Ultra Cloud Core Policy Control Function

Introduction

This Release Notes identifies changes and issues related to this software release.

Release Lifecycle Milestones

Release Lifecycle Milestone

Milestone

Date

First Customer Ship

FCS

31-Oct-2023

End of Life

EoL

31-Oct-2023

End of Software Maintenance

EoSM

30-Apr-2025

End of Vulnerability and Security Support

EoVSS

30-Apr-2025

Last Date of Support

LDoS

30-Apr-2026

These milestones and the intervals between them are defined in the Cisco Ultra Cloud Core (UCC) Software Release Lifecycle Product Bulletin available on cisco.com.

Release Package Version Information

Software Packages

Version

pcf.2023.04.0

2023.04.0

NED Package

ncs-6.1-pcf-nc-2023.04.0

NSO Version

6.1

Descriptions for the various packages provided with this release are available in the Release Package Description section.

Verified Compatibility

Products

Version

Ultra Cloud Core SMI

2023.04.1

Ultra Cloud Core CDL

1.11.5

What's New in this Release

New in Documentation

This version of Release Notes includes a new section titled What’s New in this Release comprising all new features, enhancements, and behavior changes applicable for the release.

This section will be available in all the 5G release notes and will supersede content in the Release Change Reference (RCR) document. Effective release 2024.01, the RCR document will be deprecated.

Features and Enhancements

This section covers a brief description of the features and enhancements introduced in this release. It also includes links to detailed documentation, where available.

Feature Description

Addition of CDL Utility to PCF Software Image

PCF supports the pcf-utilities pod to retain the CDL utility scripts on master nodes post force VM redeploy from Cluster Manager.

Default Setting: Enabled – Always-on

Enhancement to Cluster Load Information in Heartbeat

PCF updates the time stamp information using the loadTimeStamp attribute while sending the cluster load information in heartbeat.

Default Setting: Disabled – Configuration required to enable

Enhancement to online and offline charging over N7 to SMF

PCF does not support the simultaneous online and offline charging while sending the CHF address to SMF over the N7 interface.

Default Setting: Disabled - Configuration required to enable

NF Set and NF Service Set

PCF supports the configuration of NF Set and NF Service Set feature by using the Set ID attribute in service-registration CLI commands.

Default Setting: Disabled – Configuration required to enable

URSP Support in PCF

PCF offers UE Route Selection Policy or URSP support for the UE to determine the routing of outgoing traffic.

Default Setting: Enabled – Always-on

Behavior Changes

None in this release.

Installation and Upgrade Notes

This Release Note does not contain general installation and upgrade instructions. Refer to the existing installation documentation for specific installation and upgrade considerations.


Note


ETCD v3.5.x does not support in-service downgrade to 3.4.x. If you are downgrading from 2023.04.0 builds to previous releases, perform system mode shutdown before downgrade.


Software Integrity Verification

To verify the integrity of the software image you have from Cisco, you can validate the SHA512 checksum information against the checksum identified by Cisco for the software.

Image checksum information is available through Cisco.com Software Download Details. To find the checksum, hover the mouse pointer over the software image you have downloaded.

At the bottom, you will find the SHA512 checksum. If you do not see the whole checksum, you can expand it by pressing "..." at the end.

To validate the information, calculate a SHA512 checksum using the information in Table 1 and verify that it matches either the one provided on the software download page.

To calculate a SHA512 checksum on your local desktop, refer to the following table.

Table 1. Checksum Calculations per Operating System

Operating System

SHA512 checksum calculation command examples

Microsoft Windows

Open a command line window and type the following command:

> certutil.exe -hashfile filename.extension SHA512 

Apple MAC

Open a terminal window and type the following command:

$ shasum -a 512 filename.extension 

Linux

Open a terminal window and type the following command:

$ sha512sum filename.extension 

OR

$ shasum -a 512 filename.extension 

NOTES:

filename is the name of the file.

extension is the file extension (for example, .zip or .tgz).

Certificate Validation

PCF software images are signed via x509 certificates. For information and instructions on how to validate the certificates, refer to the .README file packaged with the software.

Open Bugs for this Release

The following table lists the known bugs that remain open in this specific software release.

Bug ID

Headline

CSCwe87529

mTLS Issue - Certificate Unknown

CSCwh87736

N5 - For the emergency calls afReqData with UE_IDENTITY does not return any UE identity in response

Resolved Bugs for this Release

There are no resolved bugs in this specific software release.

Operator Notes

Cloud Native Product Version Numbering System

The show helm list command displays detailed information about the version of the cloud native product currently deployed.

The appropriate version number field increments after a version has been released. The new version numbering format is a contiguous sequential number that represents incremental changes between releases. This format facilitates identifying the changes between releases when using Bug Search Tool to research software releases.

Release Package Descriptions

The following table provides descriptions for the packages that are available with this release.

Table 2. Release Package Information

Software Packages

Description

pcf.<version>.SPA.tgz

The PCF offline release signature package. This package contains the PCF deployment software, NED package, as well as the release signature, certificate, and verification information.

ncs-<nso_version>-pcf-nc-<version>.tar.gz

The NETCONF NED package. This package includes all the yang files that are used for NF configuration.

Note that NSO is used for the NED file creation.

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

For information on obtaining documentation, using the Cisco Bug Search Tool (BST), submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, refer to https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/index.html.