AI Assistant for Catalyst Center

The AI Assistant is a conversational AI interface designed to help optimize network management and promote troubleshooting. Through AI-powered responses, recommendations, and insights, the AI Assistant helps streamline network operations.

With its troubleshooting capabilities, the AI Assistant helps assist you with identifying and resolving network issues, and contributes to minimal downtime and enhanced performance.

For details about the AI Assistant, refer to Cisco Catalyst Center AI Assistant.

Enhancements to 802.11be profiles

For Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18.1, the 802.11be profiles have these enhancements:

• Mark as default toggle button to set an 802.11be profile as the default profile.

• Support for Multi-Link Operation (MLO) groups to use multiple frequency bands at the same time.

Refer to Create an 802.11be profile, Add SSIDs to a network profile, and Enable the Wi-Fi 7 configuration

Enhancements to Per-Device Configurations for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

The Per-Device Configuration feature on Catalyst Center now supports enhancements to 802.11be configurations for a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller running Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18.1 or later.

Refer to Create a WLAN profile for a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, Configure the 802.11be profile for a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, and Create a multi-BSSID profile for a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller.

OFDMA uplink, OFDMA downlink, MU-MIMO uplink, and MU-MIMO downlink configuration changes for 802.11be settings

Starting with Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18.2, the OFDMA Uplink, OFDMA Downlink, MU-MIMO Uplink, and MU-MIMO Downlink parameters are deprecated and ignored in these 802.11be configurations:

• 802.11be profiles for the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands

• 802.11BE PARAMETERS section in RF profiles for the 6-GHz band

To configure these settings:

• For the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands: use the 802.11ax Configuration tab in the Advanced SSID Configuration feature template.

• For the 6-GHz band: use the 802.11AX PARAMETERS section in the RF profiles.

Refer to Create an 802.11be profile, Create a feature template for advanced SSID, Create a wireless radio frequency profile, Create an AI radio frequency profile, and Enable the Wi-Fi 7 configuration.

Support for Cisco C9350 Series Smart Switches as fabric edge device

Catalyst Center supports Cisco C9350 Series Smart Switches as edge devices within a fabric network.

Support for Cisco Wireless 9171I Series Access Points

Catalyst Center supports the Cisco Wireless 9171I Series Access Points for Wi-Fi 7 configuration with Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18 or later.

This AP supports dual-band (XOR) capability allowing slot 1 to operate in either 5-GHz or 6-GHz radio modes.

Refer to Configure APs, Schedule recurring events for APs, Supported hardware platforms, and Enable the Wi-Fi 7 configuration.

Support for new APs for Wi-Fi 7 configuration

Catalyst Center supports these APs for Cisco IOS XE Release 17.17.1 or later:

• Cisco Catalyst 9172H Series Access Points

• Cisco Catalyst 9172I Series Access Points

Refer to Configure APs, Schedule recurring events for APs, and Supported hardware platforms.

Enhancements to AFC integration with Standard Power Mode

Catalyst Center supports configuring AP geolocation parameters through the AP configuration workflow. You can view and edit geolocation parameters for eligible APs, which are utilized for Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC).

In addition, Catalyst Center supports new APs to be configured with AFC.

Refer to Configure APs and Supported hardware platforms.

Install applications in bulk using CSV

Catalyst Center enables bulk installation of applications on multiple APs.

Refer to Install applications in bulk using a CSV file.

Added backup server support for Microsoft Windows 2022 and third-party NFS storage vendors

Catalyst Center supports the setup of NFS on Microsoft Windows and enterprise storage vendors like NetApp.

In the Cisco Catalyst Center Administrator Guide, Release 2.3.7.x, refer to "Set up a file share."

Requirement to Reauthenticate Cisco.com and Smart Account Credentials After Upgrade

After you upgrade to Catalyst Center 2.3.7.9, you must reauthenticate your Cisco.com credentials (under System > Settings > Cisco.com Credentials). To add a new user or change to a different user, you must open a private or incognito browser window (to avoid using previously cached credentials). To change the user, you must delete that user. Then, open a private or incognito browser window, click Add, and add the user.

Then, under System > Settings > Cisco Accounts > Smart Account, link your Smart Account user and your Smart Account name to your Smart Licensing account. To add a Smart Account user, use a private or incognito browser window (to avoid using previously cached credentials). After you click Add, enter the email address that's tied to your Cisco.com account.

If this Smart Account user now appears in both the Smart Account Credentials section and the Expired Smart Accounts section, you must delete it from the Expired Smart Accounts section.

Ping to Okta migration

Cisco Global Security is migrating the authentication mechanism from Ping to Okta. This update impacts authentication for Cisco APIs.

In this release, Catalyst Center authentication method has migrated from Ping to Okta. Previously, Catalyst Center's Ping authentication used the Resource Owner Password Credential (ROPC) grant type and stored Cisco credentials in its own database. With the Okta implementation, ROPC is no longer supported.

For Okta authentication, Catalyst Center uses Device Authorization. This change affects all components using Cisco.com accounts, especially License Manager, SWIM, and PnP Connect.

Enhancements to the Mobility Tab in the Device Details Window

In the device details window, the Mobility tab for wireless controllers is now moved under the CONFIGURATION area.

Refer to Display information about a device.

Enhancements to Wireless Automation to Support Cisco Networking Subscription Licenses for Wi-Fi 7 APs

Wi-Fi 7 APs use the Cisco Networking Subscription (CNS) licenses. Wireless automation includes these enhancements to support the CNS licenses for these APs:

• If there are APs that don't meet the license requirements, Catalyst Center displays a dialog box with the details on the Provision > Inventory window.

• In the Configure Access Points workflow, if you select APs that don't meet the license requirements, Catalyst Center displays a dialog box with the details.

• If there are APs associated with a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller that don't meet the license requirements, during provisioning, Catalyst Center displays a dialog box with the details.

• If you're provisioning APs that don't meet the license requirements, Catalyst Center displays a dialog box with the details.

In the dialog box, you can click License Manager to open the License Manager window and enable the required licenses.

Refer to Display information about your inventory, Configure APs, Provision a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, Provision Cisco APs on day 1, and Enable the Wi-Fi 7 configuration.

Support of Mixed HA Clusters

Catalyst Center 2.3.7.9 adds support for mixed three-node clusters that have HA enabled. A mixed cluster consists of both second- and third-generation Catalyst Center appliances. For more information, refer to "Supported Appliances" in the Cisco Catalyst Center High Availability Guide.

Enhancements to Wireless Maps to Support MLO Clients

Wireless maps include these enhancements to support multilink operation (MLO) clients:

• The 2D and 3D maps toolbar UI is enhanced to include separate buttons for the Wi-Fi bands instead of a Wi-Fi band filter drop-down list. You can now click the button to choose a corresponding Wi-Fi band.

• In the Data/Filters > Clients slide-in pane, the MLO Client column is added to the table.

• For a client, when you hover your cursor over the corresponding icon or click the icon to display the details in a slide-in pane, the Wi-Fi band information is displayed.

Refer to 2D map toolbar, 3D wireless map toolbar, and Display details about APs and clients.

Enhancements to Wireless Maps to Support CNS Licenses

Wireless maps include these enhancements to support the CNS licenses:

• For APs that are license noncompliant, the 2D map toolbar displays an error notification. Click the corresponding hyperlink to view the details. In the dialog box, you can click License Manager to open the License Manager window.

• For APs that are in worldwide safe mode (WWSM), the center circle of the AP icon displays the letter W to indicate WWSM.

• For APs that are in WWSM, the radio status of the 5-GHz and 6-GHz bands is down.

• For APs that are in WWSM, when you hover your cursor over the corresponding AP icon, the license noncompliance information is displayed.

• In the Data/Filters > Access Points slide-in pane, the License Status column is added to the table.

Refer to View a 2D wireless heatmap and 2D map toolbar.

Enhancements to Wireless Maps GUI

Catalyst Center enhances user experience in the Design > Network Hierarchy window by adding Wi-Fi Band attribute in the hover-over menu, and details slide-in pane for Access Points.

Refer to Edit an AP and Display details about APs and clients

Learn Device Configuration Workflow Updates

Learning the device configurations using these options is being deprecated:

• Learn Device Configuration workflow

• View Device Details > Learn WLC Config link on the Inventory window.

To manage the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers with existing configurations, you can use the per-device configurations.

Refer to Provision Cisco AireOS controllers in the existing deployment, Configure Cisco Wireless Controllers on the existing infrastructure, Migrate Cisco AireOS Controller to Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller using Catalyst Center, and Learn device configurations from devices with pre-existing infrastructure.

Support for Per-Device Configuration on Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

The Per-Device Configuration feature on Catalyst Center enables you to customize individual features or parameters for a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller running Cisco IOS XE Release 17.12 or later.

By default, this feature is disabled for the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers on Catalyst Center. You can enable it using the Enable Per-Device Configuration option on the device details window.

Refer to Display information about a device and Per-Device Configuration for a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller.

Parallel Redundancy Protocol

The Parallel Redundancy Protocol (PRP) provides high availability in Ethernet networks. This technology suits a variety of critical infrastructure and heavy industries that require continuous, high availability operation.

Refer to Parallel redundancy protocol and View the PRP topology status.

Update Fabric Site for Fabric Events

For fabric events such as IP address pool modification or addition of new stack members or line cards on existing devices in the fabric, a banner message is displayed in the fabric site window to reconfigure and update the fabric.

Refer to Reconfigure a fabric and Configure an authentication template for the fabric site.

Enhancements to WLAN profile name or policy profile name usage for SSIDs

Effective with this release, Catalyst Center dynamically selects the WLAN profile and policy profile names from either network settings or network profiles based on the design intent and the specific site context.

Refer to WLAN profile and policy profile configuration.

12-Hour or 24-Hour Clock Format

You can set a 12-hour or 24-hour display format for time across the GUI.

Refer to Set the clock format to 12 hours or 24 hours.

Automated Tagging for Flapping APs

In earlier releases, flapping APs triggered traps that resulted in continuous synchronizations of the associated wireless controller to update the AP information.

Effective with this release, Catalyst Center automatically tags flapping APs to discard any events on the AP and prevent unnecessary wireless controller synchronization. If the AP doesn't flap for 10 minutes, Catalyst Center automatically untags the AP.

Refer to Automated tagging for flapping APs.

Auto Locate APs on a Floor Map

Using the Auto Locate Access Points feature, you can automatically position and locate APs on a floor map.

Refer to Auto locate APs on a map.

Collect Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Data of Provisioning Failure

The Support Bundle enables you to collect the RCA of provisioning failure and upload the RCA file to a Cisco TAC service request.

Refer to Collect and upload provisioning failure root cause analysis data.

Compliance Support for Out-of-Band Configuration Changes

Catalyst Center allows you to view the details of an out-of-band configuration change. The details include username, IP address, terminal name of the user, configuration method used, and the event of the configuration change.

Refer to View compliance summary.

Device-Level Validations Precheck

Catalyst Center does a Device Level Validations precheck before deploying the configuration on the devices. The check identifies and flags these issues:

• Unsupported configurations that are used in the CLI template.

• Fabric devices that have not been resynchronized after an upgrade.

Refer to Network provisioning prechecks.

Enforcement of Group-Based Policy for VNs

Catalyst Center provides an option to enable or disable the enforcement of group-based policies for your virtual network (INFRA_VN).

Refer to Create anycast gateways.

Enhancements to AP Discovery

Effective with this release, the time taken for AP discovery is reduced. Catalyst Center can now discover the APs that have newly joined a wireless controller using an SNMP trap.

Refer to Discovery configuration guidelines and limitations.

Enhancements to IOS CLI Generation in Configuration Preview for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

Effective with this release, you can now generate IOS CLI from YANG configuration in the configuration preview for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers running Cisco IOS XE Release 17.15.1 or later.

Refer to Visibility and control of device configurations.

Enhancements to Enable Application Telemetry Workflow

The Enable Application Telemetry workflow now supports:

• Visibility and Control of Configurations: Allows you to preview the device configurations before deploying them.

• Enable Application Telemetry is enabled under the Actions drop-down list in the Inventory window even if application telemetry is already enabled on the device. You can now re-enable application telemetry or apply the latest changes to the device.

Refer to Enable Application Telemetry and Enable application telemetry for wireless controllers.

Enhancements to Fabric Site Configuration Update Messages

The Fabric Sites window provides information on the outstanding configuration updates for one or more sites along with the available grace period to apply the updates.

Refer to Fabric site updates.

Enhancements to Remote LAN Configuration

The Configure RLAN workflow has these enhancements:

• You can select multiple sites for RLAN configuration.

  Note	The selected sites must be managed by the same Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller.

• You can reuse RLAN profiles and RLAN policies across multiple sites.

• You can delete unused RLAN profiles and RLAN policies.

Refer to Configure Remote LAN.

Enhancements to Remote Support Authorization

You can now create a remote support authorization without the SSH credentials and assign access roles for the Cisco specialists.

Refer to Create a remote support authorization and View the remote support authorization dashboard.

Enhancements to SSIDs for Multiband Operations Using the 6-GHz Band on Cisco IOS XE Devices

For multiband operations using 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz bands, these enhancements are introduced:

• For devices running Cisco IOS XE 17.12 or later, you can enable all the radio bands on the same SSID with WPA3 enabled.

• For devices running versions between Cisco IOS XE Release 17.7 and Cisco IOS XE Release 17.11, you must enable WPA3 and disable WPA2 for the 6-GHz band to be operational.

Refer to Create SSIDs for an enterprise wireless network and Create SSIDs for a guest wireless network.

Enhancements to the Wireless SSID Workflow

In the wireless SSID workflows for the enterprise and guest wireless networks, the settings are restructured to improve the usability.

The workflows also have these enhancements:

• Under the WPA2 Encryption, WPA3 Encryption, or WPA2/WPA3 Encryption section, you can now choose multiple encryption options.

• Auth Key Management section is updated for Wi-Fi 7 configuration.

• AP Beacon Protection check box is added.

Refer to Create SSIDs for an enterprise wireless network, Configure site-level overrides for an SSID for enterprise networks, Create SSIDs for a guest wireless network, and Configure site-level overrides for an SSID for guest networks.

Factory Reset for APs

Using the Factory Reset feature, you can clear the configurations on the APs. These options are available for resetting the APs:

• Clear all the configurations on the AP and reset it to the default configuration.

• Clear all the configurations on the AP, except the static IP configuration.

After the AP configurations are cleared, the APs reboot.

Refer to Reset APs.

Media Redundancy Protocol (MRP) Ring

Catalyst Center supports MRP ring for Cisco Industrial Ethernet (IE) 3000, 4000, 5000 Series Switches. MRP provides fast convergence in a ring network topology for Industrial Automation networks.

Refer to MRP ring for nonfabric deployment and View MRP ring status for nonfabric deployment.

SD-Access Application Scale Check

The scale thresholds for fabric sites are monitored periodically and the status is displayed in the Fabric Sites window.

Refer to Fabric scale checks.

Support for New APs for the Wi-Fi 7 Configuration

Catalyst Center supports these APs for Cisco IOS XE Release 17.15.2 or later:

• Cisco Catalyst 9176D1 Series Access Points

• Cisco Catalyst 9176I Series Access Points

• Cisco Catalyst 9178I Series Access Points

These APs support the 320-MHz channel width for the 6-GHz band.

Refer to Configure APs, Schedule recurring events for APs, and Supported hardware platforms.

Support for Visibility and Control of Configurations for the Cisco Wireless Controller High Availability Configuration

The Visibility and Control of Configurations feature is now supported for the wireless controller High Availability (HA) configuration. This feature is supported on Cisco AireOS Wireless Controllers and Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers.

With enhanced visibility, you can enforce the previewing of device configurations before deploying them. With enhanced control, you can ensure only authentic and authorized configurations are provisioned onto your network devices through an IT Service Management (ITSM) check.

Refer to Configure high availability for the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, Configure Cisco Wireless Controller HA, and Disable high availability configured device in the existing deployment.

Switch Refresh Workflow

Catalyst Center supports refresh of Cisco Switches. Switch Refresh workflow allows you to replace an old switch with a new switch.

Switch refresh is available for Cisco Catalyst 3650 and Cisco Catalyst 3850 Switches running on Cisco IOS XE.

Refer to Switch refresh.

View Device Certificate Status

You can now view the device certificate status on the Catalyst Center home window, Device Certificate Issues tile. The detailed view is displayed on Provision > Inventory window, under the Certificate Status column.

Refer to View device certificate status.

Wi-Fi 7 Configuration on Catalyst Center

Catalyst Center supports the Wi-Fi 7 configuration for the devices that are running Cisco IOS XE Release 17.15.2. To enable the Wi-Fi 7 configuration:

• Create the network settings for 802.11be profiles.

• Add the 802.11be profile to the wireless network profiles.

• Create custom feature templates for 802.11be status configuration.

• Enable the 802.11be parameters for the 6-GHz band in the RF profiles.

• Enable preamble puncturing for the 5-GHz and 6-GHz bands in the RF profiles.

• Set the maximum DBS channel width of 320 MHz for the 6-GHz band in the basic RF profiles.

  Note	320 MHz channel width is not available in the AI RF profiles.

Refer to Create an 802.11be profile, Create a feature template for Dot 11be status configuration, Add SSIDs to a network profile, Create a wireless radio frequency profile, Create an AI radio frequency profile, Upgrade a basic radio frequency profile to an AI radio frequency profile, and Enable the Wi-Fi 7 configuration.

Enhancements to the AP Refresh Workflow

The Access Point Refresh workflow now supports:

• The Assurance use case where the new AP isn’t provisioned after AP refresh and only the old configuration is copied to the new AP.

  Note	If the new AP is onboarded through Plug and Play (PnP), the Assurance use case isn't supported.

• A toggle button to enable the automatic detection of the new APs using SwitchPort.

  Note	If the new AP is onboarded through PnP, automatic detection isn't supported.

Refer to AP Refresh workflow.

Enhancements to Configuring Global Device Credentials

On the Device Credentials window, you can now only assign and unassign device credentials to and from sites. On the Manage Credentials slide-in pane, you can manage your device credentials using the Focus drop-down list. Depending on which focus you choose (Current site or System), you can perform specific actions.

Refer to Configure global device credentials.

Enhancements to Custom AP Groups and Flex Groups for Cisco AireOS Wireless Controller

Instead of configuring and applying the newly added custom groups to the APs during wireless controller provisioning, Catalyst Center now configures and applies them during AP provisioning.

Effective with this release, you can use the same AP groups and flex groups across multiple sites for Cisco AireOS Wireless Controller.

Refer to Overview of AP groups, flex groups, site tags, and policy tags and Custom AP group and flex group reuse examples.

Enhancements to Device Onboarding and the Discovery Workflow

The Add Device option in the Catalyst Center Inventory is enhanced to include options for adding both new and existing devices.

The discovery workflow includes enhancements, such as:

• The Provide Credentials window now includes the option to configure advance settings along with the CLI and SNMP credentials.

• The Schedule Job window combines site assignment and scheduling of the discovery job.

Refer to:

• Add devices to the Catalyst Center Inventory.

• Use a CSV file to import and export device configurations.

• Import device configurations from a CSV file.

• Discover devices.

• Discover your network using CDP.

• Discover your network using an IP address range or CIDR.

• Discover your network using LLDP.

Enhancement to Device Resynchronization

Prior to this release, restarting the inventory service would trigger resynchronization for all devices in the inventory. With this release, device resynchronization is triggered after the inventory service restart under these circumstances only:

• After Catalyst Center upgrade.

• If the device's synchronization is in terminated or delayed state after the service restart.

• If the device's last synchronization time has crossed the configured cutoff time.

Refer to About Inventory.

Enhancements to Device Upgrade Readiness Check

• Flash Check: Calculates the space required for upgrading to a golden image with add-on and does a flash clean up proactively before image distribution.

• Weak Crypto Check: Checks whether the device is configured with weak crypto and blocks image upgrade. This readiness check is applicable only for devices with software image version 17.14 and later.

• File Transfer Check for FQDN Setup: Checks whether the name server associated with the device is reachable and displays an error message.

Refer to List of device upgrade readiness prechecks.

Enhancements to Disaster Recovery Witness Site Upgrade Process

Using an SSH client, you can upgrade a disaster recovery system's witness site using the witness upgrade command. In the Cisco Catalyst Center Administrator Guide, Release 2.3.7.x, refer to "Upgrade the current witness site."

Enhancements to LAN Automation Workflow

The LAN automation workflow has these enhancements:

• The Discovery Depth field allows you to specify the level up to which devices can be discovered through LAN automation. The default value for Discovery Depth is 2 and the maximum value is 5.

• You can specify a Session Timeout value for the LAN automation session.

• You can choose an option for device matching during discovery. In Strict mode, device discovery is restricted to the list of devices provided. In Relaxed mode, hostname and loopback IP is assigned to the discovered device if the device's serial number matches the uploaded device list.

• In the Edit Devices window, you can now edit the hostname and Loopback0 IP addresses for LAN automated and seed devices.

Refer to LAN automation, Provision a network through LAN automation, Manage devices in strict discovery mode, and Edit hostname and loopback IP address of LAN automated devices.

Enhancements to Port Configuration Within Fabric Sites

The Port Assignment tab for a fabric site now displays the authentication template configured for each port. If you don't configure the authentication template for an individual port, the port inherits these settings from the global authentication template configuration. Inherited settings are displayed with an inherit icon next to the setting.

Refer to Configure ports within the fabric site.

Enhancements to WLAN Profile Name or Policy Profile Name Usage for SSIDs with Site-Level Overrides

Effective with this release, if an SSID associated with a network profile has site-level overrides, Catalyst Center uses the WLAN profile name or policy profile name from the overridden SSID during wireless controller provisioning for the corresponding sites. This rule applies when the overridden site is associated with the wireless controller's network profiles and is managed by the same wireless controller.

Refer to Add SSIDs to a network profile, Configure site-level overrides for an SSID for enterprise networks, and Configure site-level overrides for an SSID for guest networks.

Progress Bar Support for Network Devices Provisioning

The Task Progress bar on Activities > Tasks window, displays the progress of the ongoing provisioning task for your network devices.

Refer to Provision a Cisco sensor SSID for nonfabric deployment, Provision a Cisco AireOS Controller, Provision Cisco APs on day 1, Provision Cisco AireOS controllers in the existing deployment, Configure N+1 high availability from Catalyst Center, Provision a Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller, Configure Cisco Wireless Controllers on the existing infrastructure, Provision Embedded Wireless on Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Switches, Provision a Meraki device, Provision a router, Complete the provisioning process, and Visibility and control of device configurations.

Enhancements to SD-Access Compatibility Check

Starting from 2.3.7.5, the SD-Access Image Compatibility Check feature introduced in 2.3.7.4 is enhanced to detect and block the user when a new device is being assigned a fabric role. It does not, however, block the user from any provisioning performed on existing fabric devices. This Add-to-Fabric validation can be turned off from the Settings > SD-Access Compatibility window. We recommend that you keep this validation turned on.

Refer to Add a device to a fabric, Add a device as a border node, and Configure an extended node.

SD-Access Application Health Check

The health of SD-Access application is checked periodically and the status is displayed on the System Health page.

Refer to Fabric Health Check.

Support for Displaying IOS CLI in Configuration Preview for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller

For Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers running Cisco IOS XE Release 17.13.1 or later, you can generate IOS CLI from YANG configuration in the configuration preview.

Refer to Visibility and control of device configurations.

Support for Standard Power Service

For APs with the standard power capability, compliance with FCC regulations requires the activation of Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC). The Standard Power Service toggle button in the Create Wireless Radio Frequency Profile and Create AI Radio Frequency Profile window enables you to activate AFC for the 6-GHz band within an RF profile.

When you provision the corresponding APs, the Summary window displays the standard power service configuration details.

Refer to Create a wireless radio frequency profile and Create an AI radio frequency profile.

Support for the Workflow Progression View in Visibility- and Control-Enabled Provisioning Workflows

If a visibility- and control-enabled provisioning workflow supports the workflow progression view, the Preparing Devices and Configuration Models window displays the steps the system takes to prepare a listed device.

Refer to Visibility and control of device configurations.

Support for Third-Generation Catalyst Center Appliances

Catalyst Center supports these third-generation appliances, which are based on the Cisco UCS C220 and C240 M6 servers:

• 32-core appliance: Cisco part number DN3-HW-APL

• 56-core appliance: Cisco part number DN3-HW-APL-L

• 80-core appliance: Cisco part number DN3-HW-APL-XL

For more information, refer to the Cisco Catalyst Center Third-Generation Appliance Installation Guide, Release 2.3.7.x.

Support for Viewing and Editing Layer 2 Configurations of a Device

You can view and edit the Layer 2 configurations of a device in the Catalyst Center inventory.

Refer to Display information about a device, View and edit the Layer 2 configuration of a device.

Third-Party Devices Support

Catalyst Center allows third-party devices to populate SNMP MIB-II values.

Refer to Add a third-party device.

Weak Crypto Check

To ensure a secure network connection Catalyst Center does a weak crypto check to evaluate the device configuration, and blocks the device provisioning/upgrade/site assignment for devices that are configured only with MD5 authentication for SNMP credentials. This is applicable only for devices with software image version or golden tagged image version 17.14.1 and later.

Refer to Discovery credentials, Add a network device, Update network device credentials, Add a compute device, Add a third-party device, Assign an unprovisioned device to a site, Add global SNMPv3 credentials, Provision a switch or router device, Provision a wireless controller and Complete the provisioning process.

Name Change to Catalyst Center

As part of our vision to converge our products around an integrated platform, we are changing the name of Cisco DNA Center to Catalyst Center in this release. The capability and functionality of Catalyst Center remains the same as Cisco DNA Center.

This name change is part of our simplified branding for the Catalyst Center Stack. Cisco is now connecting the power and flexibility of the Catalyst brand across the entire enterprise networking stack with Catalyst Center (formerly Cisco DNA Center), Catalyst Software and Licensing (formerly Cisco DNA Software and Licensing), Catalyst Wireless, Catalyst Switching, Catalyst Routing, and Catalyst SD-WAN (formerly Cisco SD-WAN or Viptela SD-WAN).

Enhancements to AP Provisioning for N+1 High Availability

Effective with this release, if you are using N+1 High Availability (HA) and modify any nonflex SSIDs that are already provisioned on the primary and secondary controllers to flex SSIDs (or conversely), ensure that the states of WLANs are consistent across both the primary and secondary controllers on the corresponding site.

Refer to Provision Cisco APs on day 1.

Enhancements to Custom Flex Profile Creation

A custom flex profile is created during Cisco Wireless Controller provisioning (with feature templates) or during AP provisioning (without feature templates). In both scenarios, the custom profile is configured with settings that are similar to the default flex profile except for the Catalyst Center intent configurations.

Catalyst Center also provides an option to autogenerate a flex profile name.

Refer to Overview of AP groups, flex groups, site tags, and policy tags and Add AP groups, flex groups, site tags, and policy tags to a network profile.

Enhancements to Default AP Profiles During Upgrade

In earlier releases, the default AP profile was pushed to the wireless controller during upgrade.

When you upgrade to this release from an earlier version, by default, Catalyst Center doesn't push the default AP profile to the wireless controller. To update the default AP profile on the wireless controller, you must explicitly save it on the Design > Network Settings > Wireless > AP Profiles window. After you save the default AP profile, if there is a difference between the current wireless controller configuration and the AP profile configuration saved on Catalyst Center, the default AP profile is pushed to the wireless controller during subsequent reprovisioning.

Refer to AP profiles.

Enhancements to the Embedded Wireless Controller Image Installation for Switches

These are enhancements to the embedded wireless controller image installation process for switches:

• The Activate image on device option is removed.

• During the image import, you can exit the window, and view the progress of the import and schedule the installation later using the Close option.

• After the image is imported, you can install it immediately or schedule the image installation for a later date or time.

• You can check the status of image installation on the Activities > Tasks window.

Refer to Add a device to a fabric and Provision Embedded Wireless on Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Switches.

Enhancements to Preauthentication ACLs

Preauthentication Access Control Lists (ACLs) have these enhancements:

• The Include auto rules toggle button lets you enable or disable pushing the Catalyst Center-generated rules to the applicable SSIDs.

• For Walled Garden URLs, a valid URL must have at least one period. Cisco AireOS Wireless Controllers don't support other special characters. Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers support the special characters . * - _.

Refer to Create Preauthentication Access Control Lists.

Enhancements to the Provisioning of Wireless Changes on Fabric Devices

If the wireless capability is enabled for a fabric device in the SD-Access device slide-in pane and there are changes in the wireless settings, you must click Configure in the slide-in pane to push the changes to the device.

Refer to Add a device to a fabric.

Enhancements to the Catalyst Center Home Page

The Catalyst Center home page displays a new welcome message and displays license and release banner messages relevant to Catalyst Center. The Tools area is removed and is accessible from the menu in the top-left corner.

Refer to Default home page.

Enhancements to the Menus

To streamline workflows and standard nomenclature, we changed several menu option names, moved several submenu options, and added a secondary launch point for Interactive Help.

The menu option changes include:

• Design > Network Settings > Network is now Design > Network Hierarchy > Servers.

• Design > Network Settings > SP Profiles is now Design > Service Provider Profiles.

• Provision > Stealthwatch Security Analytics is now Provision > Stealthwatch Security.

• Tools > Template Hub is now Design > CLI Templates.

• Tools > Model Config Editor is now Design > Feature Templates.

• The Activities menu option now lists two submenu options: Audit Logs and Tasks.

• System > System Health is now System > System 360 > System Health.

• System > Settings > Telemetry Collection is now System > Settings > Product Telemetry.

• The Help icon lists the new secondary launch point for Interactive Help.

Enhancements to the Configure AI-Enhanced RRM Workflow

You can configure an AI-enabled radio frequency profile without device provisioning.

Refer to Configure AI-Enhanced RRM.

Enhancements to VLAN ID Configuration for Wireless Interfaces

In earlier releases, the valid range for VLAN ID for wireless interfaces was from 0 through 4094.

Effective with this release, the valid range for VLAN ID for wireless interfaces is from 1 through 4094.

Refer to Create a wireless interface and Configure additional interfaces for a network profile.

Device Compliance and Pending Operation Prechecks for a Seamless Deployment

To ensure a seamless deployment, Catalyst Center does a set of prechecks to ensure that any pending operations that conflict with the current task and any device compliance issues are addressed.

Refer to Network provisioning prechecks.

Log Collection for a Device

When a resync is done for a specific device, the debug log is enabled automatically for that device, and XDE and device pack logs are collected.

Refer to Resynchronize device information.

Reconfiguration of a Fabric for IP Address Pool Changes

When you modify the IP address pools that are used in a fabric, you must reconfigure the fabric.

Refer to Edit IP address pools and Reconfigure a fabric.

Software Image Compatibility Check for SD-Access Fabric Devices

Starting from 2.3.7.4, Catalyst Center includes a Software Image Compatibility Check for SD-Access fabric devices. This feature checks for software image compliance of devices with fabric roles assigned based on the Cisco SD-Access Compatibility Matrix. This feature also checks for compliance of golden tagged images to ensure that the image version is a supported version as per the matrix. The results of these checks are shown in the Software Image Compliance section, in the Image Compliance column in the inventory window under the Software Images focus, and in the SWIMS Image Update Readiness checks.

Refer to Fabric readiness, image compatibility, and compliance checks and Types of compliance.

Unsupported SD-Access Configuration Detection on Fabric Devices

You can detect any unsupported SD-Access configurations on fabric devices using the SD-Access Unsupported Configuration compliance check.

Refer to Types of compliance and View compliance summary.

Usability Enhancements to Previewing Configurations in Visibility- and Control-Enabled Workflows

When previewing configurations in a visibility- and control-enabled workflow, you can display the device configurations in a side-by-side comparison view.

Refer to Visibility and control of device configurations.

Usability Enhancements to Support Service

Support Service has these enhancements:

• When creating a remote support authorization, you must first accept the Access Permission Agreement.

• "SR" is replaced with "case number."

• The Past Authorizations table is searchable and contains a column for the case number.

Refer to View the remote support authorization dashboard and Create a remote support authorization.

Visibility and Control of AI RF Profile Configurations

With the Visibility and Control of Configurations feature, you can preview AI RF profile configurations and send those configurations to IT Service Management (ITSM) for approval before deploying them.

Refer to Configure AI-Enhanced RRM, Assign a location to an existing AI RF profile, and Unassign a location from an existing AI RF profile.