diff --git a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Client.pm b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Client.pm
index 5c527628e..dec5cac44 100644
--- a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Client.pm
+++ b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Client.pm
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ $request->{clienttype}->[0] = "cli";   # setup clienttype for auditlog
      );
    }
   unless ($client) {
+     print "Unable to open socket connection to xcatd daemon on $xcathost.\n";
+     print "Verify that the xcatd daemon is running and that your SSL setup is correct.\n";
      if ($@ =~ /SSL Timeout/) {
         die "Connection failure: SSL Timeout or incorrect certificates in ~/.xcat";
      } else {
diff --git a/xCAT-server/sbin/xcatd b/xCAT-server/sbin/xcatd
index d33ccd8b3..952b4a714 100755
--- a/xCAT-server/sbin/xcatd
+++ b/xCAT-server/sbin/xcatd
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ sub dispatch_request {
             #flock($dlock,LOCK_UN);
             if ($errstr) {
 	            if ($numdests == 1) {
-                    dispatch_callback({error=>["Unable to dispatch command to ".$ENV{XCATHOST}.", command will not make changes to that server ($errstr)"],errorcode=>[1]}); 
+                    dispatch_callback({error=>["Unable to dispatch hierarchical sub-command to ".$ENV{XCATHOST}.".  This service node may be down or its xcatd daemon may not be responding."],errorcode=>[1]}); 
 	                xCAT::MsgUtils->message("S","Error dispatching request to ".$ENV{XCATHOST}.": ".$errstr);
                 } else {
 	                xCAT::MsgUtils->message("S","Error dispatching request to ".$ENV{XCATHOST}.", trying other service nodes: ".$errstr);