Debian Lenny install hung at 1%

This is mostly meant as a note to myself, in case I need to reinstall Debian Lenny on my VPS. The installer stalls at 1%, when at the screen titled “Selecting and installing packages”. To fix this, do the following:

  1. Press ALT+CTRL+F2
  2. ps aux | grep aptitude # note down the PID (proccess ID) of aptitude
    kill $PID # replace $PID with the PID from above
    chroot /target
    aptitude install debian-archive-keyring
    aptitude update
    exit
  3. Press ALT+CTRL+F1

The installer will tell you that it failed, but simply select “Select and install packages” from the menu, and you should be on your way.

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