package dovecot-imapd 1:1.2.9-1ubuntu6.1 failed to install/upgrade: `hostname` not defined

I'm fairly sure that dpkgTerminalLog.txt shows that this is not a dependency issue, but rather failure of dovecot-common post-install script:

Setting up dovecot-common (1:1.2.9-1ubuntu6.1) ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/dovecot ...
Replacing config file /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf with new version
Replacing config file /etc/dovecot/dovecot-ldap.conf with new version
Replacing config file /etc/dovecot/dovecot-sql.conf with new version
Creating generic self-signed certificate: /etc/ssl/certs/dovecot.pem
(replace with hand-crafted or authorized one if needed).
hostname: Name or service not known
dpkg: error processing dovecot-common (--configure):
 subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of dovecot-imapd:
 dovecot-imapd depends on dovecot-common (= 1:1.2.9-1ubuntu6.1); however:
  Package dovecot-common is not configured yet.

Its my guess that this install failed because of the following line in dovecot's post install:
    MAILNAME=`cat /etc/mailname 2> /dev/null || hostname -f`

as seen in the dpkg log, 'hostname` failed. Do you have any idea why that would have occurred ?

does running 'hostname' succeed for you now?

Having recurring problems with dovecot in 10.10. Here's the latest terminal output:

dpkg: error processing dovecot-common (--configure):
 Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
 reinstall it before attempting configuration.
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of dovecot-pop3d:
 dovecot-pop3d depends on dovecot-common (= 1:1.2.12-1ubuntu5); however:
  Version of dovecot-common on system is 1:1.2.12-1ubuntu4.
dpkg: error processing dovecot-pop3d (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of dovecot-imapd:
 dovecot-imapd depends on dovecot-common (= 1:1.2.12-1ubuntu5); however:
  Version of dovecot-common on system is 1:1.2.12-1ubuntu4.
dpkg: error processing dovecot-imapd (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 dovecot-common
 dovecot-pop3d
 dovecot-imapd

I've tried to re-install with update-manager, synaptics (also with fix broken packages) and the terminal. All attempts end with nothing happening, necessitating a reboot to clear dpkg.

I'm encountering this problem when running apt-get upgrade.

After the package dovecot-common 1:1.2.12-1ubuntu4 has its files replaced, I get a message stating that the ssl keys are already in place, and then the install freezes. I have to open another term, kill the running dpkg processes, run dpkg --configure -a to finish configuring the packages that managed to partially install, then invoke a separate apt-get install dovecot-imapd dovecot-common to get those to install properly, and then rerun apt-get upgrade to finish upgrading the remaining packages in the lot.

Running a separate apt-get install on specifically on the dovecot packages does not duplicate the error, only running apt-get upgrade seems to duplicate the problem.

@(Christopher, RevEggplant): yours are not the same issue as in this bug.

I'm betting it is as it seems to be the same point in the post install script for that package that I get the hang.

@RevEggplant: please open a new bug using apport -- we need to see the apt's term.log to verify.

It looks like when this bug was originally reported ten years ago, it was not diagnosed down to a cause, which makes it challenging to identify if this is fixed or still an issue. I'm going to close the bug report out as expired. If anyone is still seeing this issue, or a similar one, please file a new bug report (with current logs and config), and we'll re-investigate from there.