snapcraft APT sources checking too strict
Metadata
Current evaluation
Snapcraft still turns any apt-get update failure into a package-list refresh error; this old report needs a modern reproducer and a policy for distinguishing harmless source failures.
Suggested action: needs triage
Reason: The current craft-parts implementation converts every apt-get update CalledProcessError into PackageListRefreshError, and no resolving change was found. The sole 2016 comment provides an APT_CONFIG workaround, but the report lacks current logs or steps and does not define which APT failures can safely be ignored.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
6
Complexity:
68
Confidence:
86
Actionability:
43
Issue body
APT exits with nonzero value for some insignificant reasons, like The Google archive for Chrome browser using an ancient hash function, or a post-upgrade PPA not supporting yakkety yet.
snapcraft should not fail for silly warnings from APT.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
45
Quick Win:
6
Complexity:
68
Confidence:
86
Actionability:
43
|
needs triage | Snapcraft still turns any apt-get update failure into a package-list refresh error; this old report needs a modern reproducer and a policy for distinguishing harmless source failures. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha |
Impact:
42
Quick Win:
8
Complexity:
58
Confidence:
68
Actionability:
48
|
needs triage | APT source warnings can make Snapcraft builds fail on unrelated repository issues; this old open issue has only an APT_CONFIG workaround and needs triage. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Impact:
40
Quick Win:
17
Complexity:
30
Confidence:
60
Actionability:
60
|
needs triage | Snapcraft fails when APT exits nonzero for warnings like deprecated hash functions or unsupported PPAs. Unlabelled, no maintainer response, 10 years old. | |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b |
Impact:
30
Quick Win:
20
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
35
Confidence:
55
Support Request:
15
|
needs triage | snapcraft fails builds when APT exits nonzero for non-critical warnings (e.g., outdated hash functions, unsupported PPAs). Unlabelled, zero comments, no maintainer interaction; references obsolete 2015-era sources. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
95
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft fails on non-critical APT warnings like outdated hash functions or unsupported PPAs. The report is unlabelled, has zero maintainer interaction, and references obsolete software from 2015. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
25
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
15
|
close stale | snapcraft fails builds due to strict APT exit codes from minor warnings like deprecated hash functions or outdated PPAs. Untriaged, inactive for ~10 years. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
20
Confidence:
85
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | snapcraft fails builds due to strict APT source checking on non-critical warnings. Untriaged and inactive for over 10 years. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Related To:
snapcraft#3363
(confidence 70%)
The APT sources management refactor changed relevant code, but the available evidence does not show that it addressed tolerant handling of apt-get update failures.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1992213 Snapcraft crashes when the APT unprivileged user owns the host's source list file instead of root | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | Snapcraft 8187 crashed opening a 0600 _apt-owned APT metadata file. The legacy LXD path was removed, but equivalent current apt-cache checks still need review. | |
| #1841618 snapcraft should run apt-get update | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | 2018 request for snapcraft to run apt-get update when apt caches are stale in process containers. Untouched since filing (no comments/labels); the process-container build model and in-tree apt handling have since been removed upstream. | |
| #1638840 snapcraft copies /etc/apt/sources but ignores /etc/apt/preferences | snapcraft (launchpad) | open | APT host pinning was reported ignored in 2016; the Zesty/Yakkety reproducer is obsolete, while modern Snapcraft supports declared repository priorities through craft-archives, leaving host-preference behavior to revalidate. | |
| #1790819 snapcraft 2.43 snap can't access to HTTPS APT sources | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | HTTPS APT sources failed because Snapcraft 2.43 omitted apt-transport-https. PR snapcore/snapcraft#2244 restored it in commit 268272751. | |
| #1527036 snapcraft does not take the software source mirror site setting | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as stale without a code fix; Snapcraft 0.6~trusty~ppa1 did not honor the Software Center mirror setting. The reporter later identified SNAPCRAFT_LOCAL_SOURCES as a workaround. | |
| #1747715 Newer appstream causes snapcraft to fail | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Snapcraft now catches APT package-cache update failures instead of propagating the raw exception, resolving the AppStream hash-mismatch failure via snapcore/snapcraft#2079 (d879b2e3a). | |
| #2030 Properly invalidate the cache if sources change | snapcraft | closed | Fixed by merged PR #2079 (commit d879b2e3a): Snapcraft now catches apt cache update failures and clears the package index on hash mismatches. |