Cisco Nexus 3548 Switch NX-OS Release Notes, Release 9.2(2)

Cisco Nexus 3500 Series NX-OS Release Notes, Release 9.2(2)

This document describes the features, bugs, and limitations for Cisco Nexus 3500 Series switches. Use this document in combination with documents listed in the “Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request” section.

Note: Release notes are sometimes updated with new information about restrictions and bugs. See the following website for the most recent version of the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series release notes: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-3000-series-switches/products-release-notes-list.html.

Table 1 shows the online change history for this document.

Table 1. Online History Change

 

Contents

 

Introduction  2

System Requirements  3

New and Changed Information  5

Caveats  7

Upgrade Path to Cisco NX-OS Release 9.x  9

Limitations  9

Best Practices  10

MIB Support  10

Documentation Feedback  11

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request  11

 

 

Introduction

Several new hardware and software features are introduced for the Cisco Nexus 3548 switch to improve the performance, scalability, and management of the product line. Cisco NX-OS Release 9.x also supports all hardware and software supported in Cisco NX-OS Release 7x, Cisco NX-OS Release 6.x, Cisco NX-OS Release 5.1 and Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0.

Cisco NX-OS offers the following benefits:

■      Cisco NX-OS runs on all Cisco data center switch platforms: Cisco Nexus 7000, Nexus 5000, Nexus 4000, Nexus 3000, Nexus 2000, and Nexus 1000V Series switches.

■      Cisco NX-OS software interoperates with Cisco products that run any variant of Cisco IOS software and also with any networking operating system that conforms to common networking standards.

■      Cisco NX-OS modular processes are triggered on demand, each in a separate protected memory space. Processes are started and system resources are allocated only when a feature is enabled. The modular processes are governed by a real-time preemptive scheduler that helps ensure timely processing of critical functions.

■      Cisco NX-OS provides a programmatic XML interface that is based on the NETCONF industry standard. The Cisco NX-OS XML interface provides a consistent API for devices. Cisco NX-OS also provides support for Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Versions 1, 2, and 3 MIBs.

■      Cisco NX-OS enables administrators to limit access to switch operations by assigning roles to users. Administrators can customize access and restrict it to the users who require it.

This section includes the following topics:

■      Cisco Nexus 3500 Series Switches

■      Cisco Nexus 3548 Switch

■      Cisco Nexus 3524 Switch

Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(1) is the first release that adopts unified version numbering. As more platforms have been added, there is no need to have a “platform” designator as used in the past. An example of a previous release number is 7.0(3)I7(4). In this format, the ‘I’ is the platform designator.

Moving forward for the previously identified platforms, we will be adopting the simplified 3-letter versioning scheme. For example, 9.2(2).

Note: In order to accommodate upgrade compatibility from an older software version that is expecting a platform designator, when 'install all' is performed or 'show install all impact' is performed the version string for 9.2(2) will appear as "9.2(2)I9(1)". The "I9(1)" portion of the string can be safely ignored, and it will disappear post upgrade to 9.2(2).

Cisco Nexus 3500 Series Switches

The Cisco Nexus 3500 platform is an extension of the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series of 100M, 1, 10, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet switches built from a switch-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture. Switches in the Cisco Nexus 3500 series include Algorithm Boost (or Algo Boost) technology that is built into the switch application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Algo Boost allows the Cisco Nexus 3548 switch to achieve Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching latencies of less than 200 nanoseconds (ns). In addition, Algo Boost contains several innovations for latency, forwarding features, and performance visibility, including two configurable modes for low latency:

■      Normal mode: This mode is suitable for environments needing low latency and high scalability.

■      Warp mode: This mode consolidates forwarding operations within the switching ASIC, lowering latency by up to an additional 20 percent compared to normal operation.

Active buffer monitoring accelerates the collection of buffer utilization data in hardware, allowing significantly faster sampling intervals. Even on the lowest-latency switches, data packets can incur a millisecond or more of latency during periods of congestion. Previous buffer utilization monitoring techniques were based entirely on software polling algorithms with polling with higher polling intervals that can miss important congestion events.

Cisco Nexus 3548 Switch

The Cisco Nexus 3548 switch is the first member of the Cisco Nexus 3500 platform. As a compact one-rack-unit (1RU) form-factor 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch, the Cisco Nexus 3548 switch provides line-rate Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching at extremely low latency. The switch runs Cisco NX-OS software that has comprehensive features and functions that are widely deployed globally. The Cisco Nexus 3548 contains no physical layer (PHY) chips, which allows low latency and low power consumption. The switch supports both forward and reversed airflow and both AC and DC power inputs.

Cisco Nexus 3524 Switch

The Cisco Nexus 3524 switch is a Cisco Nexus 3548 switch, but with only 24 ports active and can be upgraded to use all 48 ports. As a compact one-rack-unit (1RU) form-factor 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch, the Cisco Nexus 3548 switch is the lowest entry point for main-stream top-of-rack (TOR) data center deployments which offers line-rate Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching with a comprehensive feature set, including Algo Boost technology, and ultra-low latency.

For information about the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series, see the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series Hardware Installation Guide.

System Requirements

This section includes the following topics:

■      Hardware Supported

Hardware Supported

Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) supports the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series switches. You can find detailed information about the supported hardware in the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series Hardware Installation Guide.

Table 2 shows the hardware supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) software.

Table 2. Hardware Supported by Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) Software.

 

 

New and Changed Information

This section lists the new and changed features in Release 9.2(2).

■      New Supported Hardware

■      New Software Features and Enhancements

■      NX-API Commands

New Supported Hardware

Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) does not include any new hardware.

New Software Features and Enhancements

Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) includes the following new software features or enhancements:

 

Unicast Routing Features

§  BGP best-path algorithm – Added the option to ignore the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) metric for next hop during best-path selection.

       For more information, see the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series NX-OS Unicast Configuration Guide, Release 9.x  

QoS Features

§  Priority Flow Control – Priority flow control is supported on a maximum of two classes in the network-qos policy.

       For more information, see the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series NX-OS QoS Configuration Guide, Release 9.x

NX-API Commands

NX-API provides a session-based cookie, nxapi_auth when users first successfully authenticate. With the session cookie, the username and password are included in all subsequent NX-API requests that are sent to the device. The username and password are used with the session cookie to bypass performing the full authentication process again. If the session cookie is not included with subsequent requests, another session cookie is required and is provided by the authentication process. Avoiding unnecessary use of the authentication process helps to reduce the workload on the device.

Note: A nxapi_auth cookie expires in 600 seconds (10 minutes). This value is fixed and cannot be adjusted. When the cookie expires, you need to resend your user name/password.

The following are notes about JSON:

·       The show run | xml command and show run | json command is not supported (NX-OS 9.2(2) and earlier).

·       All JSON output is returned as a string (NX-OS 9.2(2) and earlier).

·        A JSON-RPC integer is always output as an integer and not as string (NX-OS 9.2(2) and earlier).

 

Note: The maximum data size supported by NX-API is 4MB. The following commands are not supported when the 20MB limit is exceeded (NX-OS 9.2(2) and earlier releases):

·       show hardware profile buffer monitor detail

·       show hardware profile buffer monitor multicast 1 detail

·       show hardware profile buffer monitor multicast 2 detail

·       show hardware profile buffer monitor multicast 3 detail

Caveats

The open and resolved bugs for this release are accessible through the Cisco Bug Search Tool. This web-based tool provides you with access to the Cisco bug tracking system, which maintains information about bugs and vulnerabilities in this product and other Cisco hardware and software products.

Note: You must have a Cisco.com account to log in and access the Cisco Bug Search Tool. If you do not have one, you can register for an account.

For more information about the Cisco Bug Search Tool, see the Bug Search Tool Help & FAQ.

This section includes the following topics:

■      Resolved Bugs for this Release

■      Open Bugs for this Release

Resolved Bugs for this Release

Table 3 lists descriptions of resolved bugs in Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2). You can use the record ID to search Cisco Bug Search Tool for details about the bug.

Table 3 Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) – Resolved Bugs

 

Open Bugs for this Release

There are no open bugs in Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2).

Upgrade Path to Cisco NX-OS Release 9.x

Install All is the only option that supports upgrade and downgrade between releases. Upgrade from Releases 6.0(2)A8(7b), 6.0(2)A8(8), 6.0(2)A8(9), and 7.0(3)I7(3) is supported.

For Cisco Nexus 3548 Switches, the following upgrade path is supported and recommended: Cisco NX-OS Release 6.0(2)A7(2a) or prior > Cisco NX-OS Release 6.0(2)A8(2) – 6.0(2)A8(9) > Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2).

The following table shows the upgrade paths for Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2) from Cisco NX-OS Release 6.0(2)A7(2a) and later.

 

The following limitations are applicable when you upgrade from Releases 7.0(3)I7(2) or later to the NX-OS Release 9.2(2):

■      If a custom CoPP policy is applied after upgrading to Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I7(2) or later, and if the Nexus 3548 switch is downgraded to Cisco NX-OS Release 5.0, where changes to the CoPP policy are not permitted, the custom CoPP policy is retained and cannot be modified.

■      copy r s and reload is not a supported method for an upgrade.

■      You must run the setup script after you upgrade to Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2).

■      For Cisco Nexus 3548 and 3548-X switches, you must compact the software image before you upgrade from earlier releases to Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2). For the Cisco Nexus 3538-XL switch, compaction is not required.

■      The following limitations are applicable when you upgrade from Cisco NX-OS Releases 6.0(2)A8(7b), 6.0(2)A8(8), or 6.0(2)A8(9) to Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2):

o    If Cisco Catalyst devices are connected via a vPC to a pair of Nexus 3500 switches with the vPC peer switch feature enabled, a partial or complete network outage may be caused as a result of the Cisco Catalyst devices error-disabling their port-channel interfaces due to EtherChannel Guard. To prevent this from happening, we recommend that you temporarily disable the EtherChannel Guard feature on vPC-connected Cisco Catalyst devices while the Nexus 3500 devices are being upgraded. For more information, see CSCvt02249

Limitations

The following are the known limitations for Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(2):

■      PBR and NAT cannot be supported on the same interface.

■      Set ip default next hop cannot be applied in PBR.

■      Ingress multicast RACL applied to physical port does not match multicast traffic. This issue is fixed in NX-OS release 9.3(1) and later releases.

■      IGMP packets, which are filtered by report policies on the local switch on which IGMP filtering is enabled, will still get forwarded to the peer switch (See CSCup50141).

■      Counters for the warp SPAN destination port do not work. To check these counters, connect another switch to the destination ports (See CSCuq66372).

■      In a vPC setup, because of a hardware limitation, non-RPF traffic for (S,G) that comes in on the RPF interface for (*,G) hits the (*,G) entry instead of being treated as (S,G) non-RPF traffic and dropped. (S,G) non-RPF traffic is then incorrectly forwarded by (*,G) entry, thus causing traffic duplication. To avoid duplication of Layer 3 multicast traffic by sending the (S,G) RP-bit prune, run the ip pim pre-build-spt command (See CSCun34760).

■      While performing Online Insertion Removal (OIR) on the cable or optics of a 40G bundle, you must perform the following sequence of steps for the OIR to be successful (See CSCuq93225):

1       Disable (shut) the 40G port

2       Change the speed from 40G to 10G

3       Perform an OIR on the cable or optics

4       Change the speed from 10G to 40G

5       Re-enable (no shut) the port

■      On Cisco Nexus 3548 Switches, PFC frames are generated for multicast traffic if it is mapped to no-drop class. Because the multicast traffic cannot be blocked, it is recommended that you map only unicast traffic to no-drop classes.

■      When the peer does not honour PFC frames, Cisco Nexus 3548 Switches does not drop the threshold exceeding packets, so the entire no-drop buffer gets used up and PFC frames are sent for the other non-congested or no-traffic no-drop queue as well.

 

Best Practices

The syntax of the poap_script.py file should be validated using the python validation tool before using the file for POAP. Otherwise, if the poap_script.py file is edited with a syntax error, the POAP process will exit without giving an error.

MIB Support

The Cisco Management Information Base (MIB) list includes Cisco proprietary MIBs and many other Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard MIBs. These standard MIBs are defined in Requests for Comments (RFCs). To find specific MIB information, you must examine the Cisco proprietary MIB structure and related IETF-standard MIBs supported by the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series switch. The MIB Support List is available at the following FTP sites:

ftp://ftp.cisco.com/pub/mibs/supportlists/nexus3000/Nexus3000MIBSupportList.html

 

Related Documentation

Documentation for the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switch is available at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11541/tsd_products_support_series_home.html

Documentation Feedback

To provide technical feedback on this document, or to report an error or omission, please send your comments to nexus3k-docfeedback@cisco.com. We appreciate your feedback.

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What’s New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html

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