Full error code:

[[email protected] ~]# yum install emacs

Loaded plugins: fastestmirror

Determining fastest mirrors

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 229, in user_main

    errcode = main(args)

  File "/usr/share/yum-cli/yummain.py", line 104, in main

    result, resultmsgs = base.doCommands()

  File "/usr/share/yum-cli/cli.py", line 339, 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 591, in

    pkgSack = property(fget=lambda self: self._getSacks(),

  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/__init__.py", line 434, in _getSacks

    self.repos.populateSack(which=repos)

  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/repos.py", line 223, in populateSack

    self.doSetup()

  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/repos.py", line 71, in doSetup

    self.ayum.plugins.run('postreposetup')

  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/yum/plugins.py", line 176, in run

    func(conduitcls(self, self.base, conf, **kwargs))

  File "/usr/lib/yum-plugins/fastestmirror.py", line 181, in postreposetup_hook

    all_urls = FastestMirror(all_urls).get_mirrorlist()

  File "/usr/lib/yum-plugins/fastestmirror.py", line 333, in get_mirrorlist

    self._poll_mirrors()

  File "/usr/lib/yum-plugins/fastestmirror.py", line 376, in _poll_mirrors

    pollThread.start()

  File "/usr/lib/python2.4/threading.py", line 416, in start

    _start_new_thread(self.__bootstrap, ())

thread.error: can't start new thread

[/code]

Fix:
This error is due to the inadequate memory for yum operation. This occurs due to Yum’s fastest-mirror plugin. So, if you have a low end VPS then you may see this error often. To solve this just disable that plugin.
You can disable this plugin in 2 ways :
Login using root issue and issue this command.
vi /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/fastestmirror.conf[/code]

And change this line

enable=1[/code]

to

enable=0[/code]

OR
Login using root issue and issue this command.
yum --disableplugin=fastestmirror update[/code]

This plugin is used to find the fastest mirrors/sources available for the software so that the update/install process is quicker. To re-enable the plugin, just run the command.
yum --enableplugin=fastestmirror update[/code]

OR

change enable=1 in fastestmirror.conf file
Joel G Mathew
Joel G Mathew, known in tech circles by the pseudonym Droidzone, is an opensource and programming enthusiast.
He is a full stack developer, whose favorite languages are currently Python and Vue.js. He is also fluent in Javascript, Flutter/Dart, Perl, PHP, SQL, C and bash shell scripting. He loves Linux, and can often be found tinkering with linux kernel code, and source code for GNU applications. He used to be an active developer on XDA forums, and his tinkered ROMS used to be very popular in the early 2000s.
His favorite pastime is grappling with GNU compilers, discovering newer Linux secrets, writing scripts, hacking roms, and programs (nothing illegal), reading, blogging. and testing out the latest gadgets.
When away from the tech world, Dr Joel G. Mathew is a practising ENT Surgeon, busy with surgeries and clinical practise.