How to find out what this error means: [SSL: SSLV3_ALERT_HANDSHAKE_FAILURE] sslv3 alert handshake failure (_ssl.c:1129)

From a python app attempting to make an HTTPS request I'm hitting an error which I'm struggling to understand:

[SSL: SSLV3_ALERT_HANDSHAKE_FAILURE] sslv3 alert handshake failure (_ssl.c:1129)

I presume this is coming from OpenSSL. But besides the handshake failing, it doesn't tell me what the problem is. IE: it doesn't tell me why the handshake failed or what step of it failed.

Various links on google give things to try, but give no reason why they might work. I have tried them but nothing worked so far. Based on these results I have tried:

• upgrading certifi
• running the certificate install script in mac python install directory
• upgrading the python version

Is there any way to get more information about this error?

This can't be answered definitively as a question becase the information in the error doesn't show the problem.

As pointed out by Steffen Ullrich in this comment, the error means that the server is refusing to complete the SSL hadnshake. The reason for the server refusing the handshake could be many reasons.

For me the problem was that the server wanted a client certificate which we were not sending (We didn't have one and didn't know we needed one).

The only way to definitivly answer why you are getting this will be to check server logs, perhaps contacting the technical support team of the API you are trying to access.