Update Error - Could not get lock

[dwbernel]

Hi,
I got this error message while gathering updates:
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend. It is held by process 340788 (apt-get)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?

Thanks for any help

[stevef]

That message indicates that there was already a package management process running when a second one has tried to start. A package manager requires exclusive access to update resources and will try to lock the resources while it is running to prevent another instance starting.

Usually all that is needed is to wait until the first process completes before running update/upgrade again.
The length of time the resource remains locked will be variable.

If the problem does not self-resolve after a while, shutdown, reboot and try again.
If the problem persists it is possible that something (like an interrupted update) may have broken the mechanism and more investigation will be required to clear the lock.