Field Notice: FN74269 - Cisco NCS 5500 Modular Systems May Not Work Properly During Replacement or Reimage for Systems Containing Third-Party SMUs - Software Upgrade Recommended

Cisco Network Convergence System (NCS) 5500/5700 Modular Platform line cards and/or Route Processors (RPs) may enter a reboot loop during the re-image operation. This occurs when a third-party SMU is installed on the system. This issue affects all modular platforms that are running Cisco IOS XR Software Release 7.6.1 and later and have third-party SMUs installed, resulting in increased Return Material Authorization (RMAs) being observed in the field.

The reboot loop was encountered when the RP or line card tried to synchronize with Cisco IOS XR Software on the active RP. This only impacts systems that have a third-party SMU installed.

Note: The card, whether it is an RP, line card, or fabric card (FC), is not exposed to this issue if it boots Cisco IOS XR Software from the local disk, which occurs when the local installation is identical to the one on the active RP.

If either of the following conditions is observed in your Cisco NCS 5500/5700 Series routers, proceed to the Workaround/Solution section of this Field Notice.

Condition 1: A third-party SMU has been installed on your system.

To identify a third-party SMU, see the package name. SMUs with a package name that do not begin with the platform name are third-party SMUs. In the following example, third-party SMUs are highlighted in bold: 

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:NCS-5504-A# admin show install active summary
    Active Packages: 11  
       ncs5500-sysadmin-7.8.2 version=7.8.2 [Boot image]
       ncs5500-sysadmin-hostos-7.8.2.2-r782.CSCwf05176.admin
       ncs5500-sysadmin-hostos-7.8.2.2-r782.CSCwf05176.host    [Host]
       ncs5500-sysadmin-system-7.8.2.2-r782.CSCwf77302
       ncs5500-sysadmin-shared-7.8.2.2-r782.CSCwf88190
       ncs5500-sysadmin-ncs5500-7.8.2.6-r782.CSCwf77302
       ncs5500-sysadmin-install-7.8.2.1-r782.CSCwe89758
       systemd-244.5.p1-r0.r782.CSCwf05176.admin
       systemd-244.5.p1-r0.r782.CSCwf05176.host    [Host]
       libvirt-6.1.0.p1-r0.r782.CSCwf05176.admin
       libvirt-6.1.0.p1-r0.r782.CSCwf05176.host    [Host] 

Condition 2: If a system is impacted by this issue, output is reported during the replacement and re-image process, as shown in the following example:

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:NCS-5504-A#show platform | e Slice
Mon Apr  7 08:13:01.192 UTC
Node              Type                       State             Config state
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/0/1             NC55-MPA-1TH2H-S           OK
0/0/2             NC55-MPA-4H-HD-S           OK
0/0/CPU0          NC55-MOD-A-S               SW_INACTIVE        NSHUT
0/1/1             NC57-MPA-12L-S             OK
0/1/CPU0          NC55-MOD-A-SE-S            IOS XR RUN        NSHUT
0/2/CPU0          NC55-36X100G-A-SE          IOS XR RUN        NSHUT
0/3/CPU0          NC55-36X100G-S             IOS XR RUN        NSHUT
0/RP0/CPU0        NC55-RP(Active)            IOS XR RUN        NSHUT
0/FC0             NC55-5504-FC               OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FC1             NC55-5504-FC               OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FC2             NC55-5504-FC               OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FC3             NC55-5504-FC               OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FC4             NC55-5504-FC               OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FC5             NC55-5504-FC               OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FT0             NC55-5504-FAN              OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FT1             NC55-5504-FAN              OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/FT2             NC55-5504-FAN              OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/PM0             NC55-PWR-3KW-AC            OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/PM1             NC55-PWR-3KW-AC            OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/PM2             NC55-PWR-3KW-AC            OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/SC0             NC55-SC                    OPERATIONAL       NSHUT
0/SC1             NC55-SC                    OPERATIONAL       NSHUT 

Solution:

Cisco IOS XR Software Releases 24.2.21, 24.4.2, 25.1.1, and later are considered to be fixed releases that do not require the installation of an SMU.

For releases earlier than Cisco IOS XR Software Release 24.4.21, Cisco recommends proactively installing SMUs. First, ensure that no third-party SMUs are installed on the device, and then deploy the appropriate SMU according the following instructions:

Step 1: Download the appropriate SMU as shown in the following table. 

1. Go to the Cisco Software Download page.
2. Choose the appropriate Cisco NCS 5500 or 5700 product from the list. 
3. Click the IOS XR Software Maintenance Upgrade (SMU) link.
4. Choose the appropriate release for which you want to install the SMU.

Step 2: If the affected line card is stuck in a boot loop or is in the SW_INACTIVE state, shut down the line card using the sysadmin configuration hw-module shutdown location command. If an RP is affected, the affected RP must be physically removed from the chassis. This ensures proper handling before further troubleshooting or recovery steps are taken.

Step 3: First, remove any third-party SMU that is running on this device. Then, upgrade from an affected release of Cisco IOS XR Software to a fixed release as shown in the following table:

Note: The software selected at this stage must not contain any third-party SMUs.

To Upgrade from an Affected Cisco IOS XR Software Release to a Fixed Release:

Step 4: Install the desired third-party SMU as shown in the following table. This step can be combined with a Cisco IOS XR Software upgrade:

Recommended Action: If no third-party SMUs are in use, the preferred solution is to combine Step 3b and Step 4a because this sequence would require the system to reload only once, minimizing downtime and operational impact.