401 Errors doing apt-get on new Ubuntu server

Question

I've got a new copy of Ubuntu 10.04 server running and I'm not sure if it's connected to the internet correctly.

ifconfig shows I have an IP in my company's private network for eth0 (10.90.140.24)

Main problem:

When I try to do sudo apt-get install [anything] or update, I get 401 errors from the repository. The sources.list and apt.conf.d haven't been touched -- this is a clean install.

--

Here's a dump of apt-get:

sudo apt-get install lynx

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  lynx-cur
Suggested packages:
  lynx-cur-wrapper
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  lynx lynx-cur
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 62 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,482kB of archives.
After this operation, 5,456kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y
WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated!
  lynx-cur lynx
Install these packages without verification [y/N]? y
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main lynx-cur 2.8.8dev.2-1
  401  Unauthorized [IP: 91.189.88.40 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main lynx 2.8.8dev.2-1
  401  Unauthorized [IP: 91.189.88.40 80]
Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/l/lynx-cur/lynx-cur_2.8.8dev.2-1_amd64.deb  401  Unauthorized [IP: 91.189.88.40 80]
Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/l/lynx-cur/lynx_2.8.8dev.2-1_all.deb  401  Unauthorized [IP: 91.189.88.40 80]
E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing?

Solution

Assuming this wasn't just a temporary glitch on the Ubuntu server, I would look into your company's web proxy. Maybe you have a very strangely configured transparent proxy or firewall, and you need to configure the right proxy, possibly with authentication. It could be a proxy bug, although causing a 401 sounds really bizarre.

Try accessing other sites (www.ubuntu.com, www.google.com, ...) with lynx wget, telnet, nc, whatever you have available. Also try your company's intranet to see if you get a different reaction.

Comments

[Blake]

It's running on a company network. What part of it indicates hijacking or redirection? Looks like just 401 errors but I'm hitting the right server based on that IP.

[Admin]

unsigned packages "package could not be authenticated" indicate redirection, hijack, or incorrect apt configuration

[Admin]

see: securitytube.net/Evilgrade-Defcon-18-video.aspx demo section demonstrates this functionality...there are other explanations, but I lean to redirection assuming apt is configured properly with the correct keys installed