E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

[yuri16]

Hi,
I'm trying to install rootkit [apt-get install rkhunter chkrootkit] but I got these errors:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
rkhunter is already the newest version.
chkrootkit is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
7 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up exim4-config (4.69-9) ...
dpkg: error processing exim4-config (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-base:
 exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.30) | exim4-config-2; however:
  Package exim4-config is not configured yet.
  Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
  Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing exim4-base (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-daemon-light:
 exim4-daemon-light depends on exim4-base (>= 4.69); however:
  Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing exim4-daemon-light (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4:
 exim4 depends on exim4-base (>= 4.69); however:
  Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
 exim4 depends on exim4-daemon-light | exim4-daemon-heavy | exim4-daemon-custom; however:
  Package exim4-daemon-light is not configured yet.
  Package exim4-daemon-heavy is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-custom is not installed.
dpkg: error processing exim4 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of bsd-mailx:
 bsd-mailx depends on exim4 | mail-transport-agent; however:
  Package exim4 is not configured yet.
  Package mail-transport-agent is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-light which provides mail-transport-agent is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing bsd-mailx (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of rkhunter:
 rkhunter depends on exim4 | postfix | sendmail | mail-transport-agent; however:
  Package exim4 is not configured yet.
  Package postfix is not installed.
  Package sendmail is not installed.
  Package mail-transport-agent is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-light which provides mail-transport-agent is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing rkhunter (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mailx:
 mailx depends on bsd-mailx; however:
  Package bsd-mailx is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing mailx (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 exim4-config
 exim4-base
 exim4-daemon-light
 exim4
 bsd-mailx
 rkhunter
 mailx
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

I tried going into /var/lib/dpkg/info and deleting everything that had that rkhunter name as what other solutions were, but to no avail..

Any help will be appreciated.

[Kieren]

It looks like those packages are already installed:

rkhunter is already the newest version.
chkrootkit is already the newest version.

I think you problem is because the package exim4-config has failed to install correctly. I'm not sure how you would go about fixing it but maybe you're trying to fix the wrong thing at the moment?

[yuri16]

But when I run the apt-get upgrade, I also got these error:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
  libsasl2-2 netcat
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
7 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Setting up exim4-config (4.69-9) ...
dpkg: error processing exim4-config (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-base:
 exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.30) | exim4-config-2; however:
  Package exim4-config is not configured yet.
  Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
  Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing exim4-base (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-daemon-light:
 exim4-daemon-light depends on exim4-base (>= 4.69); however:
  Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing exim4-daemon-light (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4:
 exim4 depends on exim4-base (>= 4.69); however:
  Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
 exim4 depends on exim4-daemon-light | exim4-daemon-heavy | exim4-daemon-custom; however:
  Package exim4-daemon-light is not configured yet.
  Package exim4-daemon-heavy is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-custom is not installed.
dpkg: error processing exim4 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of bsd-mailx:
 bsd-mailx depends on exim4 | mail-transport-agent; however:
  Package exim4 is not configured yet.
  Package mail-transport-agent is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-light which provides mail-transport-agent is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing bsd-mailx (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of rkhunter:
 rkhunter depends on exim4 | postfix | sendmail | mail-transport-agent; however:
  Package exim4 is not configured yet.
  Package postfix is not installed.
  Package sendmail is not installed.
  Package mail-transport-agent is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-light which provides mail-transport-agent is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing rkhunter (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mailx:
 mailx depends on bsd-mailx; however:
  Package bsd-mailx is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing mailx (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 exim4-config
 exim4-base
 exim4-daemon-light
 exim4
 bsd-mailx
 rkhunter
 mailx
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

So it means I need to configure exim4, and install postfix, sendmail and mail-transport-agent packages?

[Kieren]

You Aptitude has gotten itself confused. This tends to happen when an installation or update fails due to things such as if your computer crashed or if you cancelled manually

You can try fixing it with the command:

sudo dpkg --configure –a

And if that doesn’t fix it try:

sudo dpkg --configure exim4-config

[yuri16]

These are what I got

sudo dpkg --configure –a

Setting up exim4-config (4.69-9) ...
dpkg: error processing exim4-config (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-base:
 exim4-base depends on exim4-config (>= 4.30) | exim4-config-2; however:
  Package exim4-config is not configured yet.
  Package exim4-config-2 is not installed.
  Package exim4-config which provides exim4-config-2 is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing exim4-base (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4-daemon-light:
 exim4-daemon-light depends on exim4-base (>= 4.69); however:
  Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing exim4-daemon-light (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of exim4:
 exim4 depends on exim4-base (>= 4.69); however:
  Package exim4-base is not configured yet.
 exim4 depends on exim4-daemon-light | exim4-daemon-heavy | exim4-daemon-custom; however:
  Package exim4-daemon-light is not configured yet.
  Package exim4-daemon-heavy is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-custom is not installed.
dpkg: error processing exim4 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of rkhunter:
 rkhunter depends on exim4 | postfix | sendmail | mail-transport-agent; however:
  Package exim4 is not configured yet.
  Package postfix is not installed.
  Package sendmail is not installed.
  Package mail-transport-agent is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-light which provides mail-transport-agent is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing rkhunter (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of bsd-mailx:
 bsd-mailx depends on exim4 | mail-transport-agent; however:
  Package exim4 is not configured yet.
  Package mail-transport-agent is not installed.
  Package exim4-daemon-light which provides mail-transport-agent is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing bsd-mailx (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of mailx:
 mailx depends on bsd-mailx; however:
  Package bsd-mailx is not configured yet.
dpkg: error processing mailx (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 exim4-config
 exim4-base
 exim4-daemon-light
 exim4
 rkhunter
 bsd-mailx
 mailx

While in sudo dpkg --configure exim4-config

Setting up exim4-config (4.69-9) ...
dpkg: error processing exim4-config (--configure):
 subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 20
Errors were encountered while processing:
 exim4-config

I don't know what to do, I'm a newbie to linux..thanks for replying..
any solution?

[Kieren]

I'm just shooting in the dark here. Try:

sudo dpkg --force-all -P exim4-config
sudo apt-get -f install

[yuri16]

I got same error...
but I tried to use aptitude instead of apt-get as some says aptitude is smarter at resolving dependency issues than apt-get.
I tried aptitude install postfix ... this will replace exim with postfix, and after replacing I just switched back by doing: aptitude install exim4 ..everything seems fine..except when I tried to use apt-get again I still got the error...maybe I should not used it to clear those issues..

But thanks really for the help.

[Kieren]

I think this is a bug with aptitude then. There isn't much about it online and what there is hasn't worked for you. I have also had this problem in the past but I was on the verge of trying out Debian anyway so I just switched rather than fighting out the issue

I don’t know if anyone else has any suggestions? If aptitude works for you rather than apt-get then I would say use that until you do a upgrade or reinstall.