Package: dpkg Version: 1.18.24 Severity: normal Dear Maintainer,
When using the --admindir option I get the error message: "dpkg: error: unable to access dpkg status area: No such file or directory" This does not follow the unix convention of telling me the path that it is unable to read. i.g. it should be something like: /path/to/status/dir: error: unable to access dpkg status area: No such file or directory unless it really does think the status dir is just 'dpkg'. Some background. I am trying to create a fake installation as a normal user without touching the existing data in /var/lib/dpkg. It is not clear how to create an admin directory from any documentation I have found so far. Note that: sudo dpkg --force-not-root --root=i/want/to/install/here --admindir=/var/lib/dpkg --install some_package.deb works but dpkg --force-not-root --root=i/want/to/install/here --admindir=/even/a/copy/of/var/lib/dpkg --install some_package.deb results in this cryptic error message. See also: https://superuser.com/questions/1271145/how-do-you-create-a-fake-install-of-a-debian-package-for-use-in-testing -- System Information: Debian Release: 9.2 APT prefers stable-updates APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable') Architecture: amd64 (x86_64) Kernel: Linux 4.9.0-3-amd64 (SMP w/1 CPU core) Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE=en_GB:en (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system) Versions of packages dpkg depends on: ii libbz2-1.0 1.0.6-8.1 ii libc6 2.24-11+deb9u1 ii liblzma5 5.2.2-1.2+b1 ii libselinux1 2.6-3+b3 ii tar 1.29b-1.1 ii zlib1g 1:1.2.8.dfsg-5 dpkg recommends no packages. Versions of packages dpkg suggests: ii apt 1.4.8 pn debsig-verify <none> -- no debconf information Kantar Disclaimer<http://www.kantar.com/disclaimer.html>
