diff --git a/github_action_xcat_test.pl b/github_action_xcat_test.pl
index 4b25e8f76..25a7e63a6 100644
--- a/github_action_xcat_test.pl
+++ b/github_action_xcat_test.pl
@@ -505,11 +505,13 @@ sub run_fast_regression_test{
     chomp($hostname);
     print "hostname = $hostname\n";
     my $conf_file = "$ENV{'PWD'}/regression.conf";
-    #print "MG about to chmod 0777 file $conf_file\n";
+    print "MG about to touch file $conf_file\n";
+    system "sudo touch $conf_file";
+    print "MG about to chmod 0777 file $conf_file\n";
     #chmod 0777, $conf_file;
     system "sudo chmod 777 $conf_file";
     #print "MG about to open file $conf_file\n";
-    open(my $fh, '+>', $conf_file) or die "Could not open test configuration file $!";
+    open(my $fh, '>', $conf_file) or die "Could not open test configuration file $!";
     print "MG file opened\n";
     #$cmd = "sudo echo '[System]' > $conf_file; sudo echo 'MN=$hostname' >> $conf_file; sudo echo '[Table_site]' >> $conf_file; sudo echo 'key=domain' >>$conf_file; sudo echo 'value=pok.stglabs.ibm.com' >> $conf_file";
     print $fh "[System]\nMN=$hostname\n[Table_site]\nkey=domain\nvalue=pok.stglabs.ibm.com\n";