Unable to update system packages on Debian/Ubuntu: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found

Symptoms

• Plesk Installer fails with the following message:

  Execution failed.
  Command: autoinstaller
  ...
  The apt-get failed with the following message:
  Reading package lists...
  Building dependency tree...
  Reading state information...

• The apt-get update command returns the following error:

  # apt-get update
  …
  E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found.
  N: Is the package apt-transport-https installed?

  Note: The same message is sent to Plesk administrator

• When checking for system updates in Plesk, the following messages appear in in Plesk:

  PLESK_ERROR: Error: Information about updates can not be obtained for the packages

• Trying to enable ModSecurity Atomicorp ruleset fails with the following error message:

  PLESK_ERROR: modsecurity_ctl failed: gpg: key 1234ABC9: “Atomicorp (Atomicorp Official
  Signing Key) <[email protected]>” not changed gpg: Total number processed: 1 gpg: unchanged: 1 gpg: assuming signed data
  …
  E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found.
  E: Failed to fetch https://updates.atomicorp.com/channels/tortix-common/debian/dists/xenial/InRelease
  E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
  sed: can’t read /etc/asl/config: No such file or directory

• The apt package is lower than 1.5:

  # dpkg –list -a | grep apt
  ii    apt    1.2.29ubuntu0.1    amd64    commandline package manager

Cause

Repositories are configured to use HTTPS connections instead of HTTP, but the apt package 1.5 does not have HTTPS support.

Resolution

Add support for https apt sources:

1. Connect to the Plesk server via SSH.

2. Install the transitional package for https support:

   # apt-get install apt-transport-https