PowerFlex: Firmware Upgrade Failure Caused by RED132 Network Transfer Error

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.

Network Connectivity Instability

Intermittent packet loss or latency between the iDRAC interfaces and the remote HTTP/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 via a stable HTTP/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.

Prerequisites

• Administrative access to iDRAC for each node.
• Firmware files available on an HTTP/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 node(s). 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 via the iDRAC firmware update page before re‑running the ESXi upgrade job.
5. Verify that the upgrade files are present on the remote HTTP/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.