PowerFlex: Firmware Upgrade Failure Caused by RED132 Network Transfer Error

Summary: The PowerFlex appliance firmware upgrade stalls because the iDRAC lifecycle controller cannot retrieve the firmware file, reporting RED132. The root cause is intermittent network connectivity and iDRAC state corruption. ...

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Symptoms

iDRAC Lifecycle Controller Error

The controller logs display:

RED132: Unable to transfer the file because the file is not available at the remote host location.

ASM Job Failure

The ASM job reports a failure during the firmware update step:

/Stage[main]/Asm::Resource_wrapper/Asm::Server_update[rackserver-bct6tz3]/Asm::Server_update_esx[server_update_esx]/Idrac_fw_installfromuri[idrac]/ensure:
change from 'absent' to 'present' failed: Firmware update failed in the lifecycle controller.

Upgrade Process Behavior

  • Firmware upgrade stalls or aborts on one or more nodes.
  • Upgrade attempts need to be retried multiple times.
  • Final cluster version remains at 46.381.00 for failed nodes.

Cause

Network Connectivity Instability

Intermittent packet loss or latency between the iDRAC interfaces and the remote HTTP or HTTPS share prevents the lifecycle controller from retrieving the firmware image.

  • Unreliable switch ports or VLAN misconfigurations.
  • Transient DNS or routing failures.

iDRAC State Corruption

Occasional corruption of the iDRAC lifecycle controller state leads to failure in establishing a valid transfer session, causing the RED132 error.

  • Residual configuration from previous updates.
  • Memory leaks in the iDRAC firmware.

Firmware Transfer Mechanism Limitation

The lifecycle controller expects the firmware file to be reachable using a stable HTTP or HTTPS URI. When the network path is disrupted, the controller reports RED132: "Unable to transfer the file because the file is not available at the remote host location."

RED132: Unable to transfer the file because the file is not available at the remote host location.

 

Note: The ASM job error is a downstream symptom of the iDRAC transfer failure.

Resolution

Prerequisites

  • Administrative access to iDRAC for each node.
  • Firmware files available on an HTTP or HTTPS share with correct permissions.
  • Stable network connectivity between iDRAC interfaces and the share.

Resolution Procedure

  1. Perform an iDRAC soft reset on the affected nodes. Use the iDRAC web interface or RACADM command to reset.
  2. After the reset, retry the firmware upgrade for that node.
  3. If the upgrade still fails, repeat the iDRAC soft reset on additional nodes and retry the upgrade.
  4. When necessary, manually apply the required six firmware components using the iDRAC firmware update page before re‑running the ESXi upgrade job.
  5. Verify that the upgrade files are present on the remote HTTP or HTTPS share, and confirm the file path and permissions are correct.
  6. Confirm stable network connectivity between iDRAC and the file share; resolve any intermittent network issues.
  7. Continue retrying the upgrade on pending nodes until all 7 of 7 nodes reach the target RCM/IC version 48.383.02.

 

Caution: Repeating the iDRAC reset may temporarily interrupt management access to the node.

Affected Products

PowerFlex Appliance, Catalog, PowerEdge R650, PowerFlex appliance R650
Article Properties
Article Number: 000486788
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 24 يوليو 2026
Version:  3
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