Catalyst 3850 - upgrade 16.12 - smart licensing?

[oguarisco]

Dear all,

we would like to upgrade some 3850 from 16.6 to 16.12 Release.

Since 16.9 is Smart Licensing mandatory, is there a license to be bought for the compliance?
If yes, which kind of license (SKU) keeping in mind that those 3850 are in standalone and not managed/integrated in a DNA center.

BR and thanks for the support

Omar

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Stick with 16.6.X to avoid CSL. 

For long-term stability, downgrade to the latest 3.6.X.

Any 3650/3850 switches on 16.X.X needs to be rebooted regularly, like every 4-6 months, to avoid any crashes due to memory leak.

[Leo Laohoo]

3850 (4 x switches), Firmware version: 16.12.4, Uptime: 1y43w4d

Memory leak due to "keyman" process

The memory leak is due to FN - 72323 - Cisco IOS XE Software: QuoVadis Root CA 2 Decommission Might Affect Smart Licensing, Smart Call Home, and Other Functionality.

(I deliberately did not upgrade the IOS-XE nor performed the workaround in order to determine how long before the memory leak reaches critical level.)

The memory leak is due to the "keyman" process.  During normal operations this process should use about 10k to 15k.

Currently, I have several (>6 stacks) 3850 with memory leak due to "keyman" process.  

Hope this helps.

[oguarisco]

Hi Leo,

thanks for the detailed information provided... I've notice that you're running 16.12.4, do you have swithces with 16.12.8?

Checking the RN I've seen that in 16.12.8 several memory issue are resolved.

Concerning the FN-72323 in last occurance with a 9500 17.3 I've opted for the Workaround 2 - configure a new Root CA

[Leo Laohoo]

The 3850 that reach critical memory utilization will be upgraded to 16.12.8.  I have upgraded at least two today alone.

Yes, configuring a new Root CA is an acceptable workaround if IOS-XE upgrade cannot be accomplished.