"hammer ping" command on the Satellite Server fails with the following error - Could not load the API description from the server: Server broke connection - is the server down?

Environment

• Red Hat Satellite 6

Issue

• Why does the hammer ping command fail with the following error on Red Hat Satellite -

     # hammer ping
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman.
     Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_ansible.
     Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_bootdisk.
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_openscap.
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
     Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_remote_execution.
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_tasks.
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_templates.
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_virt_who_configure.
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_foreman_webhooks.
  Could not load the API description from the server:
  Server broke connection
    - is the server down?
    - was 'foreman-rake apipie:cache' run on the server when using apipie cache? (typical production settings)
  Warning: An error occured while loading module hammer_cli_katello.
  Error: No such sub-command 'ping'.
  See: 'hammer --help'.   
  

Resolution

• Unset the http_proxy, https_proxy, and no_proxy environment variable using the following command on the Satellite Server's CLI -

  # unset http_proxy
  # unset https_proxy
  # unset no_proxy
  

• Re-execute the hammer ping command on the Satellite Server's CLI as follows -

  # hammer ping
  

For more KB articles/solutions related to Red Hat Satellite 6.x hammer Issues, please refer to the Consolidated Troubleshooting Article for Red Hat Satellite 6.x hammer-related Issues

Root Cause

• Presence of https_proxy environment variable on the Satellite Server, which is not recommended.

Note: Please refer the following KCS article to know the exact details about - How to configure Red Hat Satellite 6 with proxy server between the Satellite server and the Internet?

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