Overview

Cisco Catalyst 8000V Edge Software is a virtual router that offers routing, security, and network management functionalities as cloud services with multitenancy. As an end-user, you must boot this virtual router in the autonomous mode (with the Cisco IOS XE functionalities) or the controller mode (with the SD-WAN functionalities). You can then deploy this router on various clouds to enable and use the available solutions.

Starting from the Cisco IOS XE 17.5.1 release, you can deploy Cisco Catalyst 8000V in Alibaba Cloud. This deployment supports all the Cisco IOS XE features and enables an enterprise to deploy the same networking services in this cloud similar to the features available in on-prem networks. The IOS XE CLI and RESTful API functionalities also ensure Cisco Catalyst 8000Veasy deployment, monitoring, troubleshooting, and service orchestration.

Read on to know how to work with Cisco Catalyst 8000V running on Alibaba Cloud. This guide provides the deployment options, day 0 configuration, and some troubleshooting information for Cisco Catalyst 8000V running on Alibaba Cloud.


Note


For Cisco SD-WAN-specific configurations and settings, you must boot the Cisco Catalyst 8000V device in the controller mode. For more information about Cisco Catalyst 8000V in the Alibaba Cloud in the controller mode, see https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/routers/sdwan/configuration/sdwan-xe-gs-book/cisco-sd-wan-overlay-network-bringup.html#deploy-c8000v-on-alibaba-cloud.


Notes and Limitations

  • To see the instance types that are currently supported for deploying Cisco Catalyst 8000V in Alibaba Cloud, see the Compatibility Matrix.

  • Pay As You Go (PAYG) licensing and Cisco SD-WAN Cloud onRamp integration are not supported for this deployment.

Licensing

You can purchase a subscription-based license for Cisco Catalyst 8000V running on Alibaba Cloud. After you decide to purchase the Cisco Catalyst 8000V image from the Alibaba Marketplace, you must obtain a DNA license from Cisco.

For information on how to obtain and use Cisco Catalyst 8000V DNA licensing, see the Cisco DNA Software Routing Subscription Guide.

After you choose your plan and obtain the license, you can deploy the Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance.