Release Notes for Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches, Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.x
Introduction
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches are the next generation purpose-built 40 GigabitEthernet and 100 GigabitEthernet modular core and aggregation platform providing resiliency at scale with the industry’s most comprehensive security while allowing your business to grow at the lowest total operational cost. They have been purpose-built to address emerging trends of Security, IoT, Mobility, and Cloud.
They deliver complete convergence in terms of ASIC architecture with Unified Access Data Plane (UADP) 3.0. The platform runs an Open Cisco IOS XE that supports model driven programmability, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) Solid State Drive (SSD) local storage, and a higher memory footprint). The series forms the foundational building block for SD-Access, which is Cisco’s lead enterprise architecture.
It also supports features that provide high availability, advanced routing and infrastructure services, security capabilities, and application visibility and control.
Important Notes
Unsupported Features
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Breakout Cables
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Cisco Application Visibility and Control (AVC)
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Cisco StackWise Virtual
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IPsec VPN
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Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR) and Next Generation NBAR (NBAR2)
Complete List of Supported Features
For the complete list of features supported on a platform, see the Cisco Feature Navigator at https://www.cisco.com/go/cfn.
Supported Hardware
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches—Model Numbers
The following table lists the supported switch models. For information about the available license levels, see section License Levels.
Switch Model (append with “=” for spares) |
Description |
---|---|
C9606R |
Cisco Catalyst 9606R Switch
|
Supported Hardware on Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches
Product ID (append with “=” for spares) |
Description |
---|---|
Supervisor Modules |
|
C9600-SUP-1 |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Supervisor 1 Module This supervisor module is supported on the C9606R chassis |
C9K-F2-SSD-240GB |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 240GB SSD Storage |
C9K-F2-SSD-480GB |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 480GB SSD Storage |
C9K-F2-SSD-960GB |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 960GB SSD Storage |
40 or 100 GigabitEthernet Line Cards |
|
C9600-LC-24C |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 24-Port 40GE/12-Port 100GE Line Card. It supports:
|
25 GigabitEthernet Line Cards |
|
C9600-LC-48YL |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 48-Port 25GE/10GE/1GE line card. It supports:
|
10 GigabitEthernet Line Cards |
|
1 GigabitEthernet Line Cards |
|
AC Power Supply Modules |
|
C9600-PWR-2KWAC |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 2000W AC Power Supply Module3 |
DC Power Supply Modules |
|
C9600-PWR-2KWDC |
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 2000W DC Power Supply Module |
Optics Modules
Cisco Catalyst Series Switches support a wide range of optics and the list of supported optics is updated on a regular basis. Use the Transceiver Module Group (TMG) Compatibility Matrix tool, or consult the tables at this URL for the latest transceiver module compatibility information: https://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps5455/products_device_support_tables_list.html
Compatibility Matrix
The following table provides software compatibility information.
Catalyst 9600 |
Cisco Identity Services Engine |
Cisco Access Control Server |
Cisco Prime Infrastructure |
---|---|---|---|
Gibraltar 16.11.1 |
2.6 2.4 Patch 5 |
5.4 5.5 |
- |
Web UI System Requirements
The following subsections list the hardware and software required to access the Web UI:
Minimum Hardware Requirements
Processor Speed |
DRAM |
Number of Colors |
Resolution |
Font Size |
---|---|---|---|---|
233 MHz minimum4 |
512 MB5 |
256 |
1280 x 800 or higher |
Small |
Software Requirements
Operating Systems
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Windows 10 or later
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Mac OS X 10.9.5 or later
Browsers
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Google Chrome—Version 59 or later (On Windows and Mac)
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Microsoft Edge
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Mozilla Firefox—Version 54 or later (On Windows and Mac)
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Safari—Version 10 or later (On Mac)
Licensing
This section provides information about the licensing packages for features available on Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Switches.
License Levels
The software features available on Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches fall under these base or add-on license levels.
Base Licenses
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Network Advantage
Add-On Licenses
Add-On Licenses require a Network Essentials or Network Advantage as a pre-requisite. The features available with add-on license levels provide Cisco innovations on the switch, as well as on the Cisco Digital Network Architecture Center (Cisco DNA Center).
-
DNA Advantage
To find information about platform support and to know which license levels a feature is available with, use Cisco Feature Navigator. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to https://cfnng.cisco.com. An account on cisco.com is not required.
License Types
The following license types are available:
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Permanent—for a license level, and without an expiration date.
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Term—for a license level, and for a three, five, or seven year period.
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Evaluation—a license that is not registered.
License Levels - Usage Guidelines
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Base licenses (Network-Advantage) are ordered and fulfilled only with a permanent license type.
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Add-on licenses (DNA Advantage) are ordered and fulfilled only with a term license type.
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An add-on license level is included when you choose a network license level. If you use DNA features, renew the license before term expiry, to continue using it, or deactivate the add-on license and then reload the switch to continue operating with the base license capabilities.
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Evaluation licenses cannot be ordered. They are not tracked via Cisco Smart Software Manager and expire after a 90-day period. Evaluation licenses can be used only once on the switch and cannot be regenerated. Warning system messages about an evaluation license expiry are generated only 275 days after expiration and every week thereafter. An expired evaluation license cannot be reactivated after reload. This applies only to Smart Licensing. The notion of evaluation licenses does not apply to Smart Licensing Using Policy.
Cisco Smart Licensing
Cisco Smart Licensing is a flexible licensing model that provides you with an easier, faster, and more consistent way to purchase and manage software across the Cisco portfolio and across your organization. And it’s secure – you control what users can access. With Smart Licensing you get:
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Easy Activation: Smart Licensing establishes a pool of software licenses that can be used across the entire organization—no more PAKs (Product Activation Keys).
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Unified Management: My Cisco Entitlements (MCE) provides a complete view into all of your Cisco products and services in an easy-to-use portal, so you always know what you have and what you are using.
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License Flexibility: Your software is not node-locked to your hardware, so you can easily use and transfer licenses as needed.
To use Smart Licensing, you must first set up a Smart Account on Cisco Software Central (http://software.cisco.com).
Important |
Cisco Smart Licensing is the default and the only available method to manage licenses. |
For a more detailed overview on Cisco Licensing, go to cisco.com/go/licensingguide.
Deploying Smart Licensing
The following provides a process overview of a day 0 to day N deployment directly initiated from a device. Links to the configuration guide provide detailed information to help you complete each one of the smaller tasks.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Begin by establishing a connection from your network to Cisco Smart Software Manager on cisco.com. In the software configuration guide of the required release, see System Management → Configuring Smart Licensing → Connecting to CSSM |
Step 2 |
Create and activate your Smart Account, or login if you already have one. To create and activate Smart Account, go to Cisco Software Central → Create Smart Accounts. Only authorized users can activate the Smart Account. |
Step 3 |
Complete the Cisco Smart Software Manager set up. |
With this,
-
The device is now in an authorized state and ready to use.
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The licenses that you have purchased are displayed in your Smart Account.
Using Smart Licensing on an Out-of-the-Box Device
If an out-of-the-box device has the software version factory-provisioned, all licenses on such a device remain in evaluation mode until registered in Cisco Smart Software Manager.
In the software configuration guide of the required release, see System Management → Configuring Smart Licensing → Registering the Device in CSSM
Finding the Software Version
The package files for the Cisco IOS XE software are stored on the system board flash device (flash:).
You can use the show version privileged EXEC command to see the software version that is running on your switch.
Note |
Although the show version output always shows the software image running on the switch, the model name shown at the end of this display is the factory configuration and does not change if you upgrade the software license. |
You can also use the dir filesystem: privileged EXEC command to see the directory names of other software images that you might have stored in flash memory.
Software Images
Release |
Image Type |
File Name |
---|---|---|
Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.1 |
CAT9K_IOSXE |
cat9k_iosxe.16.11.01.SPA.bin |
Licensed Data Payload Encryption (LDPE) |
cat9k_iosxeldpe.16.11.01.SPA.bin |
Scaling Guidelines
For information about feature scaling guidelines, see the Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches datasheets at:
Limitations and Restrictions
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Auto negotiation: The SFP+ interface (TenGigabitEthernet0/1) on the Ethernet management port with a 1G transceiver does not support auto negotiation.
-
Control Plane Policing (CoPP): The show run command does not display information about classes configured under
system-cpp policy
, when they are left at default values. Use the show policy-map system-cpp-policy or the show policy-map control-plane commands in privileged EXEC mode instead. -
Hardware Limitatons — Optics:
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Copper cables are not supported with 25GE, 40GE, and 100GE configurations
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1G (SFP) transceivers are not supported.
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Installation restriction for C9600-LC-24C linecard with CVR-QSFP-SFP10G adapater —This adapter must not be installed on an even numbered port where the corresponding odd numbered port is configured as 40GE port. For example, if port 1 is configured as 40GE, CVR-QSFP-SFP10G must not be installed in port 2.
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Hardware Limitatons — Power Supply Modules:
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Input voltage for AC power supply modules—All AC-input power supply modules in the chassis must have the same AC-input voltage level.
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Using power supply modules of different types—When mixing AC-input and DC-input power supplies, the AC-input voltage level must be 220 VAC.
-
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Convergence: During SSO, a higher convergence time is observed while removing the active supervisor module installed in slot 3 of a C9606R chassis.
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QoS restrictions
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When configuring QoS queuing policy, the sum of the queuing buffer should not exceed 100%.
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For QoS policies, only switched virtual interfaces (SVI) are supported for logical interfaces.
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QoS policies are not supported for port-channel interfaces, tunnel interfaces, and other logical interfaces.
-
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Secure Shell (SSH)
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Use SSH Version 2. SSH Version 1 is not supported.
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When the device is running SCP and SSH cryptographic operations, expect high CPU until the SCP read process is completed. SCP supports file transfers between hosts on a network and uses SSH for the transfer.
Since SCP and SSH operations are currently not supported on the hardware crypto engine, running encryption and decryption process in software causes high CPU. The SCP and SSH processes can show as much as 40 or 50 percent CPU usage, but they do not cause the device to shutdown.
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USB Authentication—When you connect a Cisco USB drive to the switch, the switch tries to authenticate the drive against an existing encrypted preshared key. Since the USB drive does not send a key for authentication, the following message is displayed on the console when you enter password encryption aes command:
Device(config)# password encryption aes Master key change notification called without new or old key
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VLAN Restriction—It is advisable to have well-defined segregation while defining data and voice domain during switch configuration and to maintain a data VLAN different from voice VLAN across the switch stack. If the same VLAN is configured for data and voice domains on an interface, the resulting high CPU utilization might affect the device.
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YANG data modeling limitation—A maximum of 20 simultaneous NETCONF sessions are supported.
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Embedded Event Manager—Identity event detector is not supported on Embedded Event Manager.
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Secure Password Migration—Type 6 encrypted password is supported from Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.10.1 and later releases. Autoconversion to password type 6 is supported from Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.1 and later releases.
If the startup configuration has a type 6 password and you downgrade to a version in which type 6 password is not supported, you can/may be locked out of the device.
-
The File System Check (fsck) utility is not supported in install mode.
Caveats
Caveats describe unexpected behavior in Cisco IOS-XE releases. Caveats listed as open in a prior release are carried forward to the next release as either open or resolved.
Cisco Bug Search Tool
The Cisco Bug Search Tool (BST) allows partners and customers to search for software bugs based on product, release, and keyword, and aggregates key data such as bug details, product, and version. The BST is designed to improve the effectiveness in network risk management and device troubleshooting. The tool has a provision to filter bugs based on credentials to provide external and internal bug views for the search input.
To view the details of a caveat, click on the identifier.
Open Caveats in Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.x
Identifier |
Description |
---|---|
"%FMFP-3-OBJ_DWNLD_TO_DP_FAILED: R0/0: fman_fp_image: intf TweFiveGigE5/0/1" error during bootup |
|
C9600R convergence time is in milliseconds when SSO is done by manual SUP pull out |
|
"show idprom int te0/1" should be supported for 10GE SFP mgmt port |
|
HA/SVL: Setting MTU 9216 is rebooting the standby |
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SFP+ mgmt: Incorrect led status for stby sup when transceiver isnt inserted. |
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C9600R: interface cfgs resets to default upon mods shut-->save cfgs-->reload-->then no shut mods |
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The process iomd has been helddown (rc 134) on OIR of slot 2 |
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After modifying security-acl SDM template Security acl functionality not working on Tunnel interface |
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Traffic drop during ipv6 multicast scale test |
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active supervisor crashed during oir of a linecard. |
Resolved Caveats in Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.1
Identifier |
Description |
---|---|
Memory leak in alloc_repexp_entry caused by alloc_ril_index failure |
|
Cat9K HA/ 16.9.x,16.10.x- Connectivity issue due to wrong dest MAC rewrite for routed packet |
|
AAL-INFRA:L2 failed to get ID handle |
|
crash in fib_path_list_walk_apply (cisco.comp/cfc_cefmpls/cef/src/fib_path_list_deps.c) |
Troubleshooting
For the most up-to-date, detailed troubleshooting information, see the Cisco TAC website at this URL:
https://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/index.html
Go to Product Support and select your product from the list or enter the name of your product. Look under Troubleshoot and Alerts, to find information for the problem that you are experiencing.
Related Documentation
Information about Cisco IOS XE at this URL: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/ios-nx-os-software/ios-xe/index.html
All support documentation for Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches is at this URL: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/catalyst-9600-series-switches/tsd-products-support-series-home.html
Cisco Validated Designs documents at this URL: https://www.cisco.com/go/designzone
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs
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