CI build failing during protobuf-compiler installation

[Prathamesh9284]

CI Failure Log

Run sudo apt install -y protobuf-compiler

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libprotobuf-dev libprotobuf32t64 libprotoc32t64
Suggested packages:
  protobuf-mode-el
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libprotobuf-dev libprotobuf32t64 libprotoc32t64 protobuf-compiler
0 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 25 not upgraded.
Need to get 3048 kB of archives.
After this operation, 17.8 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt Mirrorlist [144 B]
Ign:2 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:3 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotoc32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:4 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf-dev amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:5 http://azure.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 protobuf-compiler amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:2 https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:3 https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotoc32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:4 https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf-dev amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:5 https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 protobuf-compiler amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Ign:2 https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Err:2 mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
Ign:3 https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotoc32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Err:3 mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt noble-updates/main amd64 libprotoc32t64 amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
Ign:4 https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf-dev amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Err:4 mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt noble-updates/main amd64 libprotobuf-dev amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
Ign:5 https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates/universe amd64 protobuf-compiler amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
Err:5 mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt noble-updates/universe amd64 protobuf-compiler amd64 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2
  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
E: Failed to fetch mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt/pool/main/p/protobuf/libprotobuf32t64_3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2_amd64.deb  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
E: Failed to fetch mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt/pool/main/p/protobuf/libprotoc32t64_3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2_amd64.deb  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
E: Failed to fetch mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt/pool/main/p/protobuf/libprotobuf-dev_3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2_amd64.deb  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
E: Failed to fetch mirror+file:/etc/apt/apt-mirrors.txt/pool/universe/p/protobuf/protobuf-compiler_3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2_amd64.deb  404  Not Found [IP: 52.147.219.192 80]
E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing?
Error: Process completed with exit code 100.

[Prathamesh9284]

Hi @novatechflow @zkaoudi ,

The CI failure is happening in the sudo apt install -y protobuf-compiler step in .github/workflows/codeql.yml. The runner was trying to download version 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.2, but Ubuntu has since released 3.21.12-8.2ubuntu0.3 and removed the older .2 package from the mirrors. Because the runner’s package index was not refreshed, it attempted to fetch a version that no longer exists, resulting in the 404 error.

Running apt-get update before installation refreshes the package metadata so it picks up the latest available version instead of the removed one. Additionally, apt-get has a stable CLI interface and is recommended for use in scripts and CI environments.

I suggest updating the workflow to:

  name: Install Protoc
  run: |
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y protobuf-compiler

I will submit a PR with the fix.