Can not update Pi-hole

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1

Hi everyone,

today I wanted to update my Pi-hole. It failed at Update local cache of available packagesand prompted me to try sudo apt update which fails, too. See attached Terminal output:

sudo pihole -up
  [✓] Building dependency package pihole-meta.deb
  [✓] Installing Pi-hole dependency package

  [i] Checking for updates...
  [i] Pi-hole Core:	up to date
  [i] Web Interface:	up to date
  [i] FTL:		update available

  [i] FTL out of date, it will be updated by the installer.

  [✓] Root user check

        .;;,.
        .ccccc:,.
         :cccclll:.      ..,,
          :ccccclll.   ;ooodc
           'ccll:;ll .oooodc
             .;cll.;;looo:.
                 .. ','.
                .',,,,,,'.
              .',,,,,,,,,,.
            .',,,,,,,,,,,,....
          ....''',,,,,,,'.......
        .........  ....  .........
        ..........      ..........
        ..........      ..........
        .........  ....  .........
          ........,,,,,,,'......
            ....',,,,,,,,,,,,.
               .',,,,,,,,,'.
                .',,,,,,'.
                  ..'''.

  [i] SELinux not detected
  [✗] Update local cache of available packages
   Error: Unable to update package cache. Please try "sudo apt update"

  Unable to complete update, please contact Pi-hole Support
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo apt update
Ign:1 http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian buster InRelease
Err:3 http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster Release
  404  Not Found [IP: 93.93.128.193 80]
                        


Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

Please advise what to do… :face_with_peeking_eye:

2

sudo apt update is failing.
This means this is an Operating System level issue.

You need to first fix the OS issue.

The error message also shows you are trying to update a very old OS (Buster - Debian 10).

The message explicitly says the repository "no longer has a Release file" and you shouldn't update from this repository.

E: The repository 'http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster Release' no longer has a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.

In other words: the OS is refusing to update itself using the current settings.

My suggestion is:

  • create a Pi-hole backup (teleporter);
  • install a new OS, like Debian 13 (fresh install - do not try to upgrade the current OS);
  • after that, install Pi-hole again and restore the teleporter file.
1 Like
3

Your buddy RaspBian Buster has moved to the Legacy Server since November 2025 : Cannot Install Dosbox-staging due to missing dependencies - Raspberry Pi Forums

For more info see : The repository 'http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster Release' no longer has a Release file at DuckDuckGo . :wink:

/EDIT :

And also keep an eye on this from time to time : Debian -- Debian Releases :+1:

1 Like
4

Thanks to both of you. I upgraded the OS in the past without problems, but reading your posts this does not seem like the best option here. Will do the fresh install with teleporting settings. Thanks again!

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5

Note:
Updating from Buster (Debian 10) to Trixie (Debian 13) is not worth it.
It's a long process and the chances of failure are very high.

2 Likes
6

You’re right. Starting fresh and teleporting over my settings was relatively quick and painless. Only the Pi-hole integration needed a new API key to communicate with my Pi-hole. The rest just works as if nothing had changed.

1 Like