Upgrade Secure Network Analytics (SNA) Best Practices

Introduction

This document describes some best practice information about upgrades to Secure Network Analytics (SNA) (formerly known as Stealthwatch).

Prerequisites

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

This document is not restricted to specific software and hardware versions.

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Background Information

SNA only supports upgrades from one major release to the next. (For example from 7.3.x to 7.4.x or 7.4.x to 7.5.x) Release skips are not supported. If the user is comfortable with reset of all data to a factory default state then a hardware appliance can be reimaged, a new VM can be installed.

Software Downloads and Upgrade Guides

• Software and guides for releases 7.3.2 and higher can be found at Cisco Software Central 
• Software and guides for releases previous to 7.3.2 are no longer available

Hardware Support Matrix

The information in this section is pulled from the Cisco Secure Network Analytics Hardware and Software Version Support Matrix guide as of release 7.6.0.

Manager & Flow Collector (incl. Engine & Database)

Data Store

 

 

Flow Sensor

 

Flow Replicator/UDP Director

NOTE: UDPD 2210 is EOL. UDPD users are encouraged to migrate to CTB, however 7.6.0 UDPD upgrade is possible. The swu file is available here.

App Compatibility Matrix

The information in this section is pulled from the Secure Network Analytics Apps Version Compatibility Matrix

ETA Cryptographic Audit

Host Classifier

Network Diagrams and Report Builder (Report Builder is integrated into the product starting 7.4.0)

Security Analytics and Logging on Prem (integrated in product starting 7.5.1) and Visibility Assessment

Upgrades by Release

Upgrade Release 7.3.x to 7.4.x

Upgrades to releases: 7.4.0, 7.4.1 and 7.4.2

Software Downloads: Software is available from Cisco Software Central 

Upgrade Guide: Update guide for 7.3.x to 7.4.0 or 7.4.1

Upgrade Guide: Update guide for 7.3.x to 7.4.2

Upgrade Release 7.4.x to 7.5.x

Upgrades to releases: 7.5.0, 7.5.1, 7.5.2, 7.5.3

Software Downloads: Software is available from Cisco Software Central 

Upgrade Guide: Update guide for 7.4.x to 7.5.0

Upgrade Guide: Update guide for 7.4.x and 7.5.0 to 7.5.1
Upgrade Guide: Update guide for 7.4.x and 7.5.x to 7.5.2
Upgrade Guide: Update Guide for 7.4.x and 7.5.x to 7.5.3

Upgrade Release 7.5.x to 7.6.0

Upgrade to release 7.6.0

Software Downloads: Software is available from Cisco Software Central 

Upgrade Guide: Update Guide for 7.5.x to 7.6.0

Software Support Timelines

Typically a release is covered under Software Maintenance for 12 months post-release and receives Vulnerability and Security Fixes for 18 months post-release. More information about the SNA software Release Model and release support timeline is available from Cisco Stealthwatch® Software Release Model and Release Support Timeline Product Bulletin.

This table lists support timelines from release 7.1.1 onwards.

Release	Release Date	End of Software Maintenance (EoS)	End of Vulnerability & Security Support (EoVSS)
7.6.0*	23 March, 2026	23 March, 2027	23 Septepmber, 2027
7.5.3	25 August, 2025	25 August, 2026	25 February, 2027
7.5.2	24 February, 2025	24 February, 2026	24 August, 2026
7.5.1	19 August, 2024	19 August, 2025	19 February, 2026
7.5.0	22 January, 2024	22 January, 2025	22 July, 2025
7.4.2	26 March, 2023	26 March, 2024	26 September, 2024
7.4.1	09 May, 2022	09 May, 2023	09 November, 2023
7.4.0	02 November, 2021	02 November, 2022	02 May, 2023
7.3.2	01 June, 2021	01 June, 2022	01 December, 2022
7.3.1	04 Feb, 2021	04 February, 2022	04 August, 2022
7.3.0	03 September, 2020	03 September, 2021	03 March, 2022
7.2.1	17 June, 2020	17 June, 2021	01 July, 2022
7.1.1	16 August, 2019	16 August, 2020	01 July, 2022

* indicates the currently recommended release

End of Life (EOL) Notices

FlexNet EOL

FlexNet licensing went EOL on Dec 31, 2022. All SNA licensing moved to CIsco Smart Licensing. 

Global Threat Analytics (GTA) EOL

GTA is scheduled to go EOL on July 31, 2024. The EOL notice also discusses migration options. 

Endpoint License (AnyConnect Network Visibility Module Integration)

With Secure Network Analytics Release 7.5.1, the Endpoint license is no longer necessary for the Secure Network Analytics integration with the Network Visibility Module from Cisco Secure Client (AnyConnect). Instead, consumption will count towards a customer's Flow Rate License in order to simplify the entitlement requirements.

SAL-OP License EOL

Starting with Secure Network Analytics Release 7.5.3, the SAL-OP (Secure Analytics Logging - On Prem) license is no longer required for integrating Secure Network Analytics with Secure Analytics On-Prem Logging from Cisco Firewalls. Instead, usage will now contribute to a customer's Flow Rate License, streamlining the entitlement process.

UDP Director Virtual EOL

The EOL notice informs the last date of support is October 31st, 2028. UDP Director is being replaced by Cisco Telemetry Broker.

Upgrade Gotchas and Warnings

Number 1: Manager Failover: Once you start an upgrade, do NOT perform an Manager failover until ALL appliances are upgraded, this could result in the system becoming inoperable.

Number 2: Before you start the update (for example, to 7.6.0), make sure your appliances have been running on the same version (in this case, 7.5.0, 7.5.1, 7.5.2 or 7.5.3) for more than one month (30 days). If you've updated your system to more than one version in a short period of time, your system baselining may be impacted. 

Revision History

Revision	Publish Date	Comments
9.0	03-Jul-2026	Updated article to list 7.6.0 milestones and update guides, updated upgrade info to only include currently supported upgrade paths.
8.0	29-Aug-2025	Updated article to list 7.5.3 milestones and update guides, updated upgrade info to only include currently supported upgrade paths.
7.0	09-Apr-2025	Updated article to list 7.5.2 milestones and update guides, updated upgrade info to only include currently supported upgrade paths.
6.0	12-Dec-2024	Updated article to list 7.5.1 milestones and update guides, updated upgrade info to only include currently supported upgrade paths.
5.0	28-Mar-2024	Updated article to list 7.5.0 milestones and update guides Added sections for App Compatibility and EOL Notices
4.0	27-Mar-2024	Updated article to list 7.5.0 milestones and update guides
3.0	21-Sep-2023	Updated article to list 7.4.2 milestones.
2.0	29-Aug-2022	Initial Release
1.0	29-Aug-2022	Initial Release