Command "zypper ref" returns a HTTP 500 error in SUSE Manager client

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Environment

SUSE Manager 3
SUSE Manager 2.1

Situation

Running "zypper ref" on a client connected to SUSE Manager or SUSE Manager Proxy returns the following error:

zypper refresh
Refreshing service 'spacewalk'.
Download (curl) error for 'https://ypictsum01.cts.jse.co.za/XMLRPC/GET-REQ/sle-manager-tools12-pool-x86_64-sp2/media.1/media?head_requests=no':
Error code: HTTP response: 500
Error message: The requested URL returned error: 500 Internal Server Error

Abort, retry, ignore? [a/r/i/...? shows all options] (a): a

Also traceback messages show the following:

While running 'media.1': caught <class 'spacewalk.server.apacheRequest.UnknownXML'> : Invalid request received (function 'media.1' invalid; path_info is /GET-REQ/sles12-sp2-updates-x86_64/media.1/media).
UnknownXML: Invalid request received (function 'media.1' invalid; path_info is /GET-REQ/sle-manager-tools12-pool-x86_64-sp2/media.1/media)

Resolution

The following mass PTF can be applied until the update is released with the next maintenance cycle, it is applicable to SUSE Manager running on any version of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server / architecture:

For SUSE Manager 3.0:

https://ptf.suse.com/f2cf38b50ed714a8409693060195b235/sles12-sp1-susemanager-3.0/12746/x86_64/20170413

For SUSE Manager 2.1:

https://ptf.suse.com/f2cf38b50ed714a8409693060195b235/sles11-sp3-susemanager-2.1/12782/x86_64/20170413

Cause

It is caused by a regression in libzypp.

Disclaimer

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