+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #1119816 +++

Description of problem:
rhncfg-client get irregularly deploys empty files instead of the expected configuration files on systems

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
5.10.55-6.el6

How reproducible:
rarely, no control on how frequently this happens

Steps to Reproduce:
1.rhncfg-client get 

Actual results:
config files are deployed, but all the files have no content.

Expected results:
config files are correctly deployed or if an error in getting the content of the files is met, empty files are not created

Additional info:
no error messages were collected due to the method used to call this (customer calls the script every 5 minutes on all the production machines he has, which executes in less than a second)

--- Additional comment from Stephen Herr on 2014-08-21 16:57:23 EDT ---

I have reviewed the code. I cannot find a code path that would allow for the creation of an empty file, nor can I recreate the issue.

However, currently we don't do any checking on the client side that the checksum of the recieved file contents are correct. It's /possible/ that this is happening because the customer's network is dropping out and the client is receiving a corrupt response of file info back from Satellite. If so, then comparing checksums on the file content before proceeding with the deployment should solve the issue.