topic Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller in Wireless

Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

lachimip — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 04:34:52 GMT

Hi all,

I am new to Cisco WLC.

I have Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller and it is running on software version 17.3.4c.

I am told to upgrade to the latest one and I have no idea which is the latest one with no bug in it. I tried to download the software from website, but I saw many different types and I am bit worried that I may use the wrong one. I am attaching here the to show which made me more confused. Can anyone tell me which is the latest and bug-free firmware for my controller( Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller) and send me a link to download it. I can only upgrade it from GUI if you would like to show me some steps as well.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 04:42:09 GMT

Avoid 17.9.4/17.9.4a and/or 17.9.5 for now.

We are seeing a lot "interesting" bugs.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

lachimip — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 04:47:36 GMT

Which one is to download now? I can see IOS XE software, IOS XE ROMAN software and many more. Under them there I can see the version. Can you recommend the good one.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 05:21:11 GMT

If the WLC is operating normally, do not upgrade unless it is critically and absolutely necessary.

Because once you will start hitting bug after bug after consecutive bug ... you will have no more hairs to pull.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Sunil Gajjar — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 05:21:52 GMT

It is "IOS XE" image for OS upgrade.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Mark Elsen — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 05:56:34 GMT

- Go for https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286316412/type/282046477/release/Cupertino-17.9.5
which is current advisory release.
>...I have no idea which is the latest one with no bug in it. I
In the modern complex world, that is 'no longer possible' ,

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Mark Elsen — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 05:57:18 GMT

>...We are seeing a lot "interesting" bugs.
@Leo Laohoo Whar are those interesting bugs ?

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Mark Elsen — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 05:58:37 GMT

>...If the WLC is operating normally, do not upgrade unless it is critically and absolutely necessary.
@Leo Laohoo Note that 17.3.x is EOL ,

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

lachimip — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 06:26:20 GMT

I have following WAPs

Catalyst 9124AXI, 9124AXD

● Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.5.1/17.3.4 (B Domain) or later

● Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.6.2 or later (For all Regulatory Domains)

Catalyst C9124AXE

● Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.6.2 or later

Catalyst C9124AXI/C9124AXD Embedded wireless Controller

Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.6.2 or later

I guess it means controller upgrade

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Mark Elsen — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 06:32:13 GMT

- Some (newer) AP models may indeed require an upgrade of the controller software checkout
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 10:19:25 GMT

If these are 9124, then upgrade to 17.6.6. Do not make any attempts to go with 17.6.7 because it is too early to tell.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Sun, 19 May 2024 04:35:37 GMT

@Mark Elsen wrote:
@Leo Laohoo Whar are those interesting bugs ?

Oh, let me see from my list:

CSCwe59688
CSCwi22847
CSCwi75798
CSCwh68219
CSCwi96176
CSCwh92459
CSCwi59993
CSCwi75759
CSCwj08744

There is a lot more.

Currently have a pair of HA SSO controllers on 17.9.5 and I have to fail-over every three weeks because the controller will stop processing anything.

I have a 9800-L, 2 week uptime, which suddenly "stopped". As in, no console, all ports stopped. Just stopped. We had to cold-reboot the controller. No crash logs. Nothing.

And with 17.9.4/17.9.4a and 17.9.5, I have about 4 TAC Cases.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Rich R — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 10:56:57 GMT

1. There is no release which has no bugs, they all have bugs, it's a matter of choosing one that seems to have fewer bugs, and testing it for your setup. Review the release notes carefully for any warnings etc.

2. In general refer to the TAC recommended releases document - link below - more accurate than the download pages for recommended releases.

3. The WLC runs the IOS-XE software. The SMU are software patches for the IOS-XE on the WLC. The APSP are software service packs for the APs themselves. SMUs and APSPs are specific to each version of IOS-XE.

4. The config guides have upgrade instructions and there are plenty of videos and blogs you can find if you search.
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/17-9/config-guide/b_wl_17_9_cg/m_upgrade_9800cl.html

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 22:42:50 GMT

@Mark Elsen

Anyone planning to use 17.9.4/17.9.4a or 17.9.5 on 1800/2800/3800/4800/1560 and all Catalyst 9k APs must provisions the APs to reboot daily. And no exception.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

eglinsky2012 — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 23:16:26 GMT

@Leo Laohoo- Don't forget this one (which you shared in another thread) for your list of "interesting bugs" above: https://bst.cloudapps.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCwj45141

That particular symptom (though not yet officially confirmed by TAC for my case) has affected me with 9130, 9136, and 9166 APs that I know of. Only those, no 2800/3800 series. And only when they have high (>50 or so) client counts regularly; the ones in lower-density situations don't seem to have the issue. I've been rebooting affected ones every Mon, Wed, Fri to keep things going smoothly for the end users. That's been the only debilitating issue I've had so far on 17.9.4a/APS8, with 9800-80s in HA.

There's also this one, which is more of a nuisance than a user functionality issue: https://bst.cloudapps.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCwe83994

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Mark Elsen — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 06:22:04 GMT

>... must provisions the APs to reboot daily
@Leo Laohoo Why ??? , that's impossible for most modern businesses because sometimes for production environments ,
the wireless must always be there , also at night (e.g.)
Now if you think your statement is important , then explain and elaborate on it , as to why that is , the added value of the post will becomes much bigger for everyone ,

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 22:45:20 GMT

@Mark Elsen wrote:
the wireless must always be there , also at night (e.g.)

That is highly debateable and subjective. Most 9-5 business do not want to implement nightly reboot because they do not know how to automate this. And most "24-hour" business do not know when they can have a 6 minute WiFi outage.

Option B: Do not use 17.9.4/17.9.4a or 17.9.5.

Option C: Do nothing and tolerate a rolling outage when the bugs (plural term) kick in.

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:54:05 GMT

@lachimip, @Mark Elsen, @eglinsky2012,

We have been told by WNBU to keep the controller AP capacity to <85%, i. e. <5000 x APs for the -80 and <850 x APs for the -40.

I personally believe HA SSO is a very bad solution because HA SSO contributes to the instability of the WLC. For instance, we have 2 x 9800-80 in HA SSO and 2 x 9800-80 in standalone and the HA SSO constantly needs to be failed-over. The most common issue we've seen is the controller would randomly put users in "Authenticating" state. Failover would temporarily fix this issue until it re-occurs again.

I think daily reboot of the APs is going to be a "norm".

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Rich R — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:16:47 GMT

> We have been told by WNBU to keep the controller AP capacity to <85%, i. e. <5000 x APs for the -80 and <850 x APs for the -40.
Is there a bug/bugs for that @Leo Laohoo ? What's the explanation for the issue?

Re: Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller

Leo Laohoo — Sun, 19 May 2024 23:58:03 GMT

@Rich R wrote:
Is there a bug/bugs for that @Leo Laohoo ? What's the explanation for the issue?

No explanation provided but, personally, suspect it has something to do with WNCD, aka "load balancers".

Currently, with our TAC cases involving 17.9.4/17.9.4a & 17.9.5, the load balancers have divided the APs and users "equally" what they are having problems with is when the clients are roaming between "load balancers". When I told our TAC engineers about what WNBU told us (about the number of APs), they kept quiet and did not contradict.

EDIT:

Not sure about this, but I think it is related to CSCwi10656 & CSCwj33979.