Recommended Releases for Catalyst 9200/9300/9400/9500/9600 and Catalyst 3650/3850 Platforms

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Updated:May 31, 2023
Document ID:214814

Bias-Free Language

The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.

    Introduction

    This document describes how to find a stable software release for the Catalyst 9000 series Enterprise switching platforms.

    Background Information 

    The information in this document is not meant to be exhaustive and is intended to serve as a general guide to you especially in cases of mass deployments/upgrades. Beyond these recommendations, if you are required to run a release to utilize newer software features or hardware, the recommendation is to select Extended Maintenance (EM) release trains wherever possible. 

    • If you use Software-Defined Access (SDA), please refer to the product compatibility matrix which is available here.
    • For software recommendations on Cisco Catalyst 1000/2960/3560/CDB/4500 and Catalyst 6500/6800 series switches, please refer to this page.
    • For software recommendations on Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers, please refer to this page.

    Cisco IOS XE Software Support

    Each Cisco IOS® XE software release is classified as either a Standard Maintenance release or an Extended Maintenance release.


    Standard Maintenance Release (SMR) - A sustaining support lifetime of 12 months from First Customer Shipment (FCS) with scheduled rebuilds. Examples are Cisco IOS XE Software releases 17.1, 17.2, 17.4, 17.5, 17.7, 17.8, 17.10, and 17.11


    Extended Maintenance Release (EMR) - A sustaining support lifetime of 36 months from First Customer Shipment (FCS) with scheduled rebuilds. Examples are Cisco IOS XE Software releases 16.12, 17.3, 17.6, and 17.9

    Note: Every subsequent third release (for example, Cisco IOS XE Software release 16.12, 17.3, 17.6, and 17.9) is an Extended Maintenance release.

    Given that Standard Maintenance Releases have much shorter support lifetimes whereas Extended Maintenance releases have longer support with more scheduled rebuilds/bug fixes, it is recommended that you stay on Extended Maintenance releases wherever possible. 

    Recommendations

    The recommendations stated here are current as of June 2023, and are periodically updated when appropriate.

    Product Family

    Product Details

    Recommended Cisco IOS-XE release

    Catalyst 9200

    C9200CX(all models)

    17.9.3

    C9200L (all models)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9200 (all models)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    Catalyst 9300

    9300L (all models)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9300-24H, C9300-48H, C9300X-48HX

    17.6.4
    17.9.3

    C9300X (C9300X-12Y, C9300X-24Y and C9300X-48TX)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9300X (C9300X-24HX)

    17.9.3

    C9300 (all other models)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9300LM (all models)

    17.9.3

    Catalyst 9400

    C9400-SUP-1, C9400-SUP-1XL and C9400-SUP-1XL-Y

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9400X-SUP2(XL)

    17.9.3

    Catalyst 9500

    C9500 (all models)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9500X (C9500X-28C8D)

    17.9.3#

    Catalyst 9600

    C9600 (C9600-SUP-1)

    17.6.5

    17.9.3

    C9600X-SUP2

    17.9.3

    Catalyst 3650

    C3650 (all models)

    16.12.8*

    Catalyst 3850

    C3850 (all models)

    16.12.8*
    note-icon

    Note:  # For newer Hardware such as C9500X-60L4D, please select the compatible software release listed on the Cisco Software Download page. The preference should be to select an Extended Maintenance Release if available. 

    note-icon

    Note: * For Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 refer to 3650/3850 Hardware End of Life (EOL) announcement pages for software support timelines.

    Software Recommendation FAQ

    Question: What if I see a recommended version of code on this page, but it is not available to download for that specific switch model?

    Answer:

    • When Catalyst switches are launched, they might not support earlier versions of software that were released before the hardware was launched. Always confirm what software is actually available to download for that specific platform.
    • Do not download a version of code from some other platform page and attempt to install on your device. The software available on the specific product page takes precedent over this release recommendation page
    • In a situation like this, use the feedback feature at the right hand side of the article to let us know! We make every effort to keep this page up to date, but in some cases (such as a new platform release) this page recommendation may be slightly behind.

    Software Maintenance Upgrade (SMU) and Engineering Special (ES)

    In certain cases, fix for critical bugs can be made available via Software Maintenance Upgrade (SMU) or Engineering Special (ES) builds. 

    • Software Maintenance Upgrade (SMU) is a package that can be installed on a system to provide a patch fix or a security resolution to a released image. A SMU package is provided on a per release and per component basis, and is specific to the platform. SMUs are supported only on Extended Maintenance Releases and for the full lifecycle of the parent software release. 
    • Engineering Special (ES) builds are meant to be deployed for a limited time frame and are not available on CCO (cisco.com). You are advised to move to the next maintenance rebuild as soon as it is available on Cisco.com.  Engineering special builds are fully supported by the Cisco Customer Experience (CX) and the Business Unit (BU).

    If you encounter any issues specific to your environment which is not already fixed in existing cisco.com releases, please contact Cisco Customer Experience (CX) to explore the possibility of a SMU or ES.

    Caveats

    Identifier

    Headline

    Affected Versions (EMR)

    Workaround Available

    Fixed Version

    Cisco bug ID

    CSCwe54104/CSCwd78924

    C9300-24H/C9300-48H switches running 17.6.5 will not provide PoE

    17.6.5

    No
    (17.6.5 ES available)

    17.6.6(upcoming)

    Cisco bug ID CSCwe36743

    Segmentation Fault - Crash - SSH - When Changing AAA Group Configs

    17.6.3, 17.6.4, 17.6.5

    Yes

    (SMU available)

    17.6.6(upcoming)

    Cisco bug ID CSCwe54047

    9300X-24Y booted as Standalone will Observe packet loss between Inter-ASIC Traffic Flows

    17.6.1, 17.6.2, 17.6.3, 17.6.4, 17.9.1, 17.9.2. 17.9.3

    Yes

    17.6.6 (upcoming)

    Cisco bug ID CSCwd17488

    C9300 Switches May Encounter Traffic Forwarding Issues With Stack Ports Down on 17.6.4

    17.6.4

    No 

    (SMU available)

    17.6.5

    Cisco bug ID CSCwa85525

    Memory leak in MallocLite due to growing Smart Agent Memory Utilization

    17.6.1a,17.6.2,17.6.3,17.6.4,

    17.3.3,17.3.4,17.3.5,17.3.6

    No

    17.6.5

    17.3.7

    Cisco bug ID CSCwc54402 

    Catalyst 9600 ISSU May Fail if FPGA Upgrade Required

    17.3.1, 17.3.2a, 17.3.3, 17.3.4 17.6.1, 17.6.2, 17.6.3, 17.6.4, 17.9.1

    Yes

    17.6.5

    17.9.2

    Cisco bug ID CSCwa76242

    Cat 9200L - 10G Link Flaps at intermittent times when peer is maintained as Nexus 9K

    17.3.3, 17.3.4, 17.3.5, 17.6.3

    No

    17.3.6

    17.6.4

    17.9.1 

    Cisco bug ID CSCwa85199

    High CPU Utilization and Malloclite memory leak caused by Smart Licensing Agent

    17.3.3, 17.3.4, 17.3.5, 17.6.1, 17.6.2, 17.6.3

    Yes

    17.3.6

    17.6.4 

    Related Information

    Cisco Support and Downloads

    Cisco IOS XE 16 - Release Notes - Cisco

    Cisco IOS XE 17 - Release Notes - Cisco

    End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco IOS XE 16.6.x

    End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco IOS XE 16.9.x

    End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco IOS XE 16.12.x

    End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco IOS XE 17.3.x 

    Revision History

    Revision Publish Date Comments
    15.0
    31-May-2023
    Updated the recommended releases
    14.0
    12-May-2023
    Updated Recommended Cisco IOS-XE releases for Catalyst 9000 switches.
    10.0
    04-Nov-2022
    Updated content with new release information & details on ES and SMU images
    9.0
    26-Sep-2022
    Updated content with new release information
    8.0
    09-Jun-2022
    Dual Recommendation of 17.3.5 and 17.6.3 updated for most of the Catalyst 9000 Series Switches
    7.0
    28-Apr-2022
    Recommendation updated to 17.3.5 for most of the Catalyst 9000 Series Switches
    6.0
    20-Apr-2022
    Recommendation updated to 16.12.7 for Catalyst 3850 and 3650 Series switches
    5.0
    24-Jan-2022
    changing "current as of"
    4.0
    17-Jan-2022
    Recommendation of 9300X models updated to 17.6.2 and StackWise Virtual feature-based recommendation removed from the page.
    3.0
    25-Oct-2021
    Updated 9200/L recommendation
    2.0
    03-Sep-2021
    9300X release recommendation updated
    1.0
    30-Aug-2021
    Initial Release

    Contributed by

    • Shashank Singh
      Principal Engineer
    • Binny George
      Technical Leader
    • Ambrose Taylor
      Technical Leader

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