List directory /var/lib/apt/lists/partial is missing. - Acquire (20: Not a directory)

Question

When I executed sudo apt update I'm getting

Reading package lists... Done
E: List directory /var/lib/apt/lists/partial is missing. - Acquire (20: Not a directory)

Also, I was getting a status error which I solved using

sudo cp /var/lib/dpkg/status-old /var/lib/dpkg/status

I tried sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/partial as suggested in few other threads

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/var/lib/apt/lists/partial’: Not a directory

Even I tried sudo mkdir /var/lib/apt/lists/

Any other solution?

Answer 1

The answer may be inappropriate here. But as I came here others may land here too.

If you're using docker and you face the same issue you can do like the following.

USER root
# RUN commands
USER 1001

Reference: Link

Answer 2

The same happened to me. I follow as guide this answer:The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened

I assumed my lists were corrupted. I went to /var/lib/apt/ I saw a file (lists@) instead of a directory. I deleted it (sudo rm lists) and re-created the path (sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/apt/lists/partial). Double-check the path gets created.

Answer 3

I ran into the same issue while trying to build a new container and experimenting with Dockerfile for a while. What saved me finally was just to delete all containers I've created during this process using docker rm.

Answer 4

You can try adding -u 0 in the command

sudo docker exec -u 0 -it ContainerID bin/bash

According to Docker, the u flag allow developer to specify the user you are going to use in the container. Reference here

Answer 5

I had this same issue when trying to install an Typora on Ubuntu 20.04.

I was running into the error whenever I run the command below:

# add Typora's repository

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://typora.io/linux ./'

Here's how I solved it:

I disconnected and reconnected my network connection, and when I ran the command again, it worked fine.

I think it was an issue with my network connectivity.

That's all.

I hope this helps

Answer 6

I had a similar error when using bitnami spark image and docker exec command with arguments -u didn't work for me. I found my answer in the image documentation here.

In case you are using a docker image, it might be that the image is a non root container image. Read the documents of the docker image provider to find the solution to see how you can use the image as a root container image.

Answer 7

You first need to have super user privilege by typing in sudo -i and then inserting your password.