dpkg: error: parsing file ‘/var/lib/dpkg/available’

In this article I will show you how to fix the dpkg: error: parsing file ‘/var/lib/dpkg/available’ error, which you can get when trying to install packages.

You get this the error message if you damage the /var/lib/dpkg/available file.

dpkg: error: parsing file '/var/lib/dpkg/available' near line 0:

To fix this error, run this command and a new /var/lib/dpkg/available file will be generated:

$ sudo dpkg --clear-available

Next, update the system:

$ sudo apt-get update