Ubuntu and update errors are inseparable. Every now and then I encounter errors while updating the system after adding a new source. The other day I was trying to install Mate desktop environment when I got this GPG error while updating the system:
W: GPG error: http://repo.mate-desktop.org saucy InRelease: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 68980A0EA10B4DE8
It is quite evident from the error message itself that the said public key was not found in the system. What happens here is that you had added some third-party repository. Every such software has a signature mechanism so that your system know that you are downloading that particular software from the repository you had added.
If the developer changes his/her public key and then provides an update, your system raises an alarm that the public key it know is not found anymore.
In this quick post I’ll show you how to fix this W: GPG error: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO error.
Fix GPG error: The following signatures couldn’t be verified
What we need to do is to fetch this public key in the system. Get the key number from the message. In the above message, the key is 68980A0EA10B4DE8. Now use that key in the following command:
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 68980A0EA10B4DE8This will add the key to the system. Just do an sudo apt-get update and you should not see this error any more. I hope this solved the problem for you.
As I said, Ubuntu and update errors are inseparable. Here are some of the most common Ubuntu update errors:
- The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG
- Problem with MergeList
- Partial upgrade error
- Failed to download repository information. Check your internet connection.
Let me know in the comments if this quick tip helped you fix this error or not.
Thank you sir
You are welcome.
Quick search, quick read and problem solved… Thanks heaps from another user who knows just enough to copy-paste stuff into the terminal. Yours and the community’s work makes Ubuntu so much more accessible for non-tech-people :)