TAC Recommended AireOS Builds

Introduction

This document helps customers to find the most reliable Wireless LAN Controller software available. The Cisco Wireless TAC (Technical Assistance Center) recommends AireOS builds from each train of released AireOS software. These recommendations may be updated on a weekly basis.

Escalation Builds/Maintenance Interims

In some cases, the TAC recommended build might be an escalation or maintenance interim/beta build. Such builds are not available on CCO (Cisco.com), but have important bug fixes (beyond what is available in CCO code), and will be operational in production at customer sites for several weeks.

Note that, in some cases, the beta/escalation/interim build will contain support for unreleased features and/or hardware.  TAC does not support unreleased features or hardware - until official release, such support will come from the Business Unit (BU).

For released features and platforms, these builds are fully supported by TAC and the BU.

In order to request a TAC recommended escalation/maintenance interim build, open a Cisco TAC case on your Wireless LAN Controller contract.

TAC Recommended Builds

AireOS 8.10

AireOS 8.10.112.0 and 8.10.121.0 are TAC supported releases.  TAC recommends that customers with 802.11ax (Catalyst 9100 Series Wi-Fi 6) access points run 8.10.121.0.

• FIPS customers must not use 8.10.112.0 as it can cause APs to become stranded, requiring physical access for recovery
  
  • This is CSCvt17801 (AP 2800/3800/4800/1560/IW 6300 gets into a loop after attempting to join WLC with FIPS enabled)
  • This bug does not affect 8.10.121.0

AireOS 8.9

AireOS 8.9.100.0 and 8.9.111.0 are deferred.  The 802.11ax APs require 8.9 or above; TAC recommends 8.10.121.0 for deployments with these APs.

AireOS 8.8

For customers who require features or hardware (such as the AP4800 series) that are not supported in 8.5, TAC recommends 8.8.130.0 or 8.10, which also support Inter-Release Controller Mobility (IRCM) compatibility with Cisco 9800 controllers.

AireOS 8.7

AireOS 8.7.106.0 is a short-lived release with no maintenance planned - see the End of Life bulletin.  Customers who require new features that are unavailable in 8.5 should run 8.8 or 8.10.

AireOS 8.6

AireOS 8.6.101.0 is a short-lived release with no maintenance planned, and is deferred - see the End of Life bulletin.  Customers who require new features that are unavailable in 8.5 should run 8.8 or 8.10.

AireOS 8.5

AireOS 8.5.161.0 is a TAC supported release.  For deployments with hardware that is end of lifed in 8.5, TAC recommends 8.5.161.x Escalation code (available now from TAC.)  8.5 is the last train for the following platforms: AP1600, AP2600, AP3500, AP3600, AP1552 (128MB version), AP802, WLC2504, WLC5508, WLC7510, WLC8510, WiSM2.

8.5.161.x Escalation includes fixes for the following widely encountered bugs, which fixes are not present in 8.5.161.0:

• CSCvq55777 Roaming client immediately gets "expiring mobile"
• CSCvq90572 Receive throughput degrades for 2800/3800/4800/1560 - AP fails to send block ACKs
• CSCvt22353 2800/3800/4800/1560 APs not sending DHCP messages over the air
• CSCvq16085 3504 boots with interfaces unreachable for some protocols

If Cisco 9800 controller compatibility with AireOS 8.5 is required, use the 8.5.164.0 "IRCM" special image for 5508/8510/5520/8540/3504.  This image is not supported for other platforms, nor is it supported for non-IRCM deployments.

AireOS 8.4

AireOS 8.4 is a short-lived release with no maintenance planned, and is deferred.  Any deployment that requires post-8.3 features or hardware should run 8.5 instead.

AireOS 8.3

For deployments that include hardware that is end of lifed in 8.3,  TAC recommends 8.3.150.0 or 8.3.150.x Escalation code (available now from TAC.)  8.3 is the last train for the following platforms: AP1040, AP1140, AP1260, AP1552 (64MB version), OEAP600.

8.3.150.0 and 8.3.150.x Escalation code both include fixes for the following widely encountered bugs, beyond the 8.3.143.0 CCO release:

• CDP-4-DUPLEX-MISMATCH log messages from APs' switches (CSCvi02106 ) (Field Notice FN70252)
• IOS AP flash corruption problems (see Field Notice FN70330)

AireOS 8.3.150.0

8.3.150.0 is the final CCO release of 8.3 - see the End of Life bulletin
8.3.150.0 has all applicable April 2019 Security Advisory fixes.

AireOS 8.3.150.x Escalation

• For 8.3 deployments with AP-COS, TAC recommends 8.3.150.x Escalation (available upon request.)
• 8.3.150.x Escalation has all of 8.3.150.0's bugfixes, as well as several key bugfixes which are not present in 8.3.150.0, including the following:
• AP-COS: AP not joining after enabling MIC certificate expiry check (CSCvb93909 )
• CSCvp73371   (see the tech tip ARP Responses for Default Gateway IP Address Point to Wireless Clients)
• AP generating 'hostapd' core files, does not respond to EAPOL (CSCvi42632 )
• Cisco 1810W AP stops to send data frame intermittently (CSCvg91770 )
• Cisco 3800 AP FW stopped working on Radio 0 (CSCvh54235 )
• Cisco 2800,3800,1560 AP cannot forward packets downstream; 'Failed to get ARP entry for WLC' (CSCvg44450 )

AireOS 8.2

For deployments that require features or hardware introduced after 8.0, TAC supports 8.2.170.0.  No further 8.2 releases are planned.

AireOS 8.1

8.1.131.0 is the final maintenance release of AireOS 8.1, and is deferred. The recommended upgrade path for AireOS 8.1 customers is to 8.3 or, if feasible, 8.5.

AireOS 8.0

For AireOS 8.0 customers, TAC supports 8.0.152.0.  No further 8.0 releases are planned.

8.0.150.0 and 8.0.152.0 are susceptible to the AID Errors problem (CSCve81314   (local mode APs) and CSCve81269   (FlexConnect APs)). This is fixed in 8.0MR5esc, available from TAC.  See the Field Notice for more details.

Mobility Express

For Mobility Express deployments, TAC recommends using the latest 8.10 release.

General AireOS Release Recommendations

For general AireOS Release Recommendations, see:

• Guidelines for Cisco Wireless Software Release Migration Bulletin
• Software Research

Note for CIMC Software on 5520s and 8540s

5520 and 8540 controllers shoud have CIMC 3.0(4l) or 4.0(2f) installed

• If CIMC 2.x or 3.x is installed, upgrade to CMC 3.0(4l)
• If CIMC 4.0x is installed, upgrade to CIMC 4.0(2f)

See the CIMC Utility Upgrade section of the 8.10.105.0 release notes for more details.

Note for Software Defined Access (SDA)

Always refer to the SDA Compatibility Matrix for code combination recommendations that work best for SDA. It lists specific combinations of code on Cisco DNA Center, the Identity Service Engine (ISE), switches, routers and Wireless LAN Controller codes that have been tested by the SDA Solution Test team at Cisco.

Related Information

• For wireless controller on IOS-XE, see TAC Recommended IOS-XE Builds for Wireless LAN Controllers
• Use the TAC Recommended AireOS discussion thread in Cisco Support Community
• Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems
• Cisco Wireless Solutions Software Compatibility Matrix for information on which releases support which hardware platforms