Apt-Get not working behind corporate firewall on Win 7 in VirtualBox with proxy set

Question

The issue

I'm trying to run apt-get on Ubuntu virtual box, but I keep getting connection and time-out errors. I'm not sure what is causing them because the proxies are set. Here is my system:

System config

HOST: Win 7 Enterprise, SP1 (64-bit OS)
RAM: 8 GB
CPU: Intel i5 2.6GHz
VirtualBox 4.2.12
Ubuntu 64 (ubuntu-12.04.2-server-amd64.iso)

Steps to reproduce issue

Here is the workflow and the error that it produces:

1) SSH to the Ubuntu VM from GitBash (or any other *nix command line). Note: The <localhost_alias> has already been configured in the hosts file.

ssh -l<username> -p<ftp_port> <localhost_alias>

2) Set your proxies. I simply copy-pasted these from a text file onto the command line and hit enter to process the last one also.

export http_proxy=http://proxy.somecorpdom:8080/
export https_proxy=https://proxy.somecorpdom:8080/
export no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.1,*.somecorpdom

3) Run apt-get update.

sudo apt-get update

Results and errors

After running the update command, the following immediately displays, but hangs for several minutes:

0% [Connecting to us.archive.ubuntu.com (91.189.91.15)] [Connecting to security.ubuntu.com (91.189.92.202)]

Eventually the former message goes away and I get this (un-abridged):

Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise InRelease
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates InRelease
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports InRelease
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release.gpg
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release.gpg
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise Release
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports Release
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted TranslationIndex
Ign http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe TranslationIndex
23% [Connecting to security.ubuntu.com (91.189.91.14)]
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Sources
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse amd64 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse i386 Packages
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/main Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/multiverse Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/restricted Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Translation-en_US
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
Err http://us.archive.ubuntu.com precise-backports/universe Translation-en
  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]
23% [Connecting to security.ubuntu.com (91.189.91.14)]

It hangs at "23%" for quite awhile. After another several minutes this output is displayed:

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/universe/binary-i386/Packages  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/restricted/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/restricted/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/main/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/main/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/restricted/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/restricted/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/universe/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-updates/universe/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/main/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/main/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/restricted/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/restricted/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/universe/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-backports/universe/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to us.archive.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.91.13 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/Release.gpg  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/main/source/Sources  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/restricted/source/Sources  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/universe/source/Sources  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/multiverse/source/Sources  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/main/binary-amd64/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/restricted/binary-amd64/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/universe/binary-amd64/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/multiverse/binary-amd64/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/main/binary-i386/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/restricted/binary-i386/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/universe/binary-i386/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/multiverse/binary-i386/Packages  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/main/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/main/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/multiverse/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/restricted/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/restricted/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/universe/i18n/Translation-en_US  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

W: Failed to fetch http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-security/universe/i18n/Translation-en  Unable to connect to security.ubuntu.com:http: [IP: 91.189.92.190 80]

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

I am behind a corporate firewall/proxy.

Solution 1

I found out the answer. Here is the fix:

add these two lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf as sudo

Acquire::http::proxy "http://somecorpdom:8080/";
Acquire::https::proxy "https://somecorpdom:8080/";

then apt-get should work in your Ubuntu. (Change "somecorpdom" to your proxy)

Solution 2

You can just export the proxy as you did:

export http_proxy=http://proxy.somecorpdom:8080/

export https_proxy=https://proxy.somecorpdom:8080/

And then try sudo -E apt-get update.