fatal: [db1]: FAILED! => {“changed”: false, “failed”: true, “msg”: “Could not find aptitude. Please ensure it is installed.“}

My yml file includes the following line:

- apt: update_cache=yes upgrade=yes

How do I fix this error on a Debian or Ubuntu Linux server?


You need to use apt module to manage packages for Debian/Ubuntu Linux using ansible. The apt module runs command depends upon upgrade parameter as follows:

apt module syntax

The syntax is:

- name: Update all packages to the latest version
  apt:
    upgrade: VALUE

Where VALUE can be any one of the following:

• if upgrade parameter is no (upgrade=no) – Do NOT upgrade anything (default)
• if upgrade parameter is yes (upgrade=yes) – Do upgrade using the aptitude command
• if upgrade parameter is safe (upgrade=safe) – Do upgrade using the aptitude command
• if upgrade parameter is full (upgrade=full) – Do upgrade using the aptitude command
• if upgrade parameter is dist (upgrade=dist) – Do upgrade using the apt-get command

Understanding the error

The following error indicates that you do not have aptitude command installed on the remote Debian/Ubuntu box which is quite common on virtual private servers (VPS) or cloud servers or minimal installation or customized installation:

TASK [Updating host using apt] ***********************************************************************************************
fatal: [db1]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "failed": true, "msg": "Could not find aptitude. Please ensure it is installed."}
fatal: [db2]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "failed": true, "msg": "Could not find aptitude. Please ensure it is installed."}
fatal: [www1]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "failed": true, "msg": "Could not find aptitude. Please ensure it is installed."}
fatal: [www2]: FAILED! => {"changed": false, "failed": true, "msg": "Could not find aptitude. Please ensure it is installed."}

You can verify that by ssh into any one of the server:
$ ssh user@db1 type -a aptitude
bash: line 0: type: aptitude: not found
$ ssh vivek@server1.cyberciti.biz aptitude
bash: aptitude: command not found

How do I fix this problem?

To fix this problem either install aptitude on the remote box using apt module itself and run upgrade:

- name: Update all packages to the latest version
  apt:
    name: aptitude 
    upgrade: yes

Or pass the dist parameter to the upgrade so that it will use apt-get command:

- name: Update all packages to the latest version
  apt:
    upgrade: dist

Another solution is to use the following in your .yml file:

- name: Upgrade all packages to the latest version
  apt:
    name: "*"
    state: latest

For more info see apt – Manages apt-packages documentations.