Issue recurring issue notice automatic updating system packages

[Harun]

Server operating system version

Obsidian

Plesk version and microupdate number

18.0.79

I have received three update emails that begin with:
"Hello, Administrator,
There was an issue with updating system packages and third-party components"

When I check the System Updates page in Plesk, it says: "All packages are up-to-date"
The last successful automatic update was July 9. I've never had to interfere with automatic updates to system packages and third-party components.
...
July 16, 17:
Reason: Update utility stdout:
Setting up grub-pc (2.06-3~deb11u7) ...
/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-36000c2963705c02ec27ae7a6e8cb4eba does not exist, so cannot grub-install to it!
You must correct your GRUB install devices before proceeding:

July 15:

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=dialog dpkg --configure grub-pc
dpkg --configure -a
dpkg: error processing package grub-pc (--configure):
installed grub-pc package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
grub-pc
Update utility stderr:
2026-07-15 06:25:30 INFO: pum is called with arguments: ['--update', '--json']
2026-07-15 06:25:36 INFO: updating packages: grub-pc-bin grub2-common grub-common grub-pc
N: Ignoring file 'mariadb.list.old_1' in directory '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/' as it has an invalid filename extension
N: Ignoring file 'mariadb.list.old_1' in directory '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/' as it has an invalid filename extension
E:Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
2026-07-15 06:25:39 ERROR: installArchives() failed
2026-07-15 06:25:39 ERROR: Exited with returncode 1.


Is this something I should send to the VPS vendor (Ionos, not sure if this is something they will help with) or is it something I can easily address myself?

 

[Harun]

Additional info: Total hard disk 76GB, 39GB used, 34GB available.
CPU, memory, and disk look normal/low-load around the time of the attempted update.

 

[Harun]

So I learned to do this:
:~# dpkg --audit
The following packages are only half configured, probably due to problems
configuring them the first time. The configuration should be retried using
dpkg --configure <package> or the configure menu option in dselect:
grub-pc GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (PC/BIOS version)

I've not worked with grub-pc before, so I'm unsure how to proceed.

I'm also wondering if I've posted in the correct forum. Please let me know if someone has a better idea where to get help.

 

[Harun]

I also found this useful: This advice is a few years old though: Resolved - Information on some packages might not be actual: inconsistencies were detected ...
# plesk installer --select-release-current --reinstall-patch --upgrade-installed-components
# /usr/local/psa/bin/sw-engine-pleskrun /usr/local/psa/admin/plib/DailyMaintainance/script.php -f InstallSystemPackageUpdates

The symptom seems to be solved!

The error message is gone. I will know if I don't get the error message again tomorrow!

 

[Aleksandr Mezin]

Hi @Harun

The bootloader isn't managed by Plesk - the only time they interact is when Plesk runs package updates. But even in this case, Plesk just asks the package manager of your OS (Debian/Ubuntu) to perform the update.

/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-36000c2963705c02ec27ae7a6e8cb4eba does not exist, so cannot grub-install to it!

It looks like your disk configuration has changed (probably worth asking your VPS provider about it), or there was a bug in bootloader's post-install script. Sometimes, just trying to install/upgrade the package again (which you did, according to your last message) resolves the issue. Happy to hear that the error is gone

 

[Harun]

I'm not sure what the root problem was. After re-installing packages, I have seen successful updates. Resolved? Fingers crossed!