Release Notes for Cisco NCS 1000 Series, IOS XR Release 25.2.1

Available Languages

Download Options

  • PDF
    (277.2 KB)
    View with Adobe Reader on a variety of devices
Updated:June 13, 2025

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.

Available Languages

Download Options

  • PDF
    (277.2 KB)
    View with Adobe Reader on a variety of devices
Updated:June 13, 2025
 

 

Cisco NCS 1000 series, IOS XR release 25.2.1

Cisco IOS XR Release 25.2.1 is a new feature release for Cisco NCS 1000 Series.

For more details on the Cisco IOS XR release model and associated support, see Software Lifecycle Support Statement - IOS XR.

New software features

This section provides a brief description of the new software features introduced in this release.

Table 1.             New software features for Cisco NCS 1014

Product impact

Feature          

Description

Software Reliability

 

NCS1K14-FAN-P Enhanced Fan Profile Support

This release introduces enhanced fan profile management for NCS 1014 platform, enabling improved power efficiency and flexibility for various use cases.
The system automatically adjusts the fan profile based on the line cards inserted in the chassis. For example,

●       if one or more transponder cards are detected, the fans maintain a high-power fan profile automatically.

●      if a combination of any NCS1K14-EDFA2, NCS1K14-CCMD-16-x or filler card alone, the fans maintain a low-profile fan profile automatically.


This dynamic fan profile enables optical power consumption for Metro Open Line System (MOLS) 2.0 and NCS1K14-CCMD-16-x configurations.

Software Reliability

 

 NCS1K14-FAN-P Smart Fan Implementation for Pluggable modules

The NCS1K14-FAN-P programmable fans provide dynamic cooling support to the NCS 1014 chassis. The programmable fans change cooling profiles based on the on the status of the NCS 1014 chassis, installed line cards and pluggable modules.
The cooling profiles of the programmable fans are:

●      Low cooling: from 3500 to 12800 rpm

●       High cooling: from 3500 to 17000 rpm

The programmable fans run at low cooling profile consuming low power around 1 kW.

Software Reliability

Pluggable support

The NCS1K4-QXP-K9 line card now supports the new ONS-QDD-OLS optical amplifier pluggable.

It is supported independently on all 16 ports of the QXP card and offers various channel breakout options to combine or separate each channel from a coherent DWDM optical source using these breakout cables.

●      ONS-BRK-CS-8LC

●      ONS-BRK-CS-16LC

●      ONS-CAB-CS-LC-5

This pluggable increases fiber bandwidth and lowers power dissipation.

CLI:

These keywords are added to the hw-module location command

●      ols-port <port number>

●      mode edfa

Software Reliability

 

OTNSec encryption on the NCS1K14-2.4T-K9 card

The 2.4T line card now supports AES-256 GCM authenticated OTNSec encryption using pre-shared keys or Certificate-authority (CA), ensuring data confidentiality across optical links. Additionally, PPP over GCC enables secure transmission of control and encryption messages such as IKEv2 exchanges over built-in optical channels, enhancing security and manageability without relying on external interfaces.

Software Reliability

 

Automatic OTDR scan

An OTDR scan is automatically triggered in both Rx and Tx directions whenever events such as span fault, span restoration, device power cycling, or line card cold reload occur. The automatic scan enables quick identification of the fiber failure type, fault location, and fiber failure resolution while preventing any collisions during the bidirectional autoscan.

Commands added to enable auto OTDR scan and view its results:

●      otdr auto-scan

●      show olc otdr-status

Software Reliability

 

OTDR Baseline

OTDR saves a baseline with the scan results the first time a link is up. This baseline captures essential data about the fiber characteristics at the time of initial installation. The baseline is used as a benchmark for future OTDR scans to identify changes or degradation in the optical fiber span, facilitating maintenance and troubleshooting efforts. It helps verify the integrity and performance of the optical fiber span.

Command added:

otdr save baseline controller ots

Software Reliability

 

OTDR negotiation

 

The OTDR scan process has been enhanced to include negotiation with a remote peer before initiating the scan. This negotiation helps prevent simultaneous scans on the same fiber, thereby avoiding measurement conflicts and ensuring accurate scan results. The force option can be used to start a scan without negotiation.

However, it should be used carefully to avoid simultaneous scans between the near-end and far-end nodes on the same fiber.


Command modified:
The keyword force has been added to the otdr-start controller ots_R/S/I/P direction_ command.

Software Reliability

 

Automatic Power Control support for NCS1K14-EDFA2

 

Automatic power control maintains all channels at a consistent Power Spectral Density (PSD) target by regulating optical components. It keeps all channels at the same Power Spectral Density (PSD) target, ensuring equalized channel power regardless of different input powers. It compensates for changes in span loss over time by adjusting amplifier gain and variable optical attenuator (VOA) attenuation, maintaining stable total transmit and receive power.

Software Reliability

 

gNOI Healthz

 

The gNOI Healthz sub-functions monitor and manage the state of a device by leveraging telemetry within the network. These sub-functions help determine the device's system state and facilitate the collection of relevant debug logs based on that state, using the OpenConfig Healthz model.

Software Reliability

 

Event-Driven Telemetry enhancements

This feature notifies you of deletions and updates for all components removed from or inserted into the system through Event-Driven Telemetry (EDT). These notifications are included under the OpticalChannel component of the EDT output for the sensor path openconfig-platform:components/component/state.

Software Reliability

 

Enhancement in OC support for EDFA2 card

The EDFA2 card now supports these OpenConfig models for retrieving operational and real-time telemetry data.

·       openconfig-channel-monitor.yang

·       openconfig-transport-line-common.yang

In addition to the previously supported operational and telemetry data retrieval, these models now support configuration on the EDFA2 cards.

●      openconfig-optical-amplifier.yang

●      openconfig-optical-attenuator.yang

●      openconfig-wavelength-router.yang

New hardware features

This section provides a brief description of the new hardware features introduced in this release.

Table 2.             New hardware features for Cisco NCS 1000 Series

Product impact

Feature          

Description

Hardware Reliability

 

NCS1K14-FAN-P Programmable Fan Support

 

 

The NCS1K14-FAN-P programmable fans provide dynamic cooling support to the NCS 1014 chassis. The programmable fans change cooling profiles based on the on the status of the NCS 1014 chassis, installed line cards and pluggable modules.
The cooling profiles of the programmable fans are:

·       Low cooling: from 3500 to 12800 rpm

·       High cooling: from 3500 to 17000 rpm

The programmable fans run at low cooling profile consuming low power around 1 kW.

Hardware Reliability

 

NCS1K4-2-QDD-C-K9 C-Band Line Card

 

NCS 1014 now supports the NCS1K4-2-QDD-C-K9 C-Band line card. This card features eight client ports (QSFP28 and QSFP-DD) and two software-configurable DWDM dual sub-channel module trunk ports. Each trunk port supports line rates of 200, 300, and 400 Gbps with precise control over modulation format, baud rate, and forward error correction.

Additionally, the line card supports both module and slice configurations, enhancing network flexibility and performance

Hardware Reliability

 

Pluggable support

 

The NCS1K4-QXP-K9 card now supports the new ONS-QDD-OLS optical amplifier pluggable.

Open issues

This table lists the open issues in this specific software release.

Note: This software release may contain open bugs first identified in other releases. To see additional information, click the bug ID to access the Cisco Bug Search Tool.

NCS 1014

Table 3.             Open issues for Cisco NCS 1014

Bug ID

Description

CSCwo54286

[Encryption] Observing Netio and Cef drop counters during continuous GCC0 ping

CSCwo76421

The Amplifier telemetry data for Ingres should not display ORL; only the egress should

CSCwo80611

A power fluctuation left the 2.4T card in shutdown, preventing it from returning to operation

CSCwo81618

Removing Coherent optics doesn't delete OpticalChannel

CSCwo85668

Gnoi healthz doesn't work without origin in the path

CSCwp00064

Artifacts are saved for automatic process crash when the system is 100% full

CSCwp16095

The error 'otn_ma API invoked outside commit window' is observed after configuring GCC0

Cisco Optical Site Manager

Table 4.             Open issues for Cisco Optical Site Manager

Bug ID

Description

CSCwp20432

[COSM] RX/TX high/low threshold power values do not match between COSM and native NETCONF XR

CSCwp25859

[COSM] ZR+ TCAs persist even after the card mode is removed from the XR configuration on the QXP card

CSCwp26647

[COSM] SD/SF-BER values are missing for 400G/100G cardmodes under  ZR+ interface

Supported hardware

These hardware components are supported from Release 25.2.1.

●      Fan tray: NCS1K14-FAN-P

●      Line card: NCS1K4-2-QDD-C-K9 C

●      Pluggable: ONS-QDD-OLS

Supported software packages

This section provides information about the release packages associated with NCS 1014.

Note: The NCS 1014 packages include Cisco Optical Site Manager Software.

Table 5.             Software packages for Cisco NCS 1014

Feature Set

Filename

Description

Composite package

Cisco IOS XR Core Bundle + Manageability Package

ncs1010-x64-25.2.1.iso

IOS Contains required core packages, including operating system, Admin, Base, Forwarding, SNMP Agent, FPD, and Alarm Correlation and Netconf-yang, Telemetry, Extensible Markup Language (XML) Parser, HTTP server packages. XR Base Image

Individually installable packages

Cisco IOS XR Telnet Packages

xr-telnet-25.2.1v1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

xr-telnet-ncs1014-25.2.1v1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

Install these packages to support Telnet.

Cisco IOS XR Security Package

xr-k9sec-pid-eb216ea0977bb9c7-25.2.1.38Iv1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm


xr-k9sec-25.2.1.38Iv1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm


xr-k9sec-pid-ncs1014-25.2.1.38Iv1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm


xr-k9sec-f544c7c7d37890ec-25.2.1.38Iv1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

 

Support for Encryption, Decryption, IP Security (IPsec), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), and Public-key infrastructure (PKI).

Cisco IOS XR Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) Packages

xr-cdp-25.2.1v1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

xr-cdp-ncs1014-25.2.1v1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

xr-cdp-f544c7c7d37890ec-25.2.1v1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

xr-telnet-f544c7c7d37890ec-25.2.1v1.0.0-1.x86_64.rpm

Install these packages to support CDP.

Determine software version

NCS 1014

Log into the node and enter the show version command.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show version
Mon Jun 16 21:22:50.401 IST
Cisco IOS XR Software, Version 25.2.1 LNT
Copyright (c) 2013-2025 by Cisco Systems, Inc.

Build Information:
Built By : cisco
Built On : Sat Jun 14 01:14:18 UTC 2025
Build Host : iox-lnx-083
Workspace : /auto/srcarchive11/prod/25.2.1/ncs1010/ws/
Version : 25.2.1
Label : 25.2.1

cisco NCS1010 (C3758R @ 2.40GHz)
cisco NCS1014 (C3758R @ 2.40GHz) processor with 32GB of memory
ios  uptime is 8 minutes
NCS 1014 – Chassis

 

Determine firmware version

Use the show hw-module fpd command in EXEC mode to view the hardware components with their current FPD version and status. The status of the hardware must be CURRENT; The Running and Programmed version must be the same.

NCS 1014

Log into the node and enter the show hw-module fpd command.

2.4T and 2.4T-X cards

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show hw-module fpd
Mon Jun 16 21:23:01.682 IST

Auto-upgrade:Enabled,PM included
Attribute codes: B golden, P protect, S secure, A Anti Theft aware
FPD Versions
==============
Location   Card type        HWver  FPD device ATR Status Running Programd Reload Loc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-DB CURRENT 2.10 2.10 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-MB CURRENT 2.30 2.30 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS S CURRENT 5.00 5.00 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS-Golden BS CURRENT 4.70 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpga S CURRENT 1.17 1.17 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.09 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 SsdIntelSCKKBGZ S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFw S CURRENT 9.04 9.04 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFwGolden BS CURRENT 9.04 0/RP0
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/1/NXR0   NCS1K14-2.4T-K9   0.1 CpuModFw S CURRENT 252.100 252.100 NOT REQ
0/3/NXR0   NCS1K14-2.4T-X-K9 1.0 CpuModFw S CURRENT 252.100 252.100 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 ADM-CHASSIS CURRENT 0.21 0.21 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpga S CURRENT 2.26 2.26 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.05 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 SsdIntelSC2KB S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/Rack
0/4        NCS1K-MD-32E-CE   0.2 MD-32-LUM S CURRENT 2.20 2.20 NOT REQ

QXP card

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show hw-module fpd
Mon Jun 16 21:23:01.682 IST

Auto-upgrade:Enabled,PM included
Attribute codes: B golden, P protect, S secure, A Anti Theft aware
FPD Versions
==============
Location   Card type        HWver FPD device ATR Status Running Programd Reload Loc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-DB CURRENT 2.10 2.10 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-MB CURRENT 2.30 2.30 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS S CURRENT 5.00 5.00 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS-Golden BS CURRENT 4.70 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpga S CURRENT 1.17 1.17 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.09 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 SsdIntelSCKKBGZ S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9     1.0 TamFw S CURRENT 9.04 9.04 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFwGolden BS CURRENT 9.04 0/RP0
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/2/NXR0   NCS1K4-QXP-K9     0.2 CpuModFw S CURRENT 252.100 252.100 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 ADM-CHASSIS CURRENT 0.21 0.21 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpga S CURRENT 2.26 2.26 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.05 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 SsdIntelSC2KB S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/Rack
0/4        NCS1K-MD-32E-CE   0.2 MD-32-LUM S CURRENT 2.20 2.20 NOT REQ

EDFA2 card

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show hw-module fpd
Mon Jun 16 21:23:01.682 IST

Auto-upgrade:Enabled,PM included
Attribute codes: B golden, P protect, S secure, A Anti Theft aware
FPD Versions
==============
Location   Card type        HWver FPD device ATR Status Running Programd Reload Loc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-DB CURRENT 2.10 2.10 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-MB CURRENT 2.30 2.30 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS S CURRENT 5.00 5.00 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS-Golden BS CURRENT 4.70 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpga S CURRENT 1.17 1.17 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.09 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 SsdIntelSCKKBGZ S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFw S CURRENT 9.04 9.04 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFwGolden BS CURRENT 9.04 0/RP0
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/0/NXR0   NCS1K14-EDFA2     0.1 CpuModFw S CURRENT 252.100 252.100 NOT REQ
0/0/NXR0   NCS1K14-EDFA2     0.1 OptModFw S CURRENT 2.04 2.04 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 ADM-CHASSIS CURRENT 0.21 0.21 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpga S CURRENT 2.26 2.26 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.05 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 SsdIntelSC2KB S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/Rack
0/4        NCS1K-MD-32E-CE   0.2 MD-32-LUM S CURRENT 2.20 2.20 NOT REQ

 

2-QDD-C-K9 C

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show hw-module fpd
Mon Jun 16 21:23:01.682 IST

Auto-upgrade:Enabled,PM included
Attribute codes: B golden, P protect, S secure, A Anti Theft aware
FPD Versions
==============
Location   Card type        HWver FPD device ATR Status Running Programd Reload Loc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-DB CURRENT 2.10 2.10 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 ADM-MB CURRENT 2.30 2.30 NOT REQ
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS S CURRENT 5.00 5.00 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 BIOS-Golden BS CURRENT 4.70 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpga S CURRENT 1.17 1.17 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 CpuFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.09 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 SsdIntelSCKKBGZ S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFw S CURRENT 9.04 9.04 0/RP0
0/RP0/CPU0 NCS1K14-CNTLR-K9  1.0 TamFwGolden BS CURRENT 9.04 0/RP0
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM0      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   1.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-PriMCU CURRENT 1.03 1.03 NOT REQ
0/PM1      NCS1K4-AC-PSU-2   0.1 PO-SecMCU CURRENT 1.05 1.05 NOT REQ
0/3/NXR0   NCS1K4-2-QDD-C-K9 0.1 CpuModFw S CURRENT 252.100 252.100 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 ADM-CHASSIS CURRENT 0.21 0.21 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpga S CURRENT 2.26 2.26 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 IoFpgaGolden BS CURRENT 1.05 NOT REQ
0/Rack     NCS1014           1.1 SsdIntelSC2KB S CURRENT 1.30 1.30 0/Rack
0/4        NCS1K-MD-32E-CE   0.2 MD-32-LUM S CURRENT 2.20 2.20 NOT REQ

 

 

Related resources

These links provide access to related documents and resources associated with this release:

●      For the supported upgrade and downgrade paths, see Software Upgrade and Downgrade Matrix.

●      For the complete list of documentation for the release, see Cisco Network Convergence System 1000 Series.

Legal information

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)

Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.

© 2025 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Learn more