16.04 - Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (2: No such file or directory) - Ask Ubuntu (https://cdn.sstatic.net/Sites/askubuntu/Img/apple-touch-icon.png?v=e16e1315edd6) (Ask Ubuntu) (https://askubuntu.com/opensearch.xml) (https://askubuntu.com/questions/1141719/could-not-open-lock-file-var-lib-dpkg-lock-frontend-open-2-no-such-file-or)   (site logo) Join Ask Ubuntu    By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to our (https://askubuntu.com/legal/terms-of-service/public) terms of service and acknowledge you have read our (https://askubuntu.com/legal/privacy-policy) privacy policy .       Sign up with Google     OR Email   Password (8+ characters (at least 1 letter & 1 number))      Sign up      Already have an account? (https://askubuntu.com/users/login) Log in             Skip to main content            (Search on Ask Ubuntu…)      (https://askubuntu.com/help) (Help Center and other resources)      (https://stackexchange.com/) (A list of all 183 Stack Exchange sites)       (Click to show search)     (https://askubuntu.com/users/login?ssrc=head&returnurl=https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1141719%2fcould-not-open-lock-file-var-lib-dpkg-lock-frontend-open-2-no-such-file-or) Log in  (https://askubuntu.com/users/signup?ssrc=head&returnurl=https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1141719%2fcould-not-open-lock-file-var-lib-dpkg-lock-frontend-open-2-no-such-file-or) Sign up      (https://askubuntu.com/) (Ask Ubuntu)       (https://askubuntu.com/)   Home    (https://askubuntu.com/questions)   Questions    (https://askubuntu.com/unanswered)   Unanswered    (https://stackoverflow.ai/)    AI Assist Labs     (https://askubuntu.com/tags)    Tags     (https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/158962/stack-exchange-lobby)        Chat   (https://askubuntu.com/users)   Users     (https://stackoverflow.com/jobs/companies?so_medium=askubuntu&so_source=SiteNav)   Companies      Teams Ask questions, find answers and collaborate at work with Stack Overflow for Teams.  (https://stackoverflowteams.com/teams/create/free/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=askubuntu-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams) Try Teams for free (https://stackoverflow.co/teams/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=askubuntu-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams) Explore Teams          (Illustration of upvote icon after it is clicked)   Hang on, you can't upvote just yet. You'll need to complete a few actions and gain 15 reputation points
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E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), are you root?   Here are the solutions I have tried :  I have tried, "sudo apt-get update" I have also tried to delete the locked files using the commands: sudo rm -r /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/lock   but it is showing the error that "no so such file or directory".  I tried to kill all the running process using the command: ps aux | grep -i apt    
sudo kill -9 <process id>
sudo killall apt apt-get     How can I solve this issue?  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/16.04) (show questions tagged '16.04') 16.04  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/apt) (show questions tagged 'apt') apt  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/updates) (show questions tagged 'updates') updates  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/dpkg) (show questions tagged 'dpkg') dpkg      (https://askubuntu.com/q/1141719) (Short permalink to this question) Share   (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1141719/edit) Improve this question  Follow  Follow this question to receive notifications      (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1141719/revisions) (show all edits to this post) edited (2019-05-09 07:36:36Z) May 9, 2019 at 7:36    (https://askubuntu.com/users/816190/kulfy) (Kulfy's user avatar)    (https://askubuntu.com/users/816190/kulfy) Kulfy (reputation score 18,163) 18.2k (26 gold badges)  26  26 gold badges (72 silver badges)  72  72 silver badges (111 bronze badges)  111  111 bronze badges     asked (2019-05-09 07:27:17Z) May 9, 2019 at 7:27   (https://askubuntu.com/users/954204/subhanshu-kumar) (Subhanshu Kumar's user avatar)    (https://askubuntu.com/users/954204/subhanshu-kumar) Subhanshu Kumar Subhanshu Kumar (reputation score) 31 (1 gold badge)  1  1 gold badge (1 silver badge)  1  1 silver badge (2 bronze badges)  2  2 bronze badges        8   What is the output of ls -l /vat/lib/dpkg/ ? Looks like something is missing. Kulfy – (https://askubuntu.com/users/816190/kulfy) (18,163 reputation) Kulfy  2019-05-09 07:40:58 +00:00 Commented (2019-05-09 07:40:58Z, License: CC BY-SA 4.0) May 9, 2019 at 7:40        it is showing the error message: ls: cannot access '/vat/lib/dpkg/': No such file or directory Subhanshu Kumar – (https://askubuntu.com/users/954204/subhanshu-kumar) (31 reputation) Subhanshu Kumar  2019-05-09 07:47:33 +00:00 Commented (2019-05-09 07:47:33Z, License: CC BY-SA 4.0) May 9, 2019 at 7:47        Oh sorry for the typo. It's ls -l /var/lib/dpkg/ . Kulfy – (https://askubuntu.com/users/816190/kulfy) (18,163 reputation) Kulfy  2019-05-09 07:50:22 +00:00 Commented (2019-05-09 07:50:22Z, License: CC BY-SA 4.0) May 9, 2019 at 7:50   (this comment was edited 1 time)          same error message .. : ls: cannot access '/var/lib/dpkg/': No such file or directory Subhanshu Kumar – (https://askubuntu.com/users/954204/subhanshu-kumar) (31 reputation) Subhanshu Kumar  2019-05-09 07:51:49 +00:00 Commented (2019-05-09 07:51:49Z, License: CC BY-SA 4.0) May 9, 2019 at 7:51      (number of 'useful comment' votes received) 2   Try this sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/dpkg/{alternatives,info,parts,triggers,updates}; sudo touch /var/lib/dpkg/status;  sudo apt install dpkg  Kulfy – (https://askubuntu.com/users/816190/kulfy) (18,163 reputation) Kulfy  2019-05-09 08:56:51 +00:00 Commented (2019-05-09 08:56:51Z, License: CC BY-SA 4.0) May 9, 2019 at 8:56        (Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid answering questions in comments.)  |  (Expand to show all comments on this post) Show 3 more comments       2 Answers 2   Sorted by:  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/1141719/could-not-open-lock-file-var-lib-dpkg-lock-frontend-open-2-no-such-file-or?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top) Reset to default   (scoredesc) Highest score (default)  (modifieddesc) Date modified (newest first)  (createdasc) Date created (oldest first)            This answer is useful 1  (This answer is not useful)         Save this answer. (Loading when this answer was accepted…)  (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1346009/timeline)    Show activity on this post.   The right solution is pasted below, run the below commands and it should fix the problem. sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/dpkg/{alternatives,info,parts,triggers,updates}

sudo cp /var/backups/dpkg.status.0 /var/lib/dpkg/status

apt-get download dpkg

sudo dpkg -i dpkg*.deb

apt-get download base-files

sudo dpkg -i base-files*.deb

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get check     (https://askubuntu.com/a/1346009) (Short permalink to this answer) Share   (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1346009/edit) Improve this answer  Follow  Follow this answer to receive notifications      (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1346009/revisions) (show all edits to this post) edited (2021-06-15 10:02:07Z) Jun 15, 2021 at 10:02    (https://askubuntu.com/users/614422/soren-a) (Soren A's user avatar)    (https://askubuntu.com/users/614422/soren-a) Soren A (reputation score) 7,190 (2 gold badges)  2  2 gold badges (22 silver badges)  22  22 silver badges (37 bronze badges)  37  37 bronze badges     answered (2021-06-15 09:56:50Z) Jun 15, 2021 at 9:56   (https://askubuntu.com/users/1329794/suhas-r) (Suhas R's user avatar)    (https://askubuntu.com/users/1329794/suhas-r) Suhas R Suhas R (reputation score) 11 (1 bronze badge)  1  1 bronze badge        1   it worked perfectly, should be an accepted answer Alexander Kozachenko – (https://askubuntu.com/users/1010759/alexander-kozachenko) (133 reputation) Alexander Kozachenko  2024-02-26 19:59:52 +00:00 Commented (2024-02-26 19:59:52Z, License: CC BY-SA 4.0) Feb 26, 2024 at 19:59        (Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.) Add a comment  |  (Expand to show all comments on this post)           This answer is useful 0  (This answer is not useful)         Save this answer. (Loading when this answer was accepted…)  (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1141735/timeline)    Show activity on this post.   You most likely have another process that is using the package manager. Close any other terminal instances and any GUI package managers. If you are not sure which process/program currently has those privileges, a reboot should fix the problem.   (https://askubuntu.com/a/1141735) (Short permalink to this answer) Share   (https://askubuntu.com/posts/1141735/edit) Improve this answer  Follow  Follow this answer to receive notifications      answered (2019-05-09 08:12:46Z) May 9, 2019 at 8:12   (https://askubuntu.com/users/953041/caleb) (Caleb's user avatar)    (https://askubuntu.com/users/953041/caleb) Caleb Caleb (reputation score) 41 (1 gold badge)  1  1 gold badge (1 silver badge)  1  1 silver badge (4 bronze badges)  4  4 bronze badges        0  (Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid comments like “+1” or “thanks”.) Add a comment  |  (Expand to show all comments on this post)      Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. (https://askubuntu.com/questions/ask) Ask question   Explore related questions (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/16.04) (show questions tagged '16.04') 16.04  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/apt) (show questions tagged 'apt') apt  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/updates) (show questions tagged 'updates') updates  (https://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/dpkg) (show questions tagged 'dpkg') dpkg    See similar questions with these tags.      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