Error: Cannot retrieve metalink for repository: epel. Please verify its path and try again - Yum Repolist

Summary: 

Got this error message trying to run "yum repolist"

#yum repolist Loaded plugins: fastestmirror Determining fastest mirrors Error: Cannot retrieve metalink for repository: epel. Please verify its path and try again

Problem or Goal: 

The HTTPS repos are failing!!

#more /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo [epel] name=Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch #baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/$basearch mirrorlist=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-6&arch=$basearch failovermethod=priority enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6 [epel-debuginfo] name=Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - Debug #baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/$basearch/debug mirrorlist=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-debug-6&arch=$basearch failovermethod=priority enabled=0 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6 gpgcheck=1 [epel-source] name=Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - Source #baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/SRPMS mirrorlist=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-source-6&arch=$basearch failovermethod=priority enabled=0 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6 gpgcheck=1

Cause: 

HTTPS repos are failing, most probably because my SSL certificates are not updated!!

Solution: 

Use the command below to edit the file "epel.repo" in one line. 

#sudo sed -i "s/mirrorlist=https/mirrorlist=http/" /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo

what this command will do is search and edit any line in file "epel.repo" that has "mirrorlist=https" and replace it with "mirrorlist=http" so your epel.repo will look like this:

# more /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo [epel] name=Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch #baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/$basearch mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-6&arch=$basearch failovermethod=priority enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6 [epel-debuginfo] name=Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - Debug #baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/$basearch/debug mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-debug-6&arch=$basearch failovermethod=priority enabled=0 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6 gpgcheck=1 [epel-source] name=Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - $basearch - Source #baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/SRPMS mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=epel-source-6&arch=$basearch failovermethod=priority enabled=0 gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6 gpgcheck=1

Problem Solved?

Trying to run "yum repolist" again - OK

# yum repolist Loaded plugins: fastestmirror Determining fastest mirrors epel/metalink                                                                                                                                                           |  35 kB     00:00       * base: mirror.centos.org  * epel: mirrors.coreix.net  * extras: mirrors.coreix.net  * updates: mirrors.coreix.net CactiEZ                                                                                                                                                                 | 2.9 kB     00:00      CactiEZ/primary_db                                                                                            repolist: 19,753