E: The repository 'http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal Release' does not have a Release file

Question

Since i installed certbot on Debian 10, it always shows this error:

root@HypeTime:/home/sinusbot# apt update
Hit:1 http://security.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates InRelease
Hit:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster InRelease
Hit:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates InRelease
Ign:4 http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal InRelease
Err:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal Release
  404  Not Found [IP: 2001:67c:1560:8008::15 80]
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

Does someone know how to fix this error?

Absorption

That said, why are you using an Ubuntu repository on a Debian system? Especially when there is already a certbot package in the main Debian repository, which is what the official instructions tell you to use. – Elainaelaine

The "focal" version is nout out yet. Maybe you should revert back to a previous Ubuntu version in the sources.list (change focal to disco in the file pointing to this PPA), while still avoiding using an Ubuntu repo on a Debian system. – Faradic

Same issue here. Focal gives the error module 'acme.challenges' has no attribute 'TLSSNI01' – Handwork

Answer 1

I got rid of the error message on Ubuntu 20.04 by removing the ppa repository. It took me a long time to find out the exact command argument, so this might help others :-). I used the command:

sudo apt-add-repository -r ppa:certbot/certbot

After that, the following commands do not generate any errors:

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get update

Candiot

for other ways to remove the ppa repository (including GUI tool Software & Updates) you could check How to list and remove PPA repository on Ubuntu 20.04 Linux – Candiot

This answer is out of date. See the certbot instructions. – Tea

Cannot add PPA: 'ppa:certbot/certbot'. Please check that the PPA name or format is correct. – Systaltic

@BlakeMcBride if you mean some specific instructions, could you share a link? – Biometrics

I'm guessing he means these: certbot.eff.org/instructions?ws=nginx&os=ubuntufocal - the command to remove from the ppa works, but those are the new certbot install instructions. – Govea

Its work for Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS thanks @Candiot – Acetate

In case of add-apt-repository command not found, run: sudo apt-get install software-properties-common – Yoshi

Answer 2

I stumbled into these messages

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot
This is the PPA for packages prepared by Debian Let's Encrypt Team and backported for Ubuntu.

Note: Packages are only provided for currently supported Ubuntu releases.
 More info: https://launchpad.net/~certbot/+archive/ubuntu/certbot
Press [ENTER] to continue or Ctrl-c to cancel adding it.

Hit:1 http://ca-central-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:2 http://ca-central-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [111 kB]
Get:3 http://ca-central-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [98.3 kB]
Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [107 kB]
Ign:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:6 http://ca-central-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages [588 kB]
Get:7 http://ca-central-1.ec2.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/universe amd64 Packages [666 kB]
Err:8 http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal Release
  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.95.83 80]
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://ppa.launchpad.net/certbot/certbot/ubuntu focal Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

by following Ubuntu 18.04 certbot installation instructions on Ubuntu 20.04.

I should've followed the Ubuntu 20.04 certbot installation instructions, which avoid the command sequence sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot followed by sudo apt install python-certbot-nginx and simply execute

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Note that the 20.04-friendly command uses python3 in the command, and not just python.

To be fair, I wasn't the only one dealing with this issue. This other post about solutions that offer the -r option to remove repositories helped me figure out in which direction a solution to my issue could be.

See @vinyll's answer for "A one-liner Certbot install is available with the uninstaller included. Works also on Ubuntu 20.04." I did not follow that route because I'm not to keen to uninstall packages without being absolutely certain what they're dependencies for. Since I wasn't 100% certain at the time, it was easier to just follow the installation instructions for the proper OS than uninstall it risking eliminating needed dependencies without being aware.

Glenglencoe

Answer 3

The latest source works just fine and can be installed with a one-liner to install certbot.

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vinyll/certbot-install/master/install.sh | bash

That solved for me, and there's an uninstall also when certbot PPA will be fixed again.

Handwork

while this is still working and makes sense when willing to install the latest version, PPAs now released an upgrade that installs certbot on Focal 👍 – Handwork

Answer 4

Use the following:

sudo apt-add-repository -r ppa:certbot/certbot

and

sudo apt update

Sabrasabre

didn't work for me. When I execute your second command (sudo apt update) I get another 404, and the same error – Concent

Answer 5

I have recently installed certbot using this command:
sudo snap install --classic certbot

Hypoderm

Thanks! I was having issues on a Ubuntu 20.04 server and ran this, which worked in the end. Just a comment, this should be carried out as part of the full certbot installation process - instructions at certbot.eff.org/lets-encrypt/ubuntufocal-nginx , otherwise might run into some issues with older certbot packages – Hyponasty

The link is now certbot.eff.org/instructions?ws=nginx&os=ubuntufocal – Bleak

@AndrewSwift , thanks for keeping the answer up to date – Hypoderm

Answer 6

@vinyll answer helped me that am dealing with Ubuntu server 20.04. There's just a little drawback with it: installs the current head of the repository, which currently is 1.9.0.dev0.

I suggest to look at Certbot repository for the desired release tag - in my case v1.8.0 that refers to the just released version 1.8.0 - and to edit the script to "checkout" it.

The script would become (to install Certbot v1.8.0):

#!/bin/bash

ROOT=~/.certbot-src

# Remove older versions if existing, for a simple re-install/update.
rm -rf $ROOT

# Clone certbot source.
git clone https://github.com/certbot/certbot $ROOT

# Check if python3-venv is installed, and install it otherwise.
CHECK_PACKAGES='python3-venv'
if ! dpkg -s $CHECK_PACKAGES >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "The packages '$CHECK_PACKAGES' are not installed. "
  echo "They will now be installed automatically with 'sudo apt-get install $CHECK_PACKAGES'."
  sudo apt-get install -y $CHECK_PACKAGES
fi

# Checkout the desired release TAG.
cd $ROOT
git checkout v1.8.0 # Replace v1.8.0 with the TAG you chosen

# Setup virtual environment for certbot.
sudo apt-get install -y python3-dev python3-venv gcc libaugeas0 libssl-dev libffi-dev ca-certificates openssl
python3 tools/venv3.py

# Link installed certbot version, so it can used everywhere.
sudo ln -s $ROOT/venv3/bin/certbot /usr/local/bin/

---

NOTE: if you want to do a clean install and you are going to remove an old Certbot version, do it carefully - e.g. there could be configuration files that would be deleted using apt purge certbot or apt autoremove --purge certbot, bringing the new Certbot installation in an inconsistent state; this answer may help.

---

Singer

Package 'python-virtualenv' has no installation candidate – Corporeity

Answer 7

Some PPA's do not get updated to newer linux version by their creators/maintainers. Therefore, you need to erase them. To do it without removing the entire PPA you can use this guide: safely-remove-ppa-repositories-ubuntu

If the PPA version is not compatible with your linux version, you need to update it. This answer is general for this problem with any PPA errors of that kind so I hope it is the right place to answer it.

Goldie

Answer 8

I think in recent times the solution is different.

I did two things, first of all, just install the "certbot" from snap with --classic

snap install certbot --classic

And remove other packages from "Software & Updates" >> then go to the Tab "Other Software" >> then select all other packages which you want to remove.

Then in the terminal, you can check it by "Sudo apt update". If there is no issue, you won't get the Error,

Fatwitted