Install instructions for apt repository result in public key error, failure to install

[teleotic]

Describe the bug
The installation directions for Debian / Ubuntu fail, giving a public key error and an empty packages list. After downloading the Wheels distribution key and adding the repository, sudo apt update fails:

Get:10 https://apt.wheels.dev stable InRelease [2,382 B]
Err:10 https://apt.wheels.dev stable InRelease
The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY FCCCFC442D3DCEC5
Warning: https://apt.wheels.dev/dists/stable/InRelease: The key(s) in the keyring /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg are ignored as the file has an unsupported filetype.
Warning: OpenPGP signature verification failed: https://apt.wheels.dev stable InRelease: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY FCCCFC442D3DCEC5
Error: The repository 'https://apt.wheels.dev stable InRelease' is not signed.
Notice: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
Notice: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

This is because the key is downloaded in ASCII-armored format. It must be converted to binary before use by apt. The following line downloads and converts the GPG key:

curl -fsSL https://apt.wheels.dev/wheels.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg

After conversion, apt update works as expected. However, the repository's package list is empty, so Wheels cannot be installed.

Error: Unable to locate package wheels

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Follow website instructions for installing on Debian / Ubuntu
2. Get error when running sudo apt update
3. Convert gpg key to binary with dearmor
4. sudo apt update now works but Package list is empty and wheels cannot be installed
5. Empty page at https://apt.wheels.dev/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages

Expected behavior
No public key error. Packages list is populated and sudo apt install wheels completes successfully.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

[wheels-bot]

Wheels Bot — Triage

Classified as docs-request.

Docs scope

The Debian/Ubuntu install snippets in web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-0-0/start-here/installing.mdx and web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-0-0/command-line-tools/installation.mdx pipe https://apt.wheels.dev/wheels.gpg straight into /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg via tee. The reporter's apt warning — "The key(s) in the keyring /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg are ignored as the file has an unsupported filetype" — confirms the published key is ASCII-armored and apt's signed-by= requires binary. The docs deliverable is to swap the tee step for sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wheels.gpg across all four affected snippets (stable + bleeding-edge in both pages).

Out of scope for docs and flagged for human attention: the reporter also reports the repo's package list at https://apt.wheels.dev/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages is empty, so apt install wheels returns "Unable to locate package wheels" even with a working key. That's an apt.wheels.dev publishing-pipeline problem (likely tools/distribution-drafts/apt-repo/ or the release workflow), not a docs fix — needs ops intervention regardless of what the docs say. A potential alternate path here is to fix the publishing pipeline to emit a binary key, which would let the existing docs work as-written; that decision should be made by a human before docs are merged.

Confidence: medium

The docs gap is concrete and the affected pages/snippets are unambiguous, but the right fix depends on a human decision (update docs vs. fix the key publishing pipeline to emit binary), and the empty-Packages-list issue blocks installs regardless of what the docs say.

<!-- wheels-bot:triage:2838 -->
<!-- wheels-bot:triage-class:docs-request -->
<!-- wheels-bot:docs-confidence:medium -->

[wheels-bot]

Wheels Bot — Docs proposed

Draft PR: #2839

Pages updated:

• web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-0-0/start-here/installing.mdx — stable + bleeding-edge Debian/Ubuntu snippets
• web/sites/guides/src/content/docs/v4-0-0/command-line-tools/installation.mdx — stable + bleeding-edge Debian/Ubuntu snippets
• CHANGELOG.md — Unreleased Fixed entry

Screenshots needed: none

A human review is required before merge. The PR also carries a note flagging the separate empty-package-list ops issue that blocks installs regardless of the key fix.