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philfreo
Asked: 2015-05-12 05:34:32 +0800 CST

EC2 Ubuntu 14.04 instances: running `apt-get update` results in "Hash Sum mismatch"

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Every time I create a new AWS EC2 instance with Ubuntu 14.04 (using ami-a182b391, as found from here) and then immediately run sudo apt-get -y update, it gives me an error.

Here's the OS info:

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS
Release:    14.04
Codename:   trusty

Here's the failing apt command:

$ sudo apt-get -y update
Ign http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty InRelease
Ign http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates InRelease
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release.gpg
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates Release.gpg
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates Release             
Get:1 http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Sources [1,064 kB]   
Get:2 http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Sources [6,399 kB]
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security InRelease                       
Get:3 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security Release.gpg [933 B]           
Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security Release [63.5 kB]             
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main amd64 Packages         
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe amd64 Packages
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Translation-en
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Translation-en     
Get:5 http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main Sources [196 kB]
Get:6 http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe Sources [114 kB]
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main amd64 Packages 
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe amd64 Packages
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main Translation-en
Hit http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Translation-en_US     
Ign http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Translation-en_US 
Get:7 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main Sources [80.3 kB]       
Get:8 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe Sources [21.9 kB]  
Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main amd64 Packages [267 kB]  
Get:10 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe amd64 Packages [101 kB]
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main Translation-en
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe Translation-en    
Fetched 8,308 kB in 4s (1,678 kB/s)               
W: Failed to fetch http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/trusty-updates/main/source/Sources  Hash Sum mismatch

W: Failed to fetch http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/trusty-updates/universe/source/Sources  Hash Sum mismatch

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

I've literally done nothing else on the box besides boot it and run this command, and I've tried with multiple instances and it always happens.

I've found a workaround:

$ sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/
$ sudo apt-get -y update
Ign http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty InRelease
Ign http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates InRelease
Get:1 http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release.gpg [933 B]
Get:2 http://us-west-2.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates Release.gpg [933 B]
...
Get:23 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main Translation-en [136 kB]
Get:24 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe Translation-en [56.8 kB]
Fetched 21.9 MB in 5s (3,724 kB/s)                                 
Reading package lists... Done

But 1) why is this error happening, 2) is this workaround "OK" to do?

ubuntu

3 Answers

  1. Relevant post with some answers and a related bug report.

    https://askubuntu.com/questions/41605/trouble-downloading-packages-list-due-to-a-hash-sum-mismatch-error

    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/972077

    TLDR; 1) it's an issue with the amazon mirror and 2) this is a common workaround that is generally considered "ok" but annoying.

    • 3

  2. I filed a support ticket with AWS and the issue is no longer occurring. I believe they refreshed/fixed some of the packages.

    • 0

  3. Security Groups -> Outbound

    *   ALL Traffic ALL     ALL     0.0.0.0/0   Allow

    Please allow Outbound, if you want to connect to external servers like google.com or even want to update- sudo apt-get update

    You can allow the outbound using AWS front-end goto Security Groups -> Outbound

    Make sure you select the right group for your AWS instance

    • 0