Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.x

PDF

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE 26.x

IOx frameworks

Updated: September 14, 2026

Want to summarize with AI?

Log in

Introduces IOx frameworks, describing the core concepts, architecture, and operational principles that support IOx application deployment and management on network devices.

An IOx framework is an application hosting environment that

  • provides a containerized platform for running applications directly on network devices,

  • extends device functionality beyond standard networking tasks, and

  • enables edge computing by processing data locally at the network edge.

From release 26.2.1, Cisco IW9165E AP supports IOx. IOx combines Cisco IOS-XE with Linux. This combination allows developers to build and run applications in a secure, isolated environment. IOx leverages container technology such as Docker. This enables the deployment of custom code, analytics, and third-party software on Cisco hardware. As a result, the network device becomes a compute node.

IOx resource specifications for IW9165E

The IW9165E supports application hosting with the following resource specifications:

  • The Max Memory and Max App Size are dependent on the actual memory and storage available at run time in IW9165E

Table 1. IOx resource specifications

CPU Architecture

CPU Allocated (MFLOPS)

Max Memory Allocated (RAM)

Application Type

Max Number of Apps

Max APP size

ARM 64-bit

4800

100 MB

Docker

2

20 MB

Enable IOx using controller

Enable the IOx framework on the IW9165E access point to support application hosting.

IOx is disabled by default on the IW9165E. You can enable it either through the Wireless Controller or directly via the AP CLI.

Before you begin

Ensure you have administrative access to the Wireless Controller or the AP console.

Follow these steps to enable IOx via the Wireless Controller:

Procedure

  1. Use the configure terminal command to enter global configuration mode.

    Example:

    Device# configure terminal

  2. Use the ap profile ap-profile-name command to configure an AP profile and enter AP profile configuration mode.

    Example:

    Device(config)# ap profile iox

  3. Use the apphost command to enable the apphost framework on Cisco APs.

    Example:

    Device(config-ap-profile)# apphost

    This step enables IOx allowing for application hosting.

Enable IOx using AP

Enable the IOx framework on the IW9165E access point to support application hosting.

IOx is disabled by default on the IW9165E. You can enable it either through the Wireless Controller or directly via the AP CLI.

Before you begin

Ensure you have administrative access to the Wireless Controller or the AP console.

Follow these steps to enable IOx via the AP CLI:

Procedure

  1. Access the AP console

  2. Use the configure iox{enable| disable} command to enable or disable IOx.

    Example:

    Device# configure iox enable

  3. (Optional) Use the show iox status command to view the status of IOx.

    Example:

    Device# show iox status

    The system displays the current enabled or disabled status of the IOx framework.