How to fix Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb stable InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386' in APT

APTBEGINNERLOWUpdated Sep 12, 2026· 407 views

Harmless apt warning from a repo (e.g. Google Chrome) lacking i386 packages. Fix: add [arch=amd64] to the repo's sources line.

Quick fix

Fixes Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb stable InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386'

dpkg --print-architecture
dpkg --print-foreign-architectures
  1. Check if i386 architecture is registered on your system
  2. Check if you actually need 32-bit packages
  3. Remove i386 architecture if not needed (most common fix)
  4. Add architecture specification to sources.list (alternative fix)
apt — error
dpkg --print-architecture
dpkg --print-foreign-architectures
Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb stable InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386'

What this error means

The warning "W: Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository doesn't support architecture 'i386'" is informational, not an error - note the "W:" prefix indicating a warning, not "E:" for error. This message occurs when: - **Your system is configured for multiple architectures**: You have both amd64 (64-bit) and i386 (32-bit) architectures enabled on a 64-bit system, or APT is configured to look for both. - **The repository doesn't support i386**: Many modern package repositories have dropped 32-bit (i386) support since 32-bit systems are becoming obsolete. When APT tries to fetch the i386 package list from such a repository, it gets skipped. - **Common scenario**: On Ubuntu 18.04 and later, even 64-bit systems may have i386 architecture registered for compatibility (e.g., to support Wine, Steam, or legacy 32-bit applications). This causes APT to look for both amd64 and i386 package lists from all configured repositories. The update process continues normally and succeeds - the warning simply indicates that specific architecture's package list was unavailable. If you don't need 32-bit packages, you can remove the i386 architecture to eliminate these warnings.

Typical symptoms

  • 'W: Skipping acquire of configured file' warnings during apt update
  • Multiple warning lines for 'main/binary-i386/Packages' from different repositories
  • apt update completes successfully but shows warnings
  • Lines referencing 'architecture i386' in warning messages
  • Warnings appear for repositories like security.ubuntu.com, archive.ubuntu.com, etc.
  • i386 warnings appear even though you only need 64-bit packages

Common causes

  1. System has i386 architecture added but repositories don't support it
  2. 32-bit architecture enabled for compatibility but not actively used
  3. Repositories have dropped 32-bit (i386) support
  4. Legacy configuration from previous multilib setup
  5. i386 packages were installed previously and architecture wasn't removed

How to fix "Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-stable/deb stable InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386'"

1Check if i386 architecture is registered on your system

Run these commands to see which architectures your system is configured for:

bash
dpkg --print-architecture
dpkg --print-foreign-architectures

Expected output:
- dpkg --print-architecture shows your primary architecture (usually amd64)
- dpkg --print-foreign-architectures shows additional architectures (if empty, no i386 is registered)

If the second command returns i386, that's why you're seeing these warnings.

2Check if you actually need 32-bit packages

Verify whether you have any 32-bit packages installed:

bash
dpkg -l | grep i386

If the output is empty or minimal, you don't need the i386 architecture.

Common reasons to keep i386:
- Running Wine for Windows applications: wine, wine32, wine32-tools
- Playing games with Steam (older games may require i386 libraries)
- Running legacy 32-bit applications

If you see packages:

bash
ii  libqt5gui5:i386         5.15.2+dfsg-5ubuntu2:i386   amd64   Qt 5 GUI library
ii  libc6:i386              2.35-0ubuntu3.1:i386        amd64   GNU C Library

Then keep the i386 architecture. If you see nothing, proceed to removal.

3Remove i386 architecture if not needed (most common fix)

If you don't need 32-bit packages, remove the i386 architecture:

bash
sudo dpkg --remove-architecture i386
sudo apt update

This will:
1. Remove i386 from the list of foreign architectures
2. Stop APT from looking for i386 packages
3. Eliminate all 'i386 not supported' warnings

Verify it worked:

bash
dpkg --print-foreign-architectures
# Should output nothing or not show i386

Note: Do NOT remove i386 if you have 32-bit packages installed. If you try, apt will warn that packages depend on the i386 architecture.

4Add architecture specification to sources.list (alternative fix)

If you want to keep i386 support for legitimate reasons but eliminate warnings for repositories that don't support it, specify the architecture explicitly in your sources list:

Edit your sources (Ubuntu/Debian):

bash
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Original line (requests both architectures):

bash
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy main universe

Change to (only request amd64):

bash
deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy main universe

For third-party repositories in sources.list.d:

bash
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list

Add [arch=amd64] to each repository line that doesn't support i386:

bash
deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu jammy stable

Save and update:

bash
sudo apt update

This approach keeps i386 architecture available for packages that need it while preventing warnings from repositories that don't support it.

5Keep i386 if running Wine or Steam

If you're using Wine for Windows compatibility or Steam with older games, you need the i386 architecture:

For Wine (32-bit game support):

bash
# i386 is required for Wine
# Keep the architecture and just ignore the warnings
# They don't affect functionality

For Steam:
Steam may require certain i386 libraries even on 64-bit systems. Keep i386 enabled if you're running Steam games.

To minimize warnings while keeping i386:

Edit sources to specify only amd64 for repositories that don't support i386:

bash
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add [arch=amd64,i386] only to repositories that you know support both:

bash
# Supports both amd64 and i386
deb [arch=amd64,i386] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy main

# Only amd64 (prevents i386 warning)
deb [arch=amd64] http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security main

Then run:

bash
sudo apt update
6Verify the fix

After making your changes, run apt update to verify the warnings are gone:

bash
sudo apt update

Expected output (no i386 warnings):

bash
Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done

If warnings persist:
- Check that you saved the sources.list file
- Make sure all affected .list files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ are updated
- Verify i386 is actually removed with: dpkg --print-foreign-architectures

To see which repositories have issues:

bash
sudo apt update 2>&1 | grep -i "skipping.*i386"

This shows exactly which repositories are causing the warnings.

Advanced notes

Understanding architecture support in apt:

Modern Linux distributions moved away from 32-bit support starting around 2019-2020. Ubuntu 19.10 and later don't include 32-bit ISO installers. However, 32-bit (i386) packages are still available in repositories for:

- Compatibility with 32-bit legacy applications
- Wine and Proton for Windows compatibility
- 32-bit libraries that some games need
- Multilib development (building for multiple architectures)

Why some repositories dropped i386:

1. Security mirrors (security.ubuntu.com, security.debian.org) sometimes only mirror amd64 packages
2. Corporate/enterprise repositories may only build for amd64
3. Newer third-party repos (Docker, Google, Canonical) often amd64-only
4. Small projects and PPAs lack resources to build both architectures

The dpkg --remove-architecture difference:

When you run sudo dpkg --remove-architecture i386, you're telling the system to stop recognizing i386 as a valid architecture. APT won't even try to fetch i386 packages anymore.

This is safe to do because:
- Modern systems rarely need 32-bit packages
- Wine/Proton work fine on amd64-only systems in most cases
- System libraries are 64-bit only on modern Ubuntu/Debian

For CI/CD and containerized environments:

In Docker containers or CI pipelines, you typically won't have i386 at all. If you're building a container and see these warnings:

dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:22.04
RUN apt update && apt install -y some-package

You won't see i386 warnings because the architecture isn't registered. These warnings appear mainly on desktop/server installations where multilib was previously set up.

If you want to keep both architectures:

You can keep i386 registered but avoid warnings by:
1. Using [arch=amd64] in sources for single-arch repos
2. Using [arch=amd64,i386] only for repositories that support both
3. Accepting the harmless warnings (they don't affect functionality)

The warnings are purely cosmetic - your system update succeeds fully even with them present.

Frequently asked questions

What does "Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as rep" mean?
The warning "W: Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository doesn't support architecture 'i386'" is informational, not an error - note the "W:" prefix indicating a warning, not "E:" for error. This message occurs when: - Your system is configured for multiple architectures: You have both amd64 (64-bit) and i386 (32-bit) architectures enabled on a 64-bit system, or APT is configured to look for both. - The repository doesn't support i386: Many modern package repositories have dropped 32-bit (i386) support since 32-bit systems are becoming obsolete.
How do I fix "Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as rep"?
Harmless apt warning from a repo (e.g. Google Chrome) lacking i386 packages. Fix: add [arch=amd64] to the repo's sources line.
What causes "Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as rep"?
System has i386 architecture added but repositories don't support it 32-bit architecture enabled for compatibility but not actively used Repositories have dropped 32-bit (i386) support
Is the "Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as rep" error serious?
It is a low-severity error — more of a blocker than a risk. The steps above resolve it.

Official resources & further reading