Unable to install anything on Ubuntu Server [duplicate]

Solution 1:

You have to change the postrm to purge the package:

Open the file

sudo nano /var/lib/dpkg/info/mysql-server-5.5.postrm

Find the code snippet

if [ -n "`$MYADMIN ping 2>/dev/null`" ]; then
  stop_server
  sleep 2
fi

and comment the line stop_server

if [ -n "`$MYADMIN ping 2>/dev/null`" ]; then
  # stop_server
  sleep 2
fi

After that, you have repaired your system and you can install and uninstall packages again.