I tried to install a remote MCCLI instance as I do not like to work directly from the utility node, and I kept getting this error and could not find the problem.
Support told me running MCCLI from a remote host was not supported (of course it is).
When I finally looked up the config file "/root/.avamardata/6.1.1-87/var/mc/cli_data/prefs/mcclimcs.xml"
I noticed I had the "mcsaddr" filed wrong.
Make sure you don't have any configuration problems...