Upgrade summary

Updated: August 1, 2026

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Outlines the supported upgrade modes for each platform, and provides comparative details and platform-specific notes to guide upgrade selection and workflow optimization.

This topic summarizes the supported upgrade modes for each platform in Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches, and provides comparative details and platform-specific notes to guide upgrade selection and workflow optimization.

Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches support Cisco IOS XE in either bundle mode or install mode. Install mode is recommended because it expands the .bin image into individual packages and boots through packages.conf, enabling faster boot times, improved memory utilization, rollback support, and modern install workflows.

Table 1. Supported upgrade modes and key platform notes
Platform	Supported upgrade modes	Key platform notes
Catalyst 9200	Bundle mode Install mode	ISSU is not supported. Bundle mode and install mode can move directly from 16.x to 17.x or within 17.x, subject to target release notes.
Catalyst 9300	Bundle mode Install mode xFSU	ISSU is not supported. xFSU can be used in eligible install-mode scenarios to reduce downtime.
Catalyst 9400	Bundle mode Install mode ISSU	ISSU is supported for eligible High Availability, dual-supervisor, quad-supervisor, and StackWise Virtual deployments.
Catalyst 9500	Bundle mode Install mode ISSU	ISSU is supported for eligible StackWise Virtual deployments, subject to release compatibility.
Catalyst 9600	Bundle mode Install mode ISSU	ISSU is supported for eligible dual-supervisor, quad-supervisor, and StackWise Virtual deployments.

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