yum update fails with "M2Crypto.SSL.SSLError: No such file or directory".

Issue

The yum update command fails with a long traceback related to M2Crypto.SSL. From /var/log/up2date:

 File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 506, in _getgrab
    self._setupGrab()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 474, in _setupGrab
    ugopts = self._default_grabopts()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 486, in _default_grabopts
    opts = { 'keepalive': self.keepalive,
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 656, in _getSslContext
    sslCtx.load_cert(self.sslclientcert, self.sslclientkey)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/M2Crypto/SSL/Context.py", line 74, in load_cert
    m2.ssl_ctx_use_cert(self.ctx, certfile)
M2Crypto.SSL.SSLError: No such file or directory

[root@machinename]#yum update
Loaded plugins: security
machinename                                                      | 951  B     00:00
machinename/primary                                              | 6.4 MB     00:00
machinename                                                                 14195/14195
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/yum", line 29, in ?
    yummain.user_main(sys.argv[1:], exit_code=True)
  File "/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py", line 309, in user_main
    errcode = main(args)
  File "/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py", line 178, in main
    result, resultmsgs = base.doCommands()
  File "/usr/share/yum-cli/cli.py", line 345, in doCommands
    self._getTs(needTsRemove)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/depsolve.py", line 101, in _getTs
    self._getTsInfo(remove_only)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/depsolve.py", line 112, in _getTsInfo
    pkgSack = self.pkgSack
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/__init__.py", line 662, in <lambda>
    pkgSack = property(fget=lambda self: self._getSacks(),
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/__init__.py", line 502, in _getSacks
    self.repos.populateSack(which=repos)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/repos.py", line 260, in populateSack
    sack.populate(repo, mdtype, callback, cacheonly)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 168, in populate
    if self._check_db_version(repo, mydbtype):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 226, in _check_db_version
    return repo._check_db_version(mdtype)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 1226, in _check_db_version
    repoXML = self.repoXML
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 1399, in <lambda>
    repoXML = property(fget=lambda self: self._getRepoXML(),
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 1391, in _getRepoXML
    self._loadRepoXML(text=self)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 1381, in _loadRepoXML
    return self._groupLoadRepoXML(text, ["primary"])
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 1365, in _groupLoadRepoXML
    if self._commonLoadRepoXML(text):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 1201, in _commonLoadRepoXML
    result = self._getFileRepoXML(local, text)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 974, in _getFileRepoXML
    cache=self.http_caching == 'all')
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 805, in _getFile
    result = self.grab.urlgrab(misc.to_utf8(relative), local,
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 511, in <lambda>
    grab = property(lambda self: self._getgrab())
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 506, in _getgrab
    self._setupGrab()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 474, in _setupGrab
    ugopts = self._default_grabopts()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 486, in _default_grabopts
    opts = { 'keepalive': self.keepalive,
  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/yumRepo.py", line 656, in _getSslContext
    sslCtx.load_cert(self.sslclientcert, self.sslclientkey)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.4/site-packages/M2Crypto/SSL/Context.py", line 77, in load_cert
    m2.ssl_ctx_use_cert(self.ctx, certfile)
M2Crypto.SSL.SSLError: No such file or directory