# 'cylc scan' failing with 'unsecured http' error

**URL:** <https://cylc.discourse.group/t/cylc-scan-failing-with-unsecured-http-error/576>\
**Category:** Cylc Support\
**Created:** [January 6, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://cylc.discourse.group/t/cylc-scan-failing-with-unsecured-http-error/576 "2023-01-06T01:11:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jonnyhtw](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/cylc.discourse.group/jonnyhtw/32/232_2.png) [@jonnyhtw](https://cylc.discourse.group/u/jonnyhtw)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://cylc.discourse.group/t/cylc-scan-failing-with-unsecured-http-error/576/1 "2023-01-06T01:11:52Z")

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hi there,

rose and cylc are working fine for me as normal currently but `cylc scan` and `cylc gscan` are failing with the error in the pasted code below.

any ideas?

thanks!

```auto
> cylc scan
ERROR: server has no HTTPS support, configure your global.rc file to use HTTP : [SSL: UNKNOWN_PROTOCOL] unknown protocol (_ ssl.c:579)
Process Process-1:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/multiprocessing/process.py", line 258, in _bootstrap
    self.run()
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/multiprocessing/process.py", line 114, in run
    self._target(*self._args, **self._kwargs)
  File "/scale_wlg_persistent/filesets/opt_nesi/share/cylc/7.9.1/lib/cylc/network/port_scan.py", line 58, in _scan_worker
    conn.send(_scan_item(timeout, my_uuid, srv_files_mgr, item))
  File "/scale_wlg_persistent/filesets/opt_nesi/share/cylc/7.9.1/lib/cylc/network/port_scan.py", line 81, in _scan_item
    result = client.identify()
  File "/scale_wlg_persistent/filesets/opt_nesi/share/cylc/7.9.1/lib/cylc/network/httpclient.py", line 235, in identify
    return self._call_server('id/identify', method=self.METHOD_GET)
  File "/scale_wlg_persistent/filesets/opt_nesi/share/cylc/7.9.1/lib/cylc/network/httpclient.py", line 338, in _call_server
    return self.call_server_impl(url, method, payload)
  File "/scale_wlg_persistent/filesets/opt_nesi/share/cylc/7.9.1/lib/cylc/network/httpclient.py", line 369, in call_server_ impl
    return impl(url, method, payload)
  File "/scale_wlg_persistent/filesets/opt_nesi/share/cylc/7.9.1/lib/cylc/network/httpclient.py", line 436, in _call_server _impl_requests
    "Cannot issue commands over unsecured http.")
CylcError: 'Cannot issue commands over unsecured http.'

```

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**Author:** ![oliver.sanders](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/cylc.discourse.group/oliver.sanders/32/110_2.png) [@oliver.sanders](https://cylc.discourse.group/u/oliver.sanders)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2023, 9:48am UTC](https://cylc.discourse.group/t/cylc-scan-failing-with-unsecured-http-error/576/2 "2023-01-06T09:48:55Z")

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Hi,

This message results from either a `urllib2.URLError` or `requests.exceptions.SSLError` which includes the string `unknown protocol`. Unfortunately it can be quite hard to debug these problems without access to the systems. It’s worth checking that OpenSSL and pyOpenSSL are installed in the Cylc environment ([Cylc 7 installation requirements](https://cylc.github.io/cylc-doc/7.9.3/html/installation.html#third-party-software-packages)).

Cheers,  
Oliver

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hilary.j.oliver](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/cylc.discourse.group/hilary.j.oliver/32/4_2.png) [@hilary.j.oliver](https://cylc.discourse.group/u/hilary.j.oliver)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://cylc.discourse.group/t/cylc-scan-failing-with-unsecured-http-error/576/3 "2023-01-08T21:40:43Z")

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Hi @jonnyhtw

I’ve just confirmed that Cylc 7 `cylc scan` works fine for me on both Maui and Mahuika.

If you had accidentally deleted suite-specific auth files, you’d get a “permission denied” error, so it’s not that.

In line with @oliver.sanders’ comment, I wonder if you’ve started one or more suites in an altered Python environment that doesn’t have SSL support installed. Can you interact with your running suites in any other way - e.g. `cylc dump` or `cylc stop`?

Feel free to email me directly since this is probably a local environment issue.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jonnyhtw](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/cylc.discourse.group/jonnyhtw/32/232_2.png) [@jonnyhtw](https://cylc.discourse.group/u/jonnyhtw)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://cylc.discourse.group/t/cylc-scan-failing-with-unsecured-http-error/576/4 "2023-01-08T22:55:54Z")

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thanks @oliver.sanders and @hilary.j.oliver, i’ll email hilary as suggest. cheers