Distromorphing kali fails

[luke...@cock.li]

I'm trying to install kali using the kali-linux-full (now named
kali-linux-everything) method from:
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/pentesting/kali/

I also referenced
https://alan-mushi.github.io/asap/2020/kali01/18/qubes-os-salt-kali-template.html

`apt-get remove python3-tornado4` (which happens during the `apt-get
dist-upgrade`) breaks salt, causing the grains data returned by
`qubesctl grains.items` to be nearly empty, and salt commands to fail.

Nearly empty grains data, missing e.g. os_family:
----------
SSDs:
- xvdc
- xvda
- xvdd
- xvdb
boot_mode:
legacy
disks:
gid:
0
groupname:
root
mdadm:
pid:
5649
shell:
/bin/bash
uid:
0
username:
root
zfs_feature_flags:
False
zfs_support:
False

------------------------------

$ sudo apt-get remove python3-tornado4
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer
required:
libmozjs-60-0 python-talloc
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
libapt-pkg6.0 libcurl3-gnutls libgirepository-1.0-1 libgjs0g
libglib2.0-0 libglib2.0-bin libgnutls-dane0 libgnutls30 libhogweed6
libicu67 libldb2 libmozjs-78-0 libnettle8 libpython3-stdlib libpython3.8
libpython3.8-minimal libpython3.8-stdlib libpython3.9-minimal
libpython3.9-stdlib libqubesdb libsmbclient libwbclient0 python-gi
python3 python3-apt python3-cairo python3-cffi-backend python3-cups
python3-dbus python3-gi python3-gi-cairo python3-ldb
python3-markupsafe python3-minimal python3-msgpack python3-numpy
python3-pil python3-psutil python3-pycryptodome python3-pycurl
python3-qubesdb
python3-smbc python3-talloc python3-yaml python3-zmq python3.8
python3.8-minimal python3.9 python3.9-minimal salt-common salt-ssh
samba-libs
Suggested packages:
gnutls-bin python-gi-cairo python3-doc python3-tk python3-venv
python3-apt-dbg python-apt-doc python-dbus-doc python3-dbus-dbg gfortran
python-numpy-doc python3-dev python3-pytest python3-numpy-dbg
python-pil-doc python3-pil-dbg python-psutil-doc libcurl4-gnutls-dev
python-pycurl-doc python3-pycurl-dbg python3.8-venv python3.8-doc
binfmt-support python3.9-venv python3.9-doc python3-mako salt-doc
Recommended packages:
apt
The following packages will be REMOVED:
libldb1 python3-tornado4
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libapt-pkg6.0 libhogweed6 libicu67 libldb2 libmozjs-78-0 libnettle8
libpython3.8 libpython3.8-minimal libpython3.8-stdlib
libpython3.9-minimal libpython3.9-stdlib python3-ldb
python3-pycryptodome
python3-talloc python3-zmq python3.8 python3.8-minimal python3.9
python3.9-minimal
The following packages will be upgraded:
libcurl9-gnutls libgirepository-1.0-1 libgjs0g libglib2.0-0
libglib2.0-bin libgnutls-dane0 libgnutls30 libpython3-stdlib libqubesdb
libsmbclient libwbclient0 python-gi python3 python3-apt python3-cairo
python3-cffi-backend python3-cups python3-dbus python3-gi
python3-gi-cairo python3-markupsafe python3-minimal python3-msgpack
python3-numpy python3-pil python3-psutil python3-pycurl python3-qubesdb
python3-smbc python3-yaml salt-common salt-ssh samba-libs
33 upgraded, 19 newly installed, 2 to remove and 253 not upgraded.
...

------------------------------

And attempting to downgrade afterwards:
$ sudo apt-get install salt-common=2018.3.4+dfsg1-6+deb10u1
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
qubes-mgmt-salt-vm-connector : Depends: salt-ssh but it is not going to
be installed
salt-common : Depends: python3-tornado4 (>= 4.2) but it is not going to
be installed or
python3-tornado (< 5) but 6.0.4-3+b1 is to be
installed
E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be
caused by held packages.

------------------------------

Other problems:

I had to `apt-mark hold` the qubes packages (dpkg --get-selections | cut
-f1 -d$'\t' | grep ^qubes) and rpm, for dist-upgrade not to remove them
and break qubes integration with the vm.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/61697214
https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/592704