or directly on the Proxmox
host):

```
pct exec <lxc> -- bash -c 'DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive dpkg --configure -a && apt -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold upgrade'
```

When that returns, confirm:

```
ssh <host> -- dpkg --audit
```

Expect `DPKG: ok` and the remaining `UPGR` count to match what's intentionally
deferred (kernel/PVE on hubris, 0 elsewhere).

## Path B — target locked out (mesh broken / ssh dead)

Most common for hubris when netbird itself went half-configured: the daemon
crashed on the new binary, the mesh peer dropped, port 22022 stopped listening,
and you can't ssh in.

1. Open `https://proxmox.hubris.network` in a browser.
2. Datacenter → node `hubris` → `>_ Shell` (or `_ Console`). That's a root
   shell on hubris served by the PVE web UI, independent of the netbird mesh.
3. Run the recovery one-liner:

```
DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive dpkg --configure -a \
  && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confold upgrade \
  && systemctl restart netbird \
  && dpkg --audit \
  && echo RECOVERY_OK
```

   Wait for `RECOVERY_OK`. The `systemctl restart netbird` is the bit that
   heals the mesh — once netbird's daemon comes back up clean, your client's
   peer state moves from `Connecting` to `Connected` within ~30 seconds and
   the rest of your tooling works again.

4. For an **LXC** that's locked out (less common — LXCs reach the world via
   netbird routed through hubris, so unless hubris itself is broken, you can
   still `pct enter` from the hubris shell):

   From the PVE web UI shell on hubris:

   ```
   pct enter <id>
   DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive dpkg --configure -a && apt -y upgrade
   exit
   ```

## Prevention

The old `homelab apt-upgrade` wrapper (retired along with the rest of the
`homelab` CLI) used to launch apt inside a `systemd-run --collect` unit on
the target so it survived ssh teardown — that's the failure mode that put
hubris into this state in the first place. There's no fleet-wide wrapper
anymore; if you run apt manually over ssh, wrap it yourself the same way:

```
ssh <host> systemd-run --unit=apt-recovery --collect bash -c 'apt -y upgrade'
```

Then `systemctl status apt-recovery` from a fresh ssh to check progress.

## Related

- [Operations cheatsheet](../../operations/commands.md)
- [Auto-deploy pipelines](../../../archive/knowledge/infrastructure/auto-deploy.md)
- [Hubris host page](../../../archive/knowledge/hosts/hubris.md)

## Changelog

### 2026-05-21 — initial page
Documents the dpkg-interrupted recovery path that came out of the
fleet apt sweep (Wave 6 killed mid-transaction; hubris recovered via PVE
web Shell).
