def doCall(method, *args, **kwargs):
    log = rhnLog.initLog()
    cfg = config.initUp2dateConfig()
    ret = None

    attempt_count = 1
    attempts = cfg["networkRetries"] or 5

    while 1:
        failure = 0
        ret = None
        try:
            ret = apply(method, args, kwargs)
        except KeyboardInterrupt:
            raise rhnErrors.CommunicationError(_(
                "Connection aborted by the user"))
        # if we get a socket error, keep tryingx2
        except (socket.error, socket.sslerror), e:
            log.log_me("A socket error occurred: %s, attempt #%s" % (
                e, attempt_count))
            if attempt_count >= attempts:
                if len(e.args) > 1:
                    raise rhnErrors.CommunicationError(e.args[1])
                else:
                    raise rhnErrors.CommunicationError(e.args[0])
            else:
                failure = 1
        except httplib.IncompleteRead:
            print "httplib.IncompleteRead"
            raise rhnErrors.CommunicationError("httplib.IncompleteRead")

def login(systemId=None):
    server = rpcServer.getServer()
    log = rhnLog.initLog()

    # send up the capabality info
    headerlist = clientCaps.caps.headerFormat()
    for (headerName, value) in headerlist:
        server.add_header(headerName, value)

    if systemId == None:
        systemId = getSystemId()

    if not systemId:
        return None
        
    maybeUpdateVersion()
    log.log_me("logging into up2date server")

    # the list of caps the client needs
    caps = capabilities.Capabilities()

    global loginInfo, loginTime, loginOffset
    try:
        loginInfo = rpcServer.doCall(server.up2date.login, systemId)
        loginTime = time.time()
        loginOffset = float(loginInfo['X-RHN-Auth-Expire-Offset']) - 60.0
    except xmlrpclib.Fault, f:
        if abs(f.faultCode) == 49:
#            print f.faultString
            raise rhnErrors.AbuseError(f.faultString)
        else:
            raise f

def updateLoginInfo():
    log = rhnLog.initLog()
    log.log_me("updating login info")
    global loginInfo
    loginInfo = None
    try:
        login()
    except:
        pass
    if loginInfo is None:
        raise rhnErrors.AuthenticationError("Unable to authenticate")
    return loginInfo

 def __repr__(self):
     log = rhnLog.initLog()
     log.log_me(self.errmsg)
     return self.errmsg

 def __init__(self, errmsg):
     self.errmsg = errmsg
     self.log = rhnLog.initLog()

def getServer(refreshCallback=None):
    log = rhnLog.initLog()
    cfg = config.initUp2dateConfig()
# Where do we keep the CA certificate for RHNS?
# The servers we're talking to need to have their certs
# signed by one of these CA.
    ca = cfg["sslCACert"]
    if type(ca) == type(""):
    	ca = [ca]

    rhns_ca_certs = ca or ["%s/usr/share/rhn/RHNS-CA-CERT" % config.PREFIX]
    if cfg["enableProxy"]:
        proxyHost = rhnUtils.getProxySetting()
    else:
        proxyHost = None

    if hasSSL():
        serverUrl = cfg["serverURL"]
    else:
        serverUrl = cfg["noSSLServerURL"]

    proxyUser = None
    proxyPassword = None
    if cfg["enableProxyAuth"]:
        proxyUser = cfg["proxyUser"] or None
        proxyPassword = cfg["proxyPassword"] or None

    lang = None
    for env in 'LANGUAGE', 'LC_ALL', 'LC_MESSAGES', 'LANG':
        if os.environ.has_key(env):
            if not os.environ[env]:
                # sometimes unset
                continue
            lang = string.split(os.environ[env], ':')[0]
            lang = string.split(lang, '.')[0]
            break


    s = rpclib.Server(serverUrl, refreshCallback=refreshCallback,
                      proxy=proxyHost,
                      username=proxyUser,
                      password=proxyPassword)
    s.add_header("X-Up2date-Version", rhnUtils.version())

    if lang:
        s.setlang(lang)

    # require RHNS-CA-CERT file to be able to authenticate the SSL connections
    for rhns_ca_cert in rhns_ca_certs:
        if not os.access(rhns_ca_cert, os.R_OK):
            log.log_me("ERROR: can not find RHNS CA file: %s" % rhns_ca_cert)
            sys.exit(-1)

        # force the validation of the SSL cert
        s.add_trusted_cert(rhns_ca_cert)

    clientCaps.loadLocalCaps()

    # send up the capabality info
    headerlist = clientCaps.caps.headerFormat()
    for (headerName, value) in headerlist:
        s.add_header(headerName, value)
    return s