Introduction
The Debian operating system is popular due to its package management system, APT (Advanced Package Tool), which simplifies the process of managing packages on Debian-based systems. Users can end up encountering various errors if the system setup is not accurate, and one such error is “**E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found**”. Many users observe this error while using APT over HTTPS, a secured connection. Now let’s dive deeper into the problem, and then we will jump to the solution.
The Problem
The error “E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found” happens when the APT package handling utility within your Debian system tries to fetch packages over HTTPS and the method driver for HTTPS is not available. This error usually occurs when you attempt to update your system or install a new package using the apt-get command.
The Solution
To fix this error, we can use a simple approach. HTTPS is not supported by default for the APT tool, so we need to install a package named `apt-transport-https` that allows the package tool to transfer files and data over https.
Here are the steps for installing this package:
Open your terminal and type the following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https -y
The `apt-get update` command updates the list of available packages and their versions, but it does not install or upgrade any packages.
After this, `apt-transport-https` gets installed by the `apt-get install` command, which will successfully resolve the error.
On the other hand, if you receive a disk space error while doing this process, use `df` utility to check disk space usage. If it’s required, you would need to clear some space before installing any new packages.
Conclusion
In this post, we explored the solution to the error: “E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found”. The root cause of this error is that APT tool trying to fetch packages over HTTPS but the required method driver is missing. By installing `apt-transport-https`, we allow APT to fetch packages over HTTPS. Remember, taking a regular backup of your system would help you to recover your system in case of a catastrophic event. Also, keep clearing your old unnecessary files regularly to avoid disk space issues.
Stay tuned for more such posts!
