Offline Meta Sync Failed Command Not Found

Last Updated On: 18 May 2026|

2 minutes read |

Problem

You receive an error message "Update of Linux package meta files failed due to the 'apt_pkg' module not being found" while installing the patches or scanning the systems on your network computers using Patch Manager Plus.

Error Observed:

Command: sudo apt-get update

You may encounter an error similar to:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/cnf-update-db", line 8, in <module>
from CommandNotFound.db.creator import DbCreator
File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/CommandNotFound/db/creator.py", line 12, in <module>
import apt_pkg
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'apt_pkg'
E: Problem executing scripts APT::Update::Post-Invoke-Success ...
E: Sub-process returned an error code

Cause

A mismatch between the Python version and APT's Python bindings, often caused by a corrupted or incomplete installation of APT Python package.

Resolution

Note

: These steps are based on general community recommendations. While commonly effective, this may not resolve every environment.

Check Installed Python Version
Run:python3 --version
Check if apt_pkg is Present
Run:ls -la /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt_pkg*
If no file is returned, or the file doesn’t match your Python version, apt_pkg is missing or incorrectly installed.
Try installing the python package properly.
Then re-run the update command to see if the problem is fixed:
Run:sudo apt-get update

Further Assistance

If the issue still persists after performing the above steps, contact the respective Linux vendor (e.g., Ubuntu or Debian) for further assistance.