Problem encountered#
When trying to update or install a package on Debian or Ubuntu, the following error appears:
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?
Cause#
This message appears when another instance of DPKG is running on your server.
Solution#
You have just reinstalled your VPS or it has just been delivered#
When a VPS is delivered or reinstalled, it automatically updates itself so that you receive an up-to-date system upon delivery.
You need to wait about 15 minutes for the installation of updates to finish.
You started an operation using DPKG that did not complete as expected#
- Check which process is using DPKG:
sudo lsof /var/lib/dpkg/lock - Get the PID number and kill the process, for example the PID number is 2913:
sudo kill -9 2913 - Run the previous command again that did not work