Release Notes for Cisco Catalyst ESS9300 Embedded Series Switches, Release 17.17.x

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Updated:June 3, 2025
 

                                   

Cisco Catalyst ESS9300 Embedded Series Switch, Release 17.17.1. 3

New software features. 3

Change in behavior 4

Resolved issues. 4

Open issues. 4

Known issues. 4

Compatibility. 4

Supported software packages. 6

Related resources. 7

Legal information. 8

 

 

Cisco Catalyst ESS9300 Embedded Series Switch, Release 17.17.1

This document provides release information for the Cisco Catalyst ESS9300 Embedded series switch. It is a Small Form Factor Ruggedized 10 GigE Embedded platform for tactical, outdoor, and mobile environments. The compact design simplifies integration and offers the system integrator the ability to use the Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switch in a wide variety of applications. It consists of one switch card. There is no cooling plates sold with it. It is up to the system integrator to design a thermal solution with it. Thermal power of the switch is 35 Watts.

Cisco Catalyst ESS9300 Embedded Series Switch

The Catalyst ESS9300 Embedded Series Switch is a ruggedized 10G embedded platform that is designed for embedded applications for tactical, outdoor, and mobile installations requiring low power, small size, and ruggedization.

New software features

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

Table 1.        New software features in Cisco IOS XE Release 17.17.1 for the Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switch

Product Impact

Feature          

Description

Ease of Use

 

Alarms

The Cisco ESS 9300 software monitors the device conditions on a per-port or a switch basis. If the conditions present on the switch or a port do not match the set parameters, the Cisco ESS 9300 software triggers an alarm or a system message.

Factory reset

Enables secure factory reset to remove complex or undesirable configurations, allowing the switch to be reconfigured or moved to a new network.

Zeroization

Provides secure erasure of sensitive data, ensuring confidentiality and compliance during device decommissioning or repurposing.

Upgrade

 

Optical Ports

Specifies support for 6 x 10G optical SR interfaces in an external Plug-in Card Profile (PICP) conforming to Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) standards, with default initialization to SR mode

Generic Online Diagnostics

Supports online diagnostics to test hardware on live networks, including on-demand, scheduled, and automatic health-monitoring tests for components, interfaces, and solder joints.

Intelligent Platform Management Platform

Provides Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) for software reset and power-cycle management using SHUTDOWN_REQUEST and SHUTDOWN_READY GPIO pins during system reloads or power button actions

Backplane Ports

Specifies support for 2 x 10G backplane KR interfaces in a high-speed internal connections between modules within the chassis, automatic speed adjustment, seamless communication setup through IEEE compliant auto-negotiation, and enhanced data reliability via Forward Error Correction (FEC).

Power-on Self-Test

Verifies hardware integrity through boot firmware checks, port loopback tests, and ASIC integrity tests during power-up and IOS boot.

ALT Boot

Provides a fallback mechanism for booting the Cisco ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 in cases where the primary IOS image is unavailable or corrupted. It ensures the device can boot using the emergency IOS image in ROMMON mode, enabling recovery and system troubleshooting.

Changes in behavior

There are no behavior changes in 17.17.1 release.

Resolved issues

There are no resolved issues in 17.17.1 release.

Open issues

There are no open issues in 17.17.1 release.

Known issues

There are no known issues in 17.17.1 release.

Compatibility

Table 2.        Hardware feature mapping between Cisco ESS 9300-10X-E and Cisco ESS-9300-8X16T of the Curtiss-Wright VPX3-623:

Category

Feature

Cisco ESS-9300-10X-E         

Cisco ESS-9300-8X16T of the Curtiss-Wright VPX3-623

Hardware

Single board

Yes

Yes

Small form-factor with mezzanine card

Supported with 4.595 in.(H) x 2.904 in.(W)

Supported with 5.1 in.(H) x 2.9 in.(W)

Ethernet management port

Optional

Not supported

Optical ports

10X10 GE optical ports with Enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+).

·       8x10GE interfaces. By default, 2x10GE interfaces are configured in backplane mode and 6x10GE interfaces in the optical mode.

·       10X1 GE Copper ports

RS-232 console

Supported

Supported

USB console

Supported

Not supported

Common +3.3VDC and +5VDC power inputs

Supported

Supported

Low power—35W (typical)

Supported

Supported

ARM Quad-Core A53

Supported

Supported

Alarms

·       Two—input

·       One— output

·       Four—input

·       One— output

4GB DDR4 DRAM with ECC

Supported

Supported

Eight GB onboard eMMC flash storage (2.5 GB usable space).

Supported

Supported

Input/Output

·       SD-cards socket

·       Power input

·       RJ-45 (RS-232) console

·       Micro-USB console

·       USB-A host port

·       Power input

·       RJ-45 (RS-232) console

·       USB-A host port

Software

IOS-XE, Network Essentials and Network Advantage

Supported

Supported

Industrial temperature

-40°C to +85°C

Supported

Supported

Refer to  Cisco IOS XE Migration Guide for IIoT Switches for the latest information about upgrading and downgrading switch software for Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Series Switches, Release 17.18.1.

Supported software packages

Finding the Software Version

●      The package files for Cisco IOS XE software can be found on the system board's internal flash memory device (flash:) or an external USB, depending on the device configuration.

●      You can use the show version privileged EXEC command to see the software version that is running on your switch.

Note:      Although the show version output always shows the software image running on the switch, the model name shown at the end of this display is the factory configuration and does not change if you upgrade the software license.

You can also use the dir filesystem: privileged EXEC command to see the names and versions of other software images that you might have stored in flash memory.

Software Images for Cisco IOS XE 17.17.x

This table provides the filename for the IOS XE 17.17.x software image for Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switches.

Table 3.        Software package for Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switches, release 17.17.x

Release

Image Type

Filename

Switch Models

Cisco IOS XE.17.17.1

Universal

ie9k_iosxe.17.17.01.SPA.bin

Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switches

Software Installation Options

This table lists the options for the install command for the Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switch.

        To install and activate the specified file, and to commit changes to be persistent across reloads, enter the following command: install add file filename [ activate commit]

Table 4.        Summary of software installation commands for install mode

Bug ID

Description

abort

Abort the current install operation.

activate

Activate an installed package.

add

Install a package file to the system.

auto-abort-timer

Install auto-abort-timer.

autoupgrade

Initiate software auto-upgrade on all incompatible switches.

commit

Commit the changes to the load path.

deactivate

Deactivate an install package.

label

Add a label name to any installation point.

remove

Remove installed packages.

rollback

Rollback to a previous installation point.

Related resources

Table 5.        Additional content for Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switch, Release 17.17.1

Document

Description

Cisco IOS XE

Provides information about Cisco IOS XE.

Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switches

Provides information about Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switches.

Cisco Validated Design documents

Provides Cisco validated designs

Cisco MIB Locator

Provides locating and downloading MIBs.

Cisco Profile Manager

To receive timely, relevant information from Cisco, sign up here.

Cisco Services

Provides the business impact you’re looking for with the technologies

Cisco Support

You can submit a service request here.

Cisco DevNet

To discover and browse secure, validated enterprise-class apps, products, solutions, and services.

Cisco Press

To obtain general networking, training, and certification titles visit here.

Cisco Warranty Finder

Provides warranty information for a specific product or product family.

Cisco support community

You can ask and answer questions, share suggestions, and collaborate with your peers.

Cisco TAC

Provides most up-to-date, detailed troubleshooting information. Go to Product Support and select your product from the list or enter the name of your product. Look under Troubleshoot and Alerts, to find information for the problem that you are experiencing.

Cisco Feature Navigator

Provides platform support details and license level information for features. The CFN also has a tab that provides a MIB Locator.

Documentation Feedback

To provide feedback about Cisco technical documentation, use the feedback form available in the right pane of every online document.

Licensing

This section provides information about the licensing packages for features available on the Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series Switch.

Network Essentials and Network Advantage licenses are available for:

·       Cisco ESS-9300-10X-E starting with release 17.10.1.

·       Cisco ESS-9300-8X16T on Curtiss-Wright VPX3-623 starting with release 17.17.1.

License levels

The software features available on Cisco Catalyst ESS-9300-8X16T of the CURTISS-WRIGHT VPX3-623 Embedded Series

switches fall under these base or add-on license levels.

Base licenses

·       Network Essentials

·       Network Advantage: Includes features available with the Network Essentials license and more.

Add-on licenses

Add-on licenses require a Network Essentials or Network Advantage as a prerequisite. The features available with add-on license levels provide Cisco innovations on the switch, and on the Cisco Catalyst Center.

·       Catalyst Center DNA Essentials

·       Catalyst Center DNA Advantage: Includes features available with the Catalyst Center DNA Essentials license and more.

Smart licensing using policy

Smart Licensing Using Policy, which is an enhanced version of Smart Licensing, is the default and the only supported method to manage licenses.

Smart Licensing using Policy provides a licensing solution that does not interrupt the operations of your network. Instead, it enables a compliance relationship to account for the hardware and software licenses you purchase and use.

With this licensing model, you do not have to complete any licensing-specific operations, such as registering or generating keys before you start using the software and the licenses that are tied to it. Only export-controlled and enforced licenses require Cisco authorization before use. License usage is recorded on your device with timestamps, and the required workflows can be completed later.

Multiple options are available for license usage reporting – this depends on the topology you implement. You can use the Cisco Smart Licensing Utility (CSLU) Windows application, or report usage information directly to Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM). A provision for offline reporting for air-gapped networks, where you download usage information and upload to CSSM, is also available.

Starting with this release, Smart Licensing Using Policy is automatically enabled on the device. This is also the case when you upgrade to this release.

By default, your Smart Account and Virtual Account in CSSM is enabled for Smart Licensing Using Policy.

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.

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