1 min read 85 words Updated May 10, 2026 Created Nov 10, 2025
##debian##linux

Fixing “Package is in a very bad inconsistent state” apt errors

Google Cloud got into a real pickle over installing google-cloud-cli using apt, leaving me with repeated Package is in a very bad inconsistent state errors every time I tried to run a sudo apt full-upgrade.

This fixed it:

sudo mv /var/lib/dpkg/info/<packagename>.* /tmp/
sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq <packagename>
sudo apt-get remove <packagename>
sudo apt-get autoremove && sudo apt-get autoclean

… which I found here (dated over 13 years ago 😄)

#linux
#debian