Software⏱️ 3 min read📅 2026-06-11

How to Fix: gnutls_handshake() failed: Error in the pull function

gnutls_handshake() failed: Error in the pull function on Ubuntu 16.04.5 LTS server

Quick Answer: Check certificate fetching issues using openssl, update or reinstall gnutls, and verify SSL configuration.

📋 Table of Contents

  1. ⚠️ Common Causes
  2. 🚀 How to Resolve This Issue
  3. 🎯 Final Words

The error 'gnutls_handshake() failed: Error in the pull function' is occurring on an Ubuntu 16.04.5 LTS server, affecting all users and preventing them from accessing specific URLs over SSL using tools like CURL and WGET. This issue is frustrating because it's not related to any proxy settings or user-specific configurations, making it difficult to pinpoint the cause.

To troubleshoot this issue, we'll need to investigate possible root causes, including issues with certificate management, OpenSSL configuration, or gnutls library problems.

⚠️ Common Causes

  • The primary reason for this error is likely related to a problem with fetching the SSL/TLS certificates from the server. This could be due to an incorrect or missing certificate file, an issue with the OpenSSL configuration, or a problem with the gnutls library. It's also possible that there's a misconfiguration of the gnutls settings or a conflict between different versions of OpenSSL and gnutls.
  • An alternative reason for this error could be related to a specific issue with the server's SSL/TLS configuration, such as an incorrect cipher suite, a missing or corrupted certificate file, or an incorrect CA certificate.

🚀 How to Resolve This Issue

Update and verify OpenSSL configuration

  1. Step 1: Step 1: Check the current OpenSSL configuration by running the command `openssl version -a` to ensure that it's up-to-date and properly configured.
  2. Step 2: Step 2: Verify the CA certificates by running the command `openssl s_client -connect www.netonnet.se:443 -servername www.netonnet.se` to check if there are any issues with certificate fetching.
  3. Step 3: Step 3: Update OpenSSL to the latest version using the package manager (`apt-get update && apt-get install openssl`), and then restart the server to apply the changes.

Update gnutls library

  1. Step 1: Step 1: Check if there are any updates available for the gnutls library using `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade`.
  2. Step 2: Step 2: Install the latest version of gnutls using `apt-get install gnutls-dev`, and then restart the server to apply the changes.

🎯 Final Words

To resolve this issue, we recommend updating and verifying OpenSSL configuration, and if necessary, updating the gnutls library. Additionally, checking for any specific issues with the server's SSL/TLS configuration can help identify and fix the root cause of the problem. By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the 'gnutls_handshake() failed: Error in the pull function' error and allow all users to access URLs over SSL without issues.

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