RHN yum command: Unable to read consumer identity Warning and Solution

I am using yum update command with RHN to upgrade packages installed on my server, but getting the following warning on screen :

yum update -y Loaded plugins: product-id, protectbase, rhnplugin, security, subscription manager: Updating certificate-based repositories. Unable to read consumer identity 0 packages excluded due to repository protections Setting up Update Process Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ...<snip>

How do I get rid of this warning /error under RHEL 6 server?

You need to edit the following files

[a] /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/subscription-manager.conf

[b] /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/product-id.conf

Use a text editor such as vi:
# vi /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/product-id.conf /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/subscription-manager.conf
Set enabled to 0 as follows in both files:

[main]
enabled=0

Save and close the file. Finally, type the following command to clean cache:

rm -rfv /var/cache/yum/*
yum clean all

You can now install or update the system:
# yum install packageNameHere
OR
# yum -y update

Reference

As per RHEL KB # 165803 root cause for this error was:

When RHN Classic or RHN Satellite is used for updating the system, subscription-manager should be disabled.

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

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2 comment

This is not recommended with RHEL6:
rm -rfv /var/cache/yum/*
yum clean all

This article doesn’t apply to rhel6. If change the enable value to 0, yum doesn’t work properly. Even after subscription.

Patrick Burwell says:
October 1, 2013 at 5:40 pm
This is not recommended with RHEL6:
rm -rfv /var/cache/yum/*
yum clean all
he yu says:
January 24, 2014 at 4:28 am
This article doesn’t apply to rhel6. If change the enable value to 0, yum doesn’t work properly. Even after subscription.

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