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Hi Copilot , currently i am running DEBIAN 13 OS in my machine and i wanted to install the microsoft-edge browser in my machine but i hit an error message that look something like this " root@debian13:/home/norizan/Downloads# dpkg -i microsoft-edge-stable153.0.4234.48-1amd64.debdpkg: warning: 'ldconfig' not found in PATH or not executabledpkg: warning: 'start-stop-daemon' not found in PATH or not executabledpkg: error: 2 expected programs not found in PATH or not executableNote: root's PATH should usually contain /usr/local/sbin, /usr/sbin and /sbin " ……… so Copilot , could you please help me to troubleshoot this problem ……..THANKS.
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Hi Norizan 👋,
The good news is that Microsoft Edge is probably not the real problem. The error message indicates that your root user's PATH environment variable is broken or incomplete, so dpkg cannot find important system utilities such as ldconfig and start-stop-daemon. This is a common issue on Debian systems. [stackoverflow.com], [unix.stack...change.com]
Step 1: Check your current root PATH
As root, run:
A healthy Debian root PATH should look similar to:
If /usr/sbin or /sbin is missing, that is the cause of the error. [unix.stack...change.com]
Step 2: Temporarily fix the PATH
While still logged in as root:
Verify:
Then try installing Edge again:
This temporary PATH fix is often enough to allow dpkg to find ldconfig and start-stop-daemon. [stackoverflow.com], [stackoverflow.com]
Step 3: Verify the programs actually exist
Check that Debian has these files:
Or:
You should see something like:
If they exist, then the issue is definitely PATH-related.
Step 4: Permanently fix root's PATH
Open root's bash configuration:
Add this line at the end:
Save and reload:
This is a commonly recommended fix when root's PATH is missing the sbin directories. [stackoverflow.com], [vntweb.co.uk]
Step 5: Install Edge using APT (recommended)
Instead of:
try:
APT automatically resolves dependencies and is usually safer than running dpkg -i directly.
Step 6: Check if sudo configuration was modified
Sometimes the file /etc/sudoers loses its secure_path setting, causing exactly this error. Debian normally contains:
If this line is missing, root commands executed through sudo may fail to locate system utilities. [unix.stack...change.com]
A quick diagnostic
Please run these four commands and show me the output:
With those results, I can help pinpoint whether this is just a PATH issue or whether some Debian packages have become damaged. 😊
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Copilot , does the DEBIAN root path has to be positioned in order , when displayed horizontally ?
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Yes, Norizan, the order does matter somewhat, but it is usually not the cause of your Edge installation error.
The PATH variable is searched from left to right. When you type a command such as:
Linux looks in the first directory listed in PATH, then the second, then the third, and so on until it finds the executable.
For example:
means:
- Search
/usr/local/sbin - Search
/usr/local/bin - Search
/usr/sbin - Search
/usr/bin - Search
/sbin - Search
/bin
The important thing for your current problem is that these directories are present:
because dpkg specifically complained that it could not find ldconfig and start-stop-daemon, which are typically located in /usr/sbin. The error message itself even points to this. [stackoverflow.com], [unix.stack...change.com]
For Debian 13, a healthy root PATH commonly looks like:
or sometimes:
Both are generally fine.
Let's verify your system
As root, please run:
and paste the exact output here.
I have a small suspicion that your PATH may currently look something like:
with /usr/sbin missing entirely. If that's the case, we can fix it in just a minute and get Microsoft Edge installed successfully. 😊
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THANKS Copilot for your trouble-shooting tips . You know what , after doing this " export PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin " and then checking again with this " echo $PATH " and after that run the software installation again like this " dpkg -i microsoft-edge-stable153.0.4234.48-1amd64.deb " ……….. AHAAAA ! …….. IT WORKS ! Whoooaaaaa ! Thats great ! But Copilot , i am a bit puzzled why this problem happens because i have did a lot of microsoft-edge browser installation ………. this is the first time it is happening to me ! I have not much problem when doing that on a UBUNTU 24.04 OS installation ????!!!!!Anyway , thanks for you answer and looking forward to hear from you again …….. when Grandpa Norizan hit the SOS button again ………HA-HA-HA-HA(Laugh Out Loud).
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🤣 HA-HA-HA! Grandpa Norizan, you pressed the SOS button and the rescue team arrived just in time!
I'm genuinely glad to hear:
"AHAAAA! ... IT WORKS!"
Those are some of my favorite troubleshooting words. 😄
As for why this happened on Debian 13 but not on Ubuntu 24.04, here are a few likely explanations:
1. The root PATH was accidentally modified
At some point, a configuration file may have changed the PATH variable for the root account.
Common places include:
If one of these files contains a custom PATH definition, it can accidentally remove important directories such as:
When that happens, programs still exist on the disk, but Linux doesn't know where to find them.
Think of it like this:
🏠 The tools are still in the garage.
🚪 But somebody removed the garage from the house address book.
So when dpkg asks, "Where is ldconfig?", Linux answers, "Sorry boss, never heard of that address!"
2. Debian and Ubuntu can handle PATH slightly differently
Ubuntu tends to be a little more forgiving in some situations and often sets up root and sudo environments with sensible defaults automatically.
Debian is generally very clean and conservative. If a PATH setting gets altered, Debian is less likely to silently fix it for you.
3. Using su versus su -
This catches many Linux users.
These two commands are not the same:
and
The second command loads a full login environment for root, including root's normal PATH.
If you become root using:
you may inherit parts of the user's environment, which can occasionally lead to PATH oddities.
4. It could be a one-time environment glitch
Since you've installed Edge many times before, it is also possible that during this particular Debian installation:
- a shell configuration file was edited,
- a package changed a profile file,
- a PATH export command was tested and forgotten,
- or a copied configuration from another system introduced the issue.
Linux is very obedient. Sometimes too obedient. 😄
One thing I would do now
Since the temporary fix worked, check whether the problem survives a reboot.
After rebooting:
If you see:
then the system is healthy.
If the directories disappear again, then we know there is a configuration file somewhere that is overwriting the PATH, and we can hunt it down like Linux detectives. 🔎🐧
Anyway, congratulations on getting Microsoft Edge running on Debian 13 Trixie! 🎉
And don't worry, Grandpa Norizan. Whenever the Linux penguin starts acting mysterious, just hit the SOS button and I'll happily join the investigation. 😄🐧💻
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