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 8.10.105.0 is a TAC supported release.  TAC recommends that customers with 802.11ax (Catalyst 9100 Series Wi-Fi 6) access points run this release.

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 8.10.105.0 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 8.8.125.0 or 8.10.105.0, 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

TAC recommends AireOS 8.5.151.0.  Customers who do not require any post-8.5 features or hardware should stay with the 8.5 train.  8.5 is the last train for the following platforms: AP1600, AP2600, AP3500, AP3600, AP1552 (128MB version), AP802, WLC2504, WLC5508, WLC7510, WLC8510, WiSM2.

For FlexConnect deployments with AP-COS access points, TAC recommends avoiding 8.5.160.0 due to the folllowing bug:
CSCvs25798   Clients not receiving ARP response on COS APs doing flex local switching

If Cisco 9800 controller compatibility with AireOS 8.5 is required, contact TAC for an "8.5 IRCM" special image for 5508/8510/5520/8540/3504, or send mail to wnbu-escalation@cisco.com.

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 8.5 or 8.8 release.

General AireOS Release Recommendations

For general AireOS Release Recommendations, see:

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

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