Software Installation for Cisco IOS XE Routers

For devices operating with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, the software image to use has a filename in this pattern:

<router-model>-universalk9.<​release-number>

Images are available on the Cisco Software Download site.

Refer to these documents for installation instructions:

• Cisco ISR 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers

• Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers

• Installing Cisco Enterprise NFVIS on Cisco ENCS 5100 and ENCS 5400

From Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.4.1a, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN supports the Cisco Catalyst 8000V virtual router platform, which replaces the Cisco CSR1000V and Cisco ISRv. Installing the Cisco Catalyst 8000V in an Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN environment requires Cisco vManage Release 20.4.1 or later.

For complete information about the platform, including installation in KVM, ESXi, and OpenStack environments, see the Cisco Catalyst 8000V Edge Software Installation and Configuration Guide.

Software image

Use the Cisco Catalyst 8000V software image that is appropriate for your method of deployment. For example, this can be an OVA file for ESXi, or a QCOW2 image for OpenStack or KVM. Do not choose an ISO image. Have the image ready to upload to the Cisco SD-WAN Manager software image repository. The file name begins with: c8000v-universalk9

Controller mode

To operate with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, the device must be in Controller mode. When starting the device in Controller mode, boot the device using the bootflash:packages.conf file.

Clean Install

We recommend a clean install of the Cisco Catalyst 8000V. This ensures support for all features, provides the most up-to-date licensing, and ensures that devices and the controller stay synchronized.

After a clean install of the Cisco Catalyst 8000V, it is not possible to downgrade the device to a release earlier than Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.4.1a.

Upgrading a Cisco CSR1000V to a Cisco Catalyst 8000V

Upgrading a Cisco CSR1000V or Cisco ISRv virtual router to Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.4.1a includes upgrading to the Cisco Catalyst 8000V. Note the following:

• The Cisco Catalyst 8000V preserves all of the functionality available on Cisco CSR1000V or Cisco ISRv platforms.

• Performing the upgrade in Cisco SD-WAN Manager preserves the configuration of the device(s) being upgraded.

OpenStack

Installing a Cisco Catalyst 8000V on the OpenStack Train release requires using a Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.7.1a or later image for the Cisco Catalyst 8000V.

Cisco does not support installing a Cisco Catalyst 8000V on OpenStack using an earlier image, or installing on OpenStack using an earlier image and upgrading to Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.7.1a.

Based on the cloud service in which you are deploying the CSR 1000v instance, see this information about performing the bootstrap or the day 0 configurations:

• Deploying the OVA to the VM

• Manually creating the Cisco CSR 1000v VM using the .iso file (Citrix XenServer)

• Creating a CSR 1000v VM using the self installing .run package

• Manually creating the VM using the .iso file (Microsoft Hyper-V)

• Booting the CSR 1000v Instance

• Deploying a CSR 1000v VM Using Custom Data

• Deploying a CSR 1000v VM on Microsoft Azure