Release Notes for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x

Introduction to Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers comprise next-generation wireless controllers (referred to as controller in this document) built for intent-based networking. The controllers use Cisco IOS XE software and integrate the radio frequency (RF) capabilities from Cisco Aironet with the intent-based networking capabilities of Cisco IOS XE to create a best-in-class wireless experience for your organization.

The controllers are enterprise ready to power your business-critical operations and transform end-customer experiences:

  • The controllers come with high availability and seamless software updates that are enabled by hot and cold patching. This keeps your clients and services up and running always, both during planned and unplanned events.

  • The controllers come with built-in security, including secure boot, run-time defenses, image signing, integrity verification, and hardware authenticity.

  • The controllers can be deployed anywhere to enable wireless connectivity, for example, on an on-premise device, on cloud (public or private), or embedded on a Cisco Catalyst switch (for SDA deployments) or a Cisco Catalyst access point (AP).

  • The controllers can be managed using Cisco Catalyst Center, programmability interfaces, for example, NETCONF and YANG,or web-based GUI or CLI.

  • The controllers are built on a modular operating system. Open and programmable APIs enable the automation of your day zero to day n network operations. Model-driven streaming telemetry provides deep insights into your network and client health.

The controllers are available in multiple form factors to cater to your deployment options:

  • Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Appliance

    • Cisco Catalyst CW9800H1 and CW9800H2 Wireless Controllers

    • Cisco Catalyst CW9800M Wireless Controller

  • Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller for Cloud

  • Catalyst 9800 Embedded Wireless Controller for a Cisco Switch


Note


All the Cisco IOS XE programmability-related topics on the controllers are supported by DevNet, either through community-based support or through DevNet developer support. For more information, go to https://developer.cisco.com.


Revision History

Modification Date

Modification Details

September 17th, 2024

Updated: What's New in Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1 section—Changed "Tier B/C/D Country Support for Cisco Catalyst 9124 Outdoor Access Points" to "Tier B/C/D Country Support for Cisco Catalyst 9163E Outdoor Access Points".

September 26th, 2024

Updated: Compatibility Matrix section—Added version 3.3 to the Cisco Identity Services Engine information in the Compatibility Information table.

What's New in Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1

Table 1. New and Modified Software Features

Feature Name

Description and Documentation Link

Packet Capture: TCP Dump on WGB

This feature captures packets from a WGB terminal using a default or customized filter through a WGB wired port and uploads them to an external server for further analysis.

The feature is supported on the following APs:

  • Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Point

For more information, see Packet Capture: TCP Dump on WGB on Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Access Point Configuration Guide and Cisco Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Point and Wireless Client Configuration Guide.

Cisco IW9167IH AP Mesh Support

This feature enables Bridge and Flex+Bridge mode on the Cisco IW9167IH AP allowing you to extend the wireless network coverage through mesh backhaul using the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies.

The following command is introduced:

  • ap name ap-name mode bridge

For more information, see Mesh Support.

AAA User Authentication Support for WGB

The AAA User Authentication Support for WGB feature provides information about how to use AAA to control network resource usage and define permissible actions.

The feature is supported on the following APs:

  • Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Points

For more information, see AAA User Authentication Support on Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Access Point Configuration Guide and Cisco Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Point and Wireless Client Configuration Guide.

Radio 4 in Scanning Only Mode

This feature enhances the WGB auxiliary scanning and roaming capabilities, allowing you to configure radio 4 to operate in scanning mode only. Radio 4 supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies.

The feature is supported on Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Series Access Points.

For more information, see Configure Aux Scanning.

Optimized Roaming with Dual-Radio WGB

This feature reduces service downtime and ensures a smoother and reliable network experience. When roaming is triggered by a beacon miss-count or maximum packet retries, the second radio enables the WGB to bypass the scanning phase and check the scanning table for potential APs.

The feature is supported on the following APs:

  • Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Points

For more information, see Configure Aux Scanning on Cisco Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Access Point Configuration Guide and Cisco Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Point and Wireless Client Configuration Guide.

Cisco Catalyst 9800-CL Cloud Wireless Controller Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Support

The Cisco Catalyst Wireless Controller for Cloud (C9800-CL) sets the standard for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) secure wireless network services with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). C9800-CL combines the advantages and flexibility of an OCI public cloud with the customization and feature-richness that customers usually experience on-prem deployments.

For more information, see Cisco Catalyst 9800-CL Cloud Wireless Controller Installation Guide.

Cloud Monitoring for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Hardware Wireless Controllers

The Cloud Monitoring for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Hardware Wireless Controllers feature helps to monitor controllers using the Meraki dashboard.

The following command is introduced:

  • service meraki connect

For more information, see Using Cloud Monitoring as a Solution for Network Monitoring.

Cisco Spaces Connect for IoT Services: Support for On-Premise in Cisco Catalyst Wireless Infrastructure

Cisco Spaces Connect for IoT Services solution enables delivery of advanced BLE capabilities over Cisco Catalyst Wireless infrastructure. The key component of this solution is the IoT Orchestrator which is a Cisco IOx application that can be deployed on existing Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller platforms. With the Spaces Connect for IoT Services solution, you have capabilities to securely onboard and control BLE devices, and consume data telemetry using the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT).

Note

 

The Spaces Connect for IoT Services is now in Public Beta.

For more information about this feature, see the following documentation:

For further help, you can reach out to Cisco TAC or write to: c9800-spaces-connect-for-iot-services@external.cisco.com

New Channel Support for United Arab Emirates and Qatar

In this release, the following channels are supported for indoor APs in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar: 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165.

The following channels are supported for outdoor APs in the United Arab Emirates: 36, 40, 44, 52, 56, 60, 64.

Also, the outdoor power table value for the 5-GHz band is updated for the United Arab Emirates in this release.

For more information, see Countries and Regulations.

New Countries for 6-GHz Support

From this release, Taiwan (TW) and Guatemala (GT) are added to the list of countries that support the 6-GHz radio band.

For more information, see Countries and Regulations.

Software-Defined Access (SDA) Updates

The following are the SDA updates for Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1:

  • IPv6 Underlay Support for FIAB (Fabric in a Box)

  • Flex OTT (Meraki Access Points) support in SDA

  • Dual Ethernet support for Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series APs in SDA (Non-authenticated ports and single switch stack homed deployment)

SuiteB-1X and SuiteB-192-1X Support in FlexConnect Mode for WPA2 and WPA3

From Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1 onwards, Cisco WLAN FlexConnect mode supports enterprise authentication key management (AKM) — SuiteB-192-1X (AKM 12) and SuiteB-1X (AKM 11).

This feature supports the configuration of SuiteB-192-1X and SuiteB-1X in FlexConnect mode, and also supports Galois Counter Mode Protocol 128 (GCMP-128), GCMP-256, and Counter Cipher Mode with Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol 256 (CCMP-256) ciphers for pairwise transport keys (PTK) and group temporal key (GTK) derivation in FlexConnect Local Authentication mode and FlexConnect Central Authentication mode.

For more information, see SuiteB-1X and SuiteB-192-1X Support in FlexConnect Mode for WPA2 and WPA3.

Support for Security-Enhanced Linux

In this release, the controller is supported with Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) MAC operating in enforcing mode, to improve the overall security profile.

SELinux is a solution composed of Linux kernel security module and system utilities to incorporate a strong, flexible Mandatory Access Control (MAC) architecture into the controller.

The following commands are introduced:

  • set platform software selinux

  • platform security selinux

For more information, see Security-Enhanced Linux.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA3) Security Enhancements for Access Points

The following are the security enhancements developed in Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1, for APs:

  • GCMP-256 Cipher and SuiteB-192-1X AKM

  • SAE-EXT-KEY Support

  • AP Beacon Protection

  • Multiple Cipher Support per WLAN

  • Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE) Support with GCMP-256 Cipher

The following commands are introduced:

  • security wpa akm sae ext-key

  • security wpa akm ft sae ext-key

  • security wpa akm suiteb-192

  • security wpa akm suiteb

  • security wpa wpa2 ciphers

  • security wpa wpa3 beacon-protection

For more information, see Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA3) Security Enhancements for Access Points.

Tier B/C/D Country Support for Cisco Catalyst 9163E Outdoor Access Points

From this release, Cisco Catalyst 9163E Outdoor APs are supported in the following countries: Bosnia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates.

For more information, see Countries and Regulations.

Table 2. New and Modified GUI Features

Feature Name

GUI Path

Cloud Monitoring for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Hardware Controllers

Configuration > Services > Cloud Services > Meraki

Cisco Spaces Connect for IoT Services: Support for On-Premise in Cisco Catalyst Wireless Infrastructure

Configuration > Services > IoT Services

Currently, this feature is in a limited customer public beta phase and supported by Cisco TAC.

For more information about this feature, contact the following mailer:

c9800-spaces-connect-for-iot-services@external.cisco.com

SuiteB-1X and SuiteB-192-1X Support in FlexConnect Mode for WPA2 and WPA3

Configuration > Tags & Profiles > WLANs

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA3) Security Enhancements for Access Points

Configuration > Tags & Profiles > WLANs

MIBs

The following MIBs are newly added or modified:

  • AIRESPACE-WIRELESS-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-AP-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-DOT11-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-DOT11-CLIENT-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-REAP-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-RF-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-TAGS-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-TC-MIB.my

  • CISCO-LWAPP-WLAN-SECURITY-MIB.my

Product Analytics

This feature allows for the collection of non-personal usage device systems information for Cisco products, which helps in continuous product improvements. This feature is supported on the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers (9800-80, 9800-40, 9800-L, and 9800-CL). You can use the the pae command to enable or disable this feature.

The following commands are introduced as part of this feature:

  • pae

  • show product-analytics kpi

  • show product-analytics report

  • show product-analytics stats


Note


Turning off Smart Licensing Device Systems Information does not impact other Systems Information collection including from Cisco Catalyst Center or vManage.


Important: We are constantly striving to advance our products and services. Knowing how you use our products is key to accomplishing this goal. To that end, Cisco will collect device and licensing Systems Information through Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) for product and customer experience improvement, analytics, and adoption. Cisco processes your data in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions, the Cisco Privacy Statement and any other applicable agreement with Cisco. To modify your organization’s preferences for device and licensing systems information, use the pae command. For more information, see Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Command Reference.

For additional information on this feature, see Wireless Product Analytics FAQ.

Behavior Change

  • System unresponsiveness and reloads are observed in Standby when image upgrades to Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1 in Cisco Catalyst CW9800M, and CW9800H1 and CW9800H2 Wireless Controllers. A switchover is initiated at the time of standby initialization.

    This is a rare case scenario. You will need design changes to fix the issue.

  • From this release, the Mobility Tunnel UP/DOWN messages will be marked for severity level ALERT.

  • From this release, it is not possible to disable the 802.11h channel switch. The channel switch announcements (CSA) remain enabled at all times because they help clients when the APs announce the change from the current channel to a new channel, thereby reducing the number of reconnections.

  • The minimum memory requirement of the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller for Cloud - Ultra-Low Profile variant is increased from 4 GB to 6 GB.

  • From this release, the suiteb and suiteb-192 authentication and key management (AKMs) are decoupled from the GCMP128, GCMP256/CCMP256 and must be configured separately. When the controller is upgraded from a lower version to 17.15, WLANs configured with suiteb AKMs will be affected. If the controller downgrades from version 17.15 to a lower one, the WLANs enabled with only suiteb AKMs will remain operational, while the WLANs with multiple AKMs enabled will be operational without the suiteb-related AKMs.

  • From Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1, the default air pressure sample interval is changed from 30 seconds to 60 seconds. For example, if the duration is set to 10 minutes, the APs send 10 samples spaced at 60 seconds each.

Interactive Help

The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller GUI features an interactive help that walks you through the GUI and guides you through complex configurations.

You can start the interactive help in the following ways:

  • By hovering your cursor over the blue flap at the right-hand corner of a window in the GUI and clicking Interactive Help.

  • By clicking Walk-me Thru in the left pane of a window in the GUI.

  • By clicking Show me How displayed in the GUI. Clicking Show me How triggers a specific interactive help that is relevant to the context you are in.

    For instance, Show me How in Configure > AAA walks you through the various steps for configuring a RADIUS server. Choose Configuration> Wireless Setup > Advanced and click Show me How to trigger the interactive help that walks you through the steps relating to various kinds of authentication.

The following features have an associated interactive help:

  • Configuring AAA

  • Configuring FlexConnect Authentication

  • Configuring 802.1X Authentication

  • Configuring Local Web Authentication

  • Configuring OpenRoaming

  • Configuring Mesh APs


Note


If the WalkMe launcher is unavailable on Safari, modify the settings as follows:

  1. Choose Preferences > Privacy.

  2. In the Website tracking section, uncheck the Prevent cross-site tracking check box to disable this action.

  3. In the Cookies and website data section, uncheck the Block all cookies check box to disable this action.


Supported Hardware

The following table lists the supported virtual and hardware platforms. (See Supported PIDs and Ports for the list of supported modules.)

Table 3. Supported Virtual and Hardware Platforms

Platform

Description

Cisco Catalyst 9800-80 Wireless Controller

A modular wireless controller with up to 100-GE modular uplinks and seamless software updates.

The controller occupies a 2-rack unit space and supports multiple module uplinks.

Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

A fixed wireless controller with seamless software updates for mid-size to large enterprises.

The controller occupies a 1-rack unit space and provides four 1-GE or 10-GE uplink ports.

Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller

The Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller is the first low-end controller that provides a significant boost in performance and features.

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller for Cloud

A virtual form factor of the Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller that can be deployed in a private cloud (supports VMware ESXi, Kernel-based Virtual Machine [KVM], Microsoft Hyper-V, and Cisco Enterprise NFV Infrastructure Software [NFVIS] on Enterprise Network Compute System [ENCS] hypervisors), or in the public cloud as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) marketplace, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Embedded Wireless Controller for Switch

The Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller software for the Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches brings the wired and wireless infrastructure together with consistent policy and management.

This deployment model supports only Software Defined-Access (SDA), which is a highly secure solution for small campuses and distributed branches.

Cisco Catalyst CW9800M Wireless Controller

The Cisco Catalyst CW9800M Wireless Controller is the next generation Cisco Catalyst CW9800 Series Wireless LAN Controller built to deliver a 53% performance improvement while consuming 18% less power when compared to the previous generation models.

Additionally, the Cisco Catalyst CW9800M Wireless Controller supports 3000 APs and 32000 clients to ensure better performance and scale for business-critical networks and provides up to 40 Gbps of forwarding throughput for both normal packet and encrypted packets while remaining a single RU designed to save you space and provide greater flexibility in your datacenters.

Cisco Catalyst CW9800H1 and CW9800H2 Wireless Controllers

The Cisco Catalyst CW9800H1 and CW9800H2 Wireless Controllers are the next-generation Cisco Catalyst CW9800 Series Wireless LAN Controllers that boast up to a 36% increase in performance and consume up to 40% less power compared to their predecessors.

Additionally, the CW9800H1 and CW9800H2 models are built with a space-saving single RU design and support up to 6000 APs and 64,000 clients with 100 Gbps of maximum throughput. They also offer a choice of uplinks with either 4 x 25 Gbps (CW9800H1) or 2 x 40 Gbps (CW9800H2) configurations to meet high throughput demands of next-generation wireless requirements.

The following table lists the host environments supported for private and public cloud.

Table 4. Supported Host Environments for Public and Private Cloud

Host Environment

Software Version

VMware ESXi

  • VMware ESXi vSphere 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, and 8.0

  • VMware ESXi vCenter 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, and 8.0

KVM

  • Linux KVM-based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6, 7.8, and 8.2

  • Ubuntu 16.04.5 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS

AWS

AWS EC2 platform

NFVIS

ENCS 3.8.1 and 3.9.1

GCP

GCP marketplace

Microsoft Hyper-V

Windows 2019 Server and Windows Server 2016 (Version 1607) with Hyper-V Manager (Version 10.0.14393)

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

The following table lists the supported Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller hardware models.

The base PIDs are the model numbers of the controller.

The bundled PIDs indicate the orderable part numbers for the base PIDs that are bundled with a particular network module. Running the show version , show module , or show inventory command on such a controller (bundled PID) displays its base PID.

Note that unsupported SFPs will bring down a port. Only Cisco-supported SFPs (GLC-LH-SMD and GLC-SX-MMD) should be used on the route processor (RP) ports of C9800-80-K9 and C9800-40-K9.

Table 5. Supported PIDs and Ports

The following table lists the supported SFP models.

Table 6. Supported SFPs

SFP Name

C9800-80-K9

C9800-40-K9

C9800-L-F-K9

CW9800H1

CW9800H2

CW9800M

COLORCHIP-C040- Q020-CWDM4-03B

Supported

DWDM-SFP10G-30.33

Supported

Supported

DWDM-SFP10G-61.41

Supported

Supported

FINISAR-LR – FTLX1471D3BCL

1

Supported

Supported

Supported

FINISAR-SR – FTLX8574D3BCL

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-BX-D

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-BX-U

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-EX-SMD

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-LH-SMD

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-SX-MMD

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-T

Supported

GLC-TE

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

GLC-ZX-SMD

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

QSFP-100G-LR4-S

Supported

QSFP-100G-SR4-S

Supported

QSFP-40G-BD-RX

Supported

QSFP-40G-ER4

Supported

Supported

QSFP-40G-LR4

Supported

Supported

QSFP-40G-LR4-S

Supported

Supported

QSFP-40G-CSR4

Supported

QSFP-40G-SR4

Supported

Supported

QSFP-40G-SR4-S

Supported

Supported

QSFP-40GE-LR4

Supported

QSFP-H40G-ACU10M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-CU1M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-CU2M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-CU3M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-CU4M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-CU5M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-CUO-5M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC1M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC2M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC3M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC5M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC7M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC10M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC15M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC20M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC25M

Supported

QSFP-H40G-AOC30M

Supported

SFP-10G-AOC10M

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-AOC1M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-AOC2M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-AOC3M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-AOC5M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-AOC7M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-ER

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-LR

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-LR-S

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-LR-X

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-LRM

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-SR

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-SR-S

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-SR-I

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-SR-X

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-ZR

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-ZR-I

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-10G-T-X

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-SR-S

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-ER-I

Supported

Supported

SFP-10/25G-LR-I

Supported

Supported

SFP-10/25G-LR-S

Supported

Supported

SFP-10/25G-CSR-S

Supported

Supported

SFP-10/25G-BXD-I

Supported

Supported

SFP-10/25G-BXU-I

Supported

Supported

SFP-10/25G-BXU-I

Supported

Supported

SFP-H25G-CU1M

Supported

Supported

SFP-H25G-CU5M

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-AOC1M

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-AOC2M

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-AOC3M

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-AOC5M

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-AOC7M

Supported

Supported

SFP-25G-AOC10M

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-ACU10M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-ACU7M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB- CU1.5M

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-CU1M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-CU2.5M

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-CU2M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-CU3M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-CU5M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M

Supported

Supported

Supported

Finisar-LR (FTLX1471D3BCL)

Supported

Supported

Supported

Supported

Finisar-SR (FTLX8574D3BC)

Supported

Supported

Supported

1 The FINISAR SFPs are not Cisco specific and some of the features, such as DOM, may not work properly.

Optics Modules

The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller supports a wide range of optics. The list of supported optics is updated on a regular basis. See the tables at the following location for the latest transceiver module compatibility information:

https://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps5455/products_device_support_tables_list.html

Network Protocols and Port Matrix

Table 7. Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller - Network Protocols and Port Matrix

Source

Destination

Protocol

Destination Port

Source Port

Description

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

22

Any

SSH

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

23

Any

Telnet

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

80

Any

HTTP

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

443

Any

HTTPS

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

161

Any

SNMP Agent

Any

Any

UDP

5353

5353

mDNS

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

69

69

TFTP

Any

DNS Server

UDP

53

Any

DNS

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

830

Any

NetConf

Any

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

443

Any

REST API

Any

WLC Protocol

UDP

1700

Any

Receive CoA packets.

AP

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

5246

Any

CAPWAP Control

AP

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

5247

Any

CAPWAP Data

AP

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

5248

Any

CAPWAP MCAST

AP

Cisco Catalyst Center

TCP

32626

Any

Intelligent capture and RF telemetry

AP

AP

UDP

16670

Any

Client Policies (AP-AP)

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

16666

16666

Mobility Control

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

SNMP

UDP

162

Any

SNMP Trap

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

RADIUS

UDP

1812/1645

Any

RADIUS Auth

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

RADIUS

UDP

1813/1646

Any

RADIUS ACCT

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TACACS+

TCP

49

Any

TACACS+

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

UDP

16667

16667

Mobility

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

NTP Server

UDP

123

Any

NTP

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

Syslog Server

UDP

514

Any

SYSLOG

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

NetFlow Server

UDP

9996

Any

NetFlow

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX)

UDP

16113

Any

NMSP

Cisco Catalyst Center

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

TCP

32222

Any

Device Discovery

Supported APs

The following Cisco APs are supported in this release.

Indoor Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9105AX (I/W) Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9115AX (I/E) Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9117AX (I) Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9120AX (I/E/P) Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9130AX (I/E) Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9136AX Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9162 (I) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9164 (I) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9166 (I/D1) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 1815 (I/W/M/T), 1830 (I), 1840 (I), and 1852 (I/E) Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 1800i Access Point

  • Cisco Aironet 2800 (I/E) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 3800 (I/E/P) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 4800 (I) Series Access Points

Outdoor Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 1540 (I/D) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 1560 (I/D/E) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Aironet 1570 (IC/EC/EAC) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Industrial Wireless 3700 Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst Industrial Wireless 6300 Heavy Duty Series Access Point

  • Cisco 6300 Series Embedded Services Access Point

  • Cisco Catalyst 9124AX (I/D/E) Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst 9163 (E) Series Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst Industrial Wireless 9167 (I/E) Heavy Duty Access Points

  • Cisco Catalyst Industrial Wireless 9165E Rugged Access Point

  • Cisco Catalyst Industrial Wireless 9165D Heavy Duty Access Point

Integrated Access Points

  • Integrated Access Point on Cisco 1100 ISR (ISR-AP1100AC-x, ISR-AP1101AC-x, and ISR-AP1101AX-x)

Network Sensor

  • Cisco Aironet 1800s Active Sensor

Pluggable Modules

  • Cisco Wi-Fi Interface Module (WIM)

Supported Access Point Channels and Maximum Power Settings

Supported access point channels and maximum power settings on Cisco APs are compliant with the regulatory specifications of channels, maximum power levels, and antenna gains of every country in which the access points are sold. For more information about the supported access point transmission values in Cisco IOS XE software releases, see the Detailed Channels and Maximum Power Settings document at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/ios-nx-os-software/ios-xe-17/products-technical-reference-list.html.

For information about Cisco Wireless software releases that support specific Cisco AP modules, see the "Software Release Support for Specific Access Point Modules" section in the Cisco Wireless Solutions Software Compatibility Matrix document.

Compatibility Matrix

The following table provides software compatibility information. For more information, see Cisco Wireless Solutions Software Compatibility Matrix

Table 8. Compatibility Information
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Cisco Identity Services Engine Cisco Prime Infrastructure Cisco AireOS-IRCM Interoperability Cisco Catalyst Center Cisco CMX

IOS XE 17.15.1

3.4

3.3

3.2

3.1

3.0

2.7

* all with latest patches

3.10.6 (base version)

Note

 

Base release of Cisco Prime Infrastructure that supports corresponding Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller platform release and its features.

8.10.196.0

8.10.190.0

8.10.185.0

8.10.183.0

8.10.182.0

8.10.181.0

8.10.171.0

8.10.162.0

8.10.151.0

8.10.142.0

8.10.130.0

8.5.176.2

8.5.182.104

See Cisco Catalyst Center Compatibility Information

11.0

10.6.3

GUI System Requirements

The following subsections list the hardware and software required to access the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Controller GUI.

Table 9. Hardware Requirements

Processor Speed

DRAM

Number of Colors

Resolution

Font Size

233 MHz minimum2

512 MB3

256

1280 x 800 or higher

Small

2 We recommend 1 GHz.
3 We recommend 1-GB DRAM.

Software Requirements

Operating Systems:

  • Windows 7 or later

  • Mac OS X 10.11 or later

Browsers:

  • Google Chrome: Version 59 or later (on Windows and Mac)

  • Microsoft Edge: Version 40 or later (on Windows)

  • Safari: Version 10 or later (on Mac)

  • Mozilla Firefox: Version 60 or later (on Windows and Mac)


Note


Firefox Version 63.x is not supported.


The controller GUI uses Virtual Terminal (VTY) lines for processing HTTP requests. At times, when multiple connections are open, the default number of VTY lines of 15 set by the device might get exhausted. Therefore, we recommend that you increase the number of VTY lines to 50.

To increase the VTY lines in a device, run the following commands in the following order:

  1. device# configure terminal

  2. device(config)# line vty 50

    A best practice is to configure the service tcp-keepalives to monitor the TCP connection to the device.

  3. device(config)# service tcp-keepalives-in

  4. device(config)# service tcp-keepalives-out

Before You Upgrade

Ensure that you familiarize yourself with the following points before proceeding with the upgrade:


Important


The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller may experience an unexpected reload when CLI accounting is enabled and the wireless configuration is changed using the WebUI with an IPv6 address. The issue affects only wireless platforms.

Workaround:

  • Disable the CLI accounting command when accessing the WebUI with an IPv6 address, or,

  • Access the WebUI with an IPv4 address when the CLI accounting command is enabled.


The Air Quality Sensor feature is disabled in Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1. Although, you may be able to view the Config-State (as Enabled), Admin-State (as Enabled), and Oper-Status (as Up), there will be no values sent from the Air Quality Sensor.


Caution


During controller upgrade or reboot, if route processor ports are connected to any Cisco switch, ensure that the route processor ports are not flapped (shut/no shut process). Otherwise, it may lead to a kernel crash.


Cisco Wave 2 APs may get into a boot loop when upgrading software over a WAN link. For more information, see: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/catalyst-9800-series-wireless-controllers/220443-how-to-avoid-boot-loop-due-to-corrupted.html.

The following Wave 1 APs are not supported from 17.4 to 17.9.2, 17.10.x, 17.11.x, 17.13.x, 17.14.x, and 17.15.x:

  • Cisco Aironet 1570 Series Access Point

  • Cisco Aironet 1700 Series Access Point

  • Cisco Aironet 2700 Series Access Point

  • Cisco Aironet 3700 Series Access Point


Note


  • Support for the above APs was reintroduced from Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.3.

  • Support for these APs does not extend beyond the normal product lifecycle support. Refer to the individual End-of-Support bulletins on Cisco.com.

  • Feature support is on parity with the 17.3.x release. Features introduced in 17.4.1 or later are not supported on these APs in the 17.9.3 release.

  • You can migrate directly to 17.9.3 from 17.3.x, where x=4c or later.


  • From Cisco IOS XE Dublin 17.10.x, Key Exchange and MAC algorithms like diffie-hellman-group14-sha1, hmac-sha1, hmac-sha2-256, and hmac-sha2-512 are not supported by default and it may impact some SSH clients that only support these algorithms. If required, you can add them manually. For information on manually adding these algorithms, see the SSH Algorithms for Common Criteria Certification document available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/routers/ios/config/17-x/sec-vpn/b-security-vpn/m_sec-secure-shell-algorithm-ccc.html

  • If APs fail to detect the backup image after running the archive download-sw command, perform the following steps:

    1. Upload the image using the no-reload option of the archive download-sw command:

      Device# archive download-sw /no-reload tftp://<tftp_server_ip>/<image_name>
    2. Restart the CAPWAP process using capwap ap restart command. This allows the AP to use the correct backup image after the restart (reload is not required.)

      Device# capwap ap restart 

      Caution


      The AP will lose connection to the controller during the join process. When the AP joins the new controller, it will see a new image in the backup partition. So, the AP will not download a new image from the controller.


  • Fragmentation lower than 1500 is not supported for the RADIUS packets generated by wireless clients in the Gi0 (OOB) interface.

  • Cisco IOS XE allows you to encrypt all the passwords used on the device. This includes user passwords and SSID passwords (PSK). For more information, see the "Password Encryption" section of the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Configuration Best Practices document.

  • While upgrading to Cisco IOS XE 17.3.x and later releases, if the ip http active-session-modules none command is enabled, you will not be able to access the controller GUI using HTTPS. To access the GUI using HTTPS, run the following commands in the order specified below:

    1. ip http session-module-list pkilist OPENRESTY_PKI

    2. ip http active-session-modules pkilist

  • Cisco Aironet 1815T OfficeExtend Access Point will be in local mode when connected to the controller. However, when it functions as a standalone AP, it gets converted to FlexConnect mode.

  • The Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller may fail to respond to the BREAK signals received on its console port during boot time, preventing users from getting to the ROMMON. This problem is observed on the controllers manufactured until November 2019, with the default config-register setting of 0x2102. This problem can be avoided if you set config-register to 0x2002. This problem is fixed in the 16.12(3r) ROMMON for Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller. For information about how to upgrade the ROMMON, see the Upgrading ROMMON for Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controllers section of the Upgrading Field Programmable Hardware Devices for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers document.

  • By default, the controller uses a TFTP block size value of 512, which is the lowest possible value. This default setting is used to ensure interoperability with legacy TFTP servers. If required, you can change the block size value to 8192 to speed up the transfer process, using the ip tftp blocksize command in global configuration mode.

  • We recommend that you configure the password encryption aes and the key config-key password-encrypt key commands to encrypt your password.

  • If the following error message is displayed after a reboot or system crash, we recommend that you regenerate the trustpoint certificate:
     ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

    Use the following commands in the order specified below to generate a new self-signed trustpoint certificate:

    1. device# configure terminal

    2. device(config)# no crypto pki trustpoint trustpoint_name

    3. device(config)# no ip http server

    4. device(config)# no ip http secure-server

    5. device(config)# ip http server

    6. device(config)# ip http secure-server

    7. device(config)# ip http authentication local/aaa

  • Do not deploy OVA files directly to VMware ESXi 6.5. We recommend that you use an OVF tool to deploy the OVA files.

  • Ensure that you remove the controller from Cisco Prime Infrastructure before disabling or enabling Netconf-YANG. Otherwise, the system may reload unexpectedly.

  • Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD) protocol is not supported.

  • SIP media session snooping is not supported on FlexConnect local switching deployments.

  • The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers (C9800-CL, C9800-L, C9800-40, and C9800-80) support a maximum of 14,000 leases with internal DHCP scope.

  • Configuring the mobility MAC address using the wireless mobility mac-address command is mandatory for both HA and 802.11r.

  • If you have Cisco Catalyst 9120 (E/I/P) and Cisco Catalyst 9130 (E) APs in your network and you want to downgrade, use only Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.12.1t. Do not downgrade to Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.12.1s.

  • The following SNMP variables are not supported:

    • CISCO-LWAPP-WLAN-MIB: cLWlanMdnsMode

    • CISCO-LWAPP-AP-MIB.my: cLApDot11IfRptncPresent, cLApDot11IfDartPresent

  • If you are upgrading from Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.x or an earlier release, ensure that you unconfigure the advipservices boot-level licenses on both the active and standby controllers using the no license boot level advipservices command before the upgrade. Note that the license boot level advipservices command is not available in Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.12.1s and 16.12.2s.

  • The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller has a service port that is referred to as GigabitEthernet 0 port.

    The following protocols and features are supported through this port:

    • Cisco Catalyst Center

    • Cisco Smart Software Manager

    • Cisco Prime Infrastructure

    • Telnet

    • Controller GUI

    • HTTP

    • HTTPS

    • Licensing for Smart Licensing feature to communicate with CSSM

    • SSH

  • During device upgrade using GUI, if a switchover occurs, the session expires and the upgrade process gets terminated. As a result, the GUI cannot display the upgrade state or status.

  • From Cisco IOS XE Bengaluru 17.4.1 onwards, the telemetry solution provides a name for the receiver address instead of the IP address for telemetry data. This is an additional option. During the controller downgrade and subsequent upgrade, there is likely to be an issue—the upgrade version uses the newly named receivers, and these are not recognized in the downgrade. The new configuration gets rejected and fails in the subsequent upgrade. Configuration loss can be avoided when the upgrade or downgrade is performed from Cisco Catalyst Center.

  • Communication between Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller and Cisco Prime Infrastructure uses different ports:

    • All the configurations and templates available in Cisco Prime Infrastructure are pushed through SNMP and CLI, using UDP port 161.

    • Operational data for controller is obtained over SNMP, using UDP port 162.

    • AP and client operational data leverage streaming telemetry:

      • Cisco Prime Infrastructure to controller: TCP port 830 is used by Cisco Prime Infrastructure to push the telemetry configuration to the controller (using NETCONF).

      • Controller to Cisco Prime Infrastructure: TCP port 20828 is used for Cisco IOS XE 16.10.x and 16.11.x, and TCP port 20830 is used for Cisco IOS XE 16.12.x, 17.1.x and later releases.

  • To migrate public IP address from 16.12.x to 17.x. ensure that you configure the service internal command. If you do not configure the service internal command, the IP address does not get carried forward.

  • RLAN support with Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) is not available.

  • When you encounter the SNMP error SNMP_ERRORSTATUS_NOACCESS 6, it means that the specified SNMP variable is not accessible.

  • We recommend that you perform a controller reload whenever there is a change in the controller's clock time to reflect an earlier time.


Note


The DTLS version (DTLSv1.0) is deprecated for Cisco Aironet 1800 based on latest security policies. Therefore, any new out-of-box deployments of Cisco Aironet 1800 APs will fail to join the controller and you will get the following error message:

%APMGR_TRACE_MESSAGE-3-WLC_GEN_ERR: Chassis 1 R0/2: wncd: Error in AP Join, AP <AP-name>, 
mac:<MAC-address>Model AIR-AP1815W-D-K9, AP negotiated unexpected DTLS version v1.0

To onboard new Cisco Aironet 1800 APs and to establish a CAPWAP connection, explicitly set the DTLS version to 1.0 in the controller using the following configuration:


config terminal
ap dtls-version dtls_1_0
end

Note that setting the DTLS version to 1.0 affects all the existing AP CAPWAP connections. We recommend that you apply the configuration only during a maintenance window. After the APs download the new image and join the controller, ensure that you remove the configuration.


To upgrade the field programmable hardware devices for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers, see Upgrading Field Programmable Hardware Devices for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers.


Important


Before you begin a downgrade process, you must manually remove the configurations which are applicable in the current version but not in older version. Otherwise, you might encounter an unexpected behavior.


  • When you downgrade an AP from a higher version to Cisco IOS XE Amsterdam 17.3.x, the AP will not be accessible through SSH or the console due to the denial of the enable password, when the AP has not yet joined a controller. If the AP joins a controller, then the AP becomes accessible without any password denial.

Upgrade Path to Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x

Table 10. Upgrade Path to Cisco IOS XE Dublin 17.15.x

Current Software

Upgrade Path for Deployments with 9130 or 9124

Upgrade Path for Deployments Without 9130 or 9124

16.10.x

4

Upgrade first to 16.12.5 or 17.3.x and then to 17.15.x.

16.11.x

Upgrade first to 16.12.5 or 17.3.x and then to 17.15.x.

16.12.x

Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later or 17.6.x or later, and then to 17.15.x. Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later or 17.6.x or later, and then to 17.15.x.

17.1.x

Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later and then to 17.15.x. Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later and then to 17.15.x.

17.2.x

Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later and then to 17.15.x. Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later and then to 17.15.x.

17.3.1 to 17.3.4

Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later or 17.6.x or later, and then to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.3.4c or later

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.4.x

Upgrade first to 17.6.x and then to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.5.x

Upgrade first to 17.6.x and then to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.6.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.7.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.8.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

17.9.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

17.10.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

17.11.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

17.12.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

17.13.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

17.14.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x

8.9.x or any 8.10.x version prior to 8.10.171.0

Upgrade first to 17.3.5 or later or 17.6.x or later, and then to 17.15.x

Upgrade directly to 17.15.x.

4 The Cisco Catalyst 9130 and 9124 APs are not supported in 16.10.x and 16.11.x releases.

Upgrading the Controller Software

This section describes the various aspects of upgrading the controller software.

Finding the Software Version

The package files for the Cisco IOS XE software are stored in the system board flash device (flash:).

Use the show version privileged EXEC command to see the software version that is running on your controller.


Note


Although the show version output always shows the software image running on the controller, the model name shown at the end of the output is the factory configuration, and does not change if you upgrade the software license.

Use the show install summary privileged EXEC command to see the information about the active package.

Use the dir filesystem: privileged EXEC command to see the directory names of other software images that you have stored in flash memory.

Software Images

  • Release: Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x

  • Image Names (9800-80, 9800-40, and 9800-L):

    • C9800-80-universalk9_wlc.17.15.x.SPA.bin

    • C9800-40-universalk9_wlc.17.15.x.SPA.bin

    • C9800-L-universalk9_wlc.17.15.x.SPA.bin

  • Image Names (9800-CL):

    • Cloud: C9800-CL-universalk9.17.15.x.SPA.bin

    • Hyper-V/ESXi/KVM: C9800-CL-universalk9.17.15.x.iso, C9800-CL-universalk9.17.15.x.ova

    • KVM: C9800-CL-universalk9.17.15.x.qcow2

    • NFVIS: C9800-CL-universalk9.17.15.x.tar.gz

Software Installation Commands

Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x

To install and activate a specified file, and to commit changes to be persistent across reloads, run the following command:

device# install add file filename [activate |commit]

To separately install, activate, commit, end, or remove the installation file, run the following command:

device# install ?

Note

 

We recommend that you use the GUI for installation.

add file tftp: filename

Copies the install file package from a remote location to a device, and performs a compatibility check for the platform and image versions.

activateauto-abort-timer]

Activates the file and reloads the device. The auto-abort-timer keyword automatically rolls back image activation.

commit

Makes changes that are persistent over reloads.

rollback to committed

Rolls back the update to the last committed version.

abort

Cancels file activation, and rolls back to the version that was running before the current installation procedure started.

remove

Deletes all unused and inactive software installation files.

Licensing

The Smart Licensing Using Policy feature is automatically enabled on the controller. This is also the case when you upgrade to this release. By default, your Smart Account and Virtual Account in Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) are enabled for Smart Licensing Using Policy. For more information, see the "Smart Licensing Using Policy" chapter in the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide.

For a more detailed overview on Cisco Licensing, see cisco.com/go/licensingguide.

Interoperability with Clients

This section describes the interoperability of the controller software with client devices.

The following table lists the configurations used for testing client devices.

Table 11. Test Configuration for Interoperability

Hardware or Software Parameter

Hardware or Software Type

Release

Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x

Cisco Wireless Controller

See Supported Hardware.

Access Points

See Supported APs.

Radio

  • 802.11ac

  • 802.11a

  • 802.11g

  • 802.11n

Security

Open, PSK (WPA2-AES), 802.1X (WPA2-AES) (EAP-FAST, EAP-TLS)

RADIUS

See Compatibility Matrix.

Types of tests

Connectivity, traffic (ICMP), and roaming between two APs

The following table lists the client types on which the tests were conducted. Client types included laptops, hand-held devices, phones, and printers.

Table 12. Client Types

Client Type and Name

Driver or Software Version

Laptops

Acer Aspire E 15 E5-573-3870 (Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377) Windows 10 Pro (12.0.0.832)
Apple Macbook Air 11 inch macOS Sierra 10.12.6
Apple Macbook Air 13 inch macOS High Sierra 10.13.4
Macbook Pro Retina macOS Catalina
Macbook Pro Retina 13 inch early 2015 macOS Mojave 10.14.3
Macbook Pro OS X macOS X 10.8.5
Macbook Air macOS Sierra v10.12.2
Macbook Air 11 inch macOS Yosemite 10.10.5
MacBook M1 Chip

macOS Catalina

MacBook M1 Chip

macOS Ventura 13.2.1

MacBook Pro M2 Chip

macOS Ventura 13.3 beta

MacBook Pro M2 Chip

macOS Ventura 13.1

Dell Inspiron 2020 Chromebook

Chrome OS 75.0.3770.129

Google Pixelbook Go

Chrome OS 97.0.4692.27

HP chromebook 11a

Chrome OS 76.0.3809.136

Samsung Chromebook 4+

Chrome OS 77.0.3865.105

Dell Latitude (Intel AX210) Windows 11 (22.110.x.x)
Dell Latitude 3480  (Qualcomm DELL wireless 1820) Win 10 Pro (12.0.0.242)
Dell Inspiron 15-7569 (Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165) Windows 10 Home (21.40.0)
Dell Latitude E5540 (Intel Dual Band Wireless AC7260) Windows 7 Professional (21.10.1)
Dell Latitude E5430 (Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205) Windows 7 Professional (15.18.0.1)
Dell Latitude E6840 (Broadcom Dell Wireless 1540 802.11 a/g/n) Windows 7 Professional (6.30.223.215)
Dell XPS 12 v9250 (Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 8260 ) Windows 10 Home (21.40.0)
Dell Latitude 5491 (Intel AX200) Windows 10 Pro (21.20.1.1)
Dell XPS Latitude12 9250 (Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 8260) Windows 10 Home
Dell Inspiron 13-5368 Signature Edition Windows 10 Home (18.40.0.12)
FUJITSU Lifebook E556 Intel 8260 (Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 (802.11n)) Windows 8 (19.50.1.6)

Lenovo Yoga C630 Snapdragon 850 (Qualcomm AC 2x2 Svc)

Windows 10 Home
Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 460 (Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 9260) Windows 10 Pro (21.40.0)

Note

 
For clients using Intel wireless cards, we recommend that you to update to the latest Intel wireless drivers if the advertised SSIDs are not visible.

Tablets

Apple iPad Pro (12.9 inch) 6th Gen

iOS 16.4

Apple iPad Pro (11 inch) 4th Gen

iOS 16.4

Apple iPad 2021

iOS 15.0

Apple iPad 7the Gen 2019 iOS 14.0
Apple iPad MD328LL/A iOS 9.3.5
Apple iPad 2 MC979LL/A iOS 11.4.1
Apple iPad Air MD785LL/A iOS 11.4.1
Apple iPad Air2 MGLW2LL/A iOS 10.2.1
Apple iPad Mini 4 9.0.1 MK872LL/A iOS 11.4.1
Apple iPad Mini 2 ME279LL/A iOS 11.4.1
Apple iPad Mini 4 9.0.1 MK872LL/A iOS 11.4.1
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 13 inch (Intel AX201) Windows 10 (21.40.1.3)
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 15 inch (Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A) Windows 10
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Intel AX201) Windows 10
Microsoft Surface Pro 6 (Marvell Wi-Fi chipset 11ac) Windows 10
Microsoft Surface Pro X (WCN3998 Wi-Fi Chip) Windows

Mobile Phones

Apple iPhone 5 iOS 12.4.1
Apple iPhone 6s iOS 13.5
Apple iPhone 7 MN8J2LL/A iOS 11.2.5
Apple iPhone 8 iOS 13.5
Apple iPhone 8 Plus iOS 14.1
Apple iPhone 8 Plus MQ8D2LL/A iOS 12.4.1
Apple iPhone X MQA52LL/A iOS 13.1
Apple iPhone 11 iOS 15.1
Apple iPhone 12 iOS 16.0
Apple iPhone 12 Pro iOS 15.1
Apple iPhone 13 iOS 15.1
Apple iPhone 13 Mini iOS 15.1
Apple iPhone 13 Pro iOS 15.1
Apple iPhone SE MLY12LL/A iOS 11.3
Apple iPhone SE iOS 15.1
ASCOM i63 Build v 3.0.0
ASCOM Myco 3 Android 9

Cisco IP Phone 8821

11.0.6 SR4

Drager Delta VG9.0.2
Drager M300.3 VG3.0
Drager M300.4 VG3.0
Drager M540 VG4.2

Google Pixel 3a

Android 11

Google Pixel 4

Android 11

Google Pixel 5

Android 11

Google Pixel 6

Android 12

Google Pixel 7

Android 13

Huawei Mate 20 pro Android 9.0
Huawei P20 Pro

Android 10

Huawei P40

Android 10

LG v40 ThinQ Android 9.0

One Plus 8

Android 11

Oppo Find X2

Android 10

Redmi K20 Pro

Android 10

Samsung Galaxy S9+ - G965U1

Android 10.0

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus

Android 11.0

Samsung S10 (SM-G973U1)

Android 11.0

Samsung S10e (SM-G970U1)

Android 11.0

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Android 10.0

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

Android 13.0

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Android 13.0

Samsung Fold 2

Android 10.0

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3

Android 13.0

Samsung Note20

Android 12.0

Samsung G Note 10 Plus

Android 11.0

Samsung Galaxy A01

Android 11.0

Samsung Galaxy A21

Android 10.0

Sony Experia 1 ii

Android 11

Sony Experia

Android 11

Xiaomi Mi 9T

Android 9

Xiaomi Mi 10

Android 11

Spectralink 84 Series 7.5.0.x257
Spectralink 87 Series Android 5.1.1
Spectralink Versity Phones 92/95/96 Series Android 10.0
Spectralink Versity Phones 9540 Series Android 8.1.0
Vocera Badges B3000n 4.3.3.18
Vocera Smart Badges V5000 5.0.6.35
Zebra MC40 Android  4.4.4
Zebra MC40N0 Android 4.1.1
Zebra MC92N0 Android  4.4.4
Zebra MC9090 Windows Mobile 6.1
Zebra MC55A Windows 6.5
Zebra MC75A OEM ver 02.37.0001
Zebra TC51 Android 6.0.1
Zebra TC52 Android 10.0
Zebra TC55 Android 8.1.0
Zebra TC57 Android 10.0
Zebra TC58 Android 11.0
Zebra TC70 Android 6.1
Zebra TC75 Android 10.0

Zebra TC520K

Android 10.0
Zebra TC8000 Android  4.4.3
Printers
Zebra QLn320 Mobile Printer LINK OS 5.2
Zebra ZT230 IndustrialPrinter LINK OS 6.4
Zebra ZQ310 Mobile Printer LINK OS 6.4
Zebra ZD410 Industrial Printer LINK OS 6.4
Zebra ZT410 Desktop Printer LINK OS 6.2
Zebra ZQ610 Industrial Printer LINK OS 6.4
Zebra ZQ620 Mobile Printer LINK OS 6.4

Wireless Module

Intel AX 411

Driver v22.230.0.8

Intel AX 211

Driver v22.230.0.8, v22.190.0.4

Intel AX 210

Driver v22.230.0.8, v22.190.0.4, v22.170.2.1

Intel AX 200

Driver v22.130.0.5

Intel 11AC

Driver v22.30.0.11

Intel AC 9260

Driver v21.40.0

Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 8260

Driver v19.50.1.6

Samsung S21 Ultra

Driver v20.80.80

QCA WCN6855

Driver v1.0.0.901

PhoenixContact FL WLAN 2010

Firmware version: 2.71

Issues

Issues describe unexpected behavior in Cisco IOS releases in a product. Issues that are listed as Open in a prior release are carried forward to the next release as either Open or Resolved.


Note


All incremental releases contain fixes from the current release.


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To view the details of an issue, click the corresponding identifier.

Open Issues for Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1

Identifier

Headline

CSCwh63050

Controller sends IGMP queries without IP address and MAC address on Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.3

CSCwi04855

APs repeatedly join and disjoin controller with traceback

CSCwj39057

Cisco Catalyst 9130 AP experiences traffic loss and delays due to perceived channel utilization and interference

CSCwj42305

Client is unable to connect due to delete reason NACK_IFID_EXISTS

CSCwj80614

Clients are unable to connect due to assignment of IP address that is in use by stale client entry in device-tracking database in FlexConnect local switching

CSCwj83526

APs become non-operational when connected to Cisco Catalyst 9300 Switch via mGig port

CSCwj85091

Controller unexpectedly reloads while running the show wireless client mac-address detail command

CSCwj89538

Cisco Aironet 2802 AP fails to send reassociation response or association request

CSCwj93876

Controller unexpectedly reloads with reason "Critical process wncmgrd fault on rp_0_0 (rc=134)"

CSCwk03445

AP experiences slowness on 5-GHz and 6-GHz band

CSCwk05809

%EVENTLIB-3-CPUHOG message observed on Cisco IOS XE 17.12

CSCwk14917

Controller reloads unexpectedly

CSCwk17102

Client experiences unexpected disconnect due to missing M1 packet

CSCwk17667

Controller reboots due to high ODM memory consumption

CSCwk32111

Controller shows "-1 day" logs when registering with AirGap SLUP

CSCwk37983

Client VLAN is retained after changing SSIDs if \"vlan-persistent\" is enabled

CSCwk39866

Client page is stuck in loading state

CSCwk46105

Controller experiences unexpected reloads with high WNCd memory

CSCwk48338

Cisco Catalyst 9130 does not accept clients on the 5 GHz band

CSCwk48634

FlexConnect local switching dropping upstream broadcast ARP from Android devices in data path in Cisco Catalyst 9130 AP

CSCwk52996

Cisco Catalyst 9120 AP unexpectedly reloads along with radio abnormalities on wlc_bmac_suspend_mac

CSCwk54291

Controller voice CAC BW is not cleared

CSCwk58326

Controller sends multicast packets with previous WMI

CSCwk61068

Controller unexpectedly reloads on 17.9.4 with reason "critical process WNCd fault"

CSCwk61854

Configuration update failure when AP is in delete pending state

CSCwk62836

Cisco Catalyst 9120 AP running on Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.5 drops downstream ARP reply

CSCwk64235

URL filter inconsistency observed post modification

CSCwk66988

Cisco Catalyst 9130 experiences radio failure

CSCwi85439

Cisco IW916x WGB: association is 802.11n, but the uplink statistics counts all Tx packets as MCS9

CSCwi72935

Cisco IW916x WGB: configure beacon miss-count 1000, roaming is never triggered

Resolved Issues for Cisco IOS XE 17.15.1

Identifier

Headline

CSCwh56566

Controller experiences flow monitor failure due to manual flow record parameters

CSCwh80060

Cisco Wave 2 APs connected to the controller are losing the FlexConnect WLAN-VLAN mapping

CSCwh81071

Slot 2 is down for GB country after performing factory reset

CSCwi16509

APs do not join the controller with invalid radio slot ID error

CSCwi22895

Controller becomes unresponsive within Radio Resource Management (RRM) service due to ReloadReason=Critical process rrm fault

CSCwi27380

Media stream feature does not work

CSCwi28382

Controller reloads unexpectedly due to Keymgmt: Failed to eapol key m1 retransmit failure

CSCwi55714

Controller unexpectedly reboots when handling NMSP TLS connection

CSCwi56780

MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB) is not initiated unless the client device is deauthenticated

CSCwi69251

Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller becomes unresponsive on Critical process Radio Resource Management (RRM) fault on rp_0_0

CSCwi75759

Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller reloads due to critical process WNCd fault

CSCwi99276

Controller does not have Network Access Control (NAC) in the policy profile configuration enabled on Prime Infrastructure

CSCwj08367

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller encounters unresponsiveness generating system report, segmentation fault - Process = IGMPSN

CSCwj09698

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller encounters an unexpected reset in wncmgrd with a scaled setup while being managed by the Meraki Dashboard

CSCwj25187

Controller does not display the redundancy details on the Web-UI, only on the CLI

CSCwj26196

Controller encounters an unexpected reset while trying to validate the MAC address with the EWLC_APP_INFRA_ID_MAGIC

CSCwj31356

Controller reboots due to Radio Resource Management (RRM) process fault on rp_0_0 (rc=139)

CSCwj36962

Controller reboots unexpectedly due to invalid QoS parameters

CSCwj42408

Controller posture flow does not work when PMF is optional

CSCwj34379

Cisco Catalyst 9800-80 Wireless Controller encounters WNCd issues when accessing Crimson Database

CSCwj79545

Controller unexpectedly reboots during WNCd process due to assertation failure with invalid BSSID

CSCwj86938

Memory leak in scale network with telemetry shared user events with Cisco Catalyst Center

CSCwj93153

Controller becomes unresponsive during WNCd process

CSCwk05030

Controller becomes unresponsive due to critical software exception

CSCwj40202

Controller does not send RADIUS accounting messages WLAN with PSK/MAB authentication

CSCwj60910

Controller and PI report observe RRM message mismatch

CSCwh88246

AP does not allow you to apply URL filter after invalid configuration

CSCwi01382

5-GHz and 2.4-GHz radios remain non-operational in an AP

CSCwj67158

Controller does not send mobile address to AP if the CoA is received when the user is in the ip_learn state

CSCwj72370

Controller uses incorrect username for "show platform" command when logging in GUI

CSCwi47294

Per client rate limit with FlexConnect AP is not functioning

CSCwi48980

Controller local password policy does not take effect on GUI login as expected

CSCwi50732

VLAN group support for DHCP and static IP clients feature does not work on FlexConnect Central Switching mode

CSCwi64010

Controller accepts the reserved IPv6 multicast address to be configured as a mobility multicast IPv6 address

CSCwi66582

Controller returns with error while uploading backup file with FTP on GUI

CSCwi69093

Controller GUI shows incorrect number of clients connected to the AP

CSCwj76892

Controller configures aggregation scheduler parameter incorrectly, causing low downlink speed

CSCwi83124

Pop-ups are not displayed correctly in dark mode in the controller

CSCwj00465

Active controller becomes ActiveRecovery when the redundancy port link is down

CSCwj01446

Personal Identity Verification (PIV) authentication requires an additional backslash in the redirection URL to work successfully

CSCwj04177

AP undergoing Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) fails if the password is more than 31 characters

CSCwj15376

Cisco NMSP runs into security protocol issues

CSCwj25110

Controller reports incorrect values during SNMP polling

CSCwj77128

URL filter allows only letters as the first character

CSCwj33376

Incorrect selection of APs in load balancing

CSCwj94201

Controller experiences unresponsiveness CPUHOG

CSCwj68763

Enhanced URL is missing after FlexConnect AP CAPWAP flap

CSCwk35891

Controller experiences unresponsiveness after displaying "\clear ap geolocation derivation\" message

CSCwj42562

GUI does not display PC analytics statistics

CSCwk44459

Loadbalancer server holds incorrect AP IP address and stale entries

CSCwi44211

The "show run" command results are different from restore configuration

CSCwj29406

The "show ap summary sort descending client-count" command shows wrong client count

CSCwi29216

Unsupportive characters in the description field prevents re-sync

CSCwj83935

Controller shows tech X is empty when previous tech X term length stop didn't finish before SSH close

CSCwi70760

Controller encrypts ApDnaGlobalCfg token when the password encryption is configured using AES

CSCwj96620

Syntax errors observed in CISCO-LWAPP-DOT11-CLIENT-MIB

CSCwj96666

Syntax errors observed in CISCO-LWAPP-DOT11-MIB

CSCwj97107

Standby controller does not take active role after reloading the active controller with "reload slot" command

CSCwk02633

An RSA key pair is configured in the truspoint configuration when an EC keypair is selected when creating a trustpoint on the controller.

CSCwk25182

Controller throws password policy alert while logging in GUI using TACACS+ credentials after upgrading to Cisco IOS XE 17.14

CSCwk28680

Controller unexpectedly reloads due to Cisco QuantumFlow Processor (QFP) ucode while updating the drop statistics

CSCwj33979

Output for the show ap summary command takes lengthy duration to complete

CSCwk67341

Cisco IW916x WGB: wcpd crash during 802.11v neighbor list updates after multiple roams

CSCwj26036

COS uWGB: Does not translate the client MAC address of Broadcast DHCP offer

CSCwk30230

Cisco IW9167: Clients cannot associate to APs in bridge mode (RAP) when the AP is on a fiber connection

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