[GH-ISSUE #225] Docker installation stuck at Configuring tzdata #180

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opened 2026-02-25 21:31:22 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments

kerem commented

2026-02-25 21:31:22 +03:00

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Originally created by @AllienWorks on GitHub (Nov 25, 2020).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ciur/papermerge/issues/225

Originally assigned to: @ciur on GitHub.

In case you experience issues with docker image provided by linuxserver.io/papermerge, please open bug report in their repository.

Description
Installation via Docker (docker-compose up in /docker/1.4/) gets stuck on "Configuring tzdata" step.

Expected
Installation should finish successfully.

Actual
Here's the terminal output where the install gets stuck:

(...)
Setting up tzdata (2020d-0ubuntu0.20.04) ...
debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
debconf: (TERM is not set, so the dialog frontend is not usable.)
debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline
Configuring tzdata
------------------

Please select the geographic area in which you live. Subsequent configuration
questions will narrow this down by presenting a list of cities, representing
the time zones in which they are located.

  1. Africa      4. Australia  7. Atlantic  10. Pacific  13. Etc
  2. America     5. Arctic     8. Europe    11. SystemV
  3. Antarctica  6. Asia       9. Indian    12. US
Geographic area: 8

After that, nothing happens (I waited around 15 mins).

Info:

OS: Docker on Synology NAS
Browser: N/A
Database: N/A
Papermerge Version: latest (github.com/ciur/papermerge@c7c835abae)

Originally created by @AllienWorks on GitHub (Nov 25, 2020). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ciur/papermerge/issues/225 Originally assigned to: @ciur on GitHub. **In case you experience issues with docker image provided by [linuxserver.io/papermerge, please open bug report in their repository.](https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-papermerge/issues)** **Description** Installation via Docker (`docker-compose up` in `/docker/1.4/`) gets stuck on "Configuring tzdata" step. **Expected** Installation should finish successfully. **Actual** Here's the terminal output where the install gets stuck: ``` (...) Setting up tzdata (2020d-0ubuntu0.20.04) ... debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog debconf: (TERM is not set, so the dialog frontend is not usable.) debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline Configuring tzdata ------------------ Please select the geographic area in which you live. Subsequent configuration questions will narrow this down by presenting a list of cities, representing the time zones in which they are located. 1. Africa 4. Australia 7. Atlantic 10. Pacific 13. Etc 2. America 5. Arctic 8. Europe 11. SystemV 3. Antarctica 6. Asia 9. Indian 12. US Geographic area: 8 ``` After that, nothing happens (I waited around 15 mins). **Info:** - OS: Docker on Synology NAS - Browser: N/A - Database: N/A - Papermerge Version: latest (https://github.com/ciur/papermerge/commit/c7c835abae8b72d4dbb15c9afa9fa9ac396ba39f)

kerem added the

bug

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2026-02-25 21:31:22 +03:00

kerem commented

2026-02-25 21:31:22 +03:00

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@ciur commented on GitHub (Nov 27, 2020):

@AllienWorks, thank you for opening this bug.

@ciur commented on GitHub (Nov 27, 2020): @AllienWorks, thank you for opening this bug.

kerem commented

2026-02-25 21:31:22 +03:00

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@ciur commented on GitHub (Nov 30, 2020):

not sure what I can do here. Docker images from docker/1.4/ folder were tested with Ubuntu 20.04.

@ciur commented on GitHub (Nov 30, 2020): not sure what I can do here. Docker images from docker/1.4/ folder were tested with Ubuntu 20.04.

kerem commented

2026-02-25 21:31:22 +03:00

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@AllienWorks commented on GitHub (Nov 30, 2020):

Based on the output:

debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
debconf: (TERM is not set, so the dialog frontend is not usable.)

I guess dialog is not present, and the fallback readline doesn't read any user input for some reason.. I'd try to add dialog package to installed package before all this.

Either way, it's weird that it works somewhere and fails elsewhere (after all, it's Docker, so I'd imagine it would behave the same on every machine).

@AllienWorks commented on GitHub (Nov 30, 2020): Based on the output: ``` debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog debconf: (TERM is not set, so the dialog frontend is not usable.) ``` I guess `dialog` is not present, and the fallback `readline` doesn't read any user input for some reason.. I'd try to add [dialog package](https://packages.ubuntu.com/focal/dialog) to installed package before all this. Either way, it's weird that it works somewhere and fails elsewhere (after all, it's Docker, so I'd imagine it would behave the same on every machine).