Running CISCO OS on non-Cisco hardware

[VirtualAccess36632]

Hi, 

Maybe this is a stupid question, I need to verify if it is legal to run Cisco operating system on different hardware that is not made by Cisco. 

Appreciate answers. 

A.  

[Martin L]

No, it is not legal to run Cisco IOS on different hardware that is not made by Cisco. 

it should not run at all. But There are some emulators (GNS3, Eve-ng) that will allow to run IOS without hardware at all.  The legal part of such usage (use it on emulator) is also very questionable; it falls into "grey" area if it is clearly illegal. 

Regards, ML
**Please Rate All Helpful Responses **

[omz]

Hi 

What is that you want to do?

You like Cisco IOS but don't like the hardware? :)

Depends if you are asking for learning or production. 

For production, if you are interested in using 3rd party hardware then, unfortunately, Cisco IOS won't work. 

IOS code is written for Cisco hardware it won't know how to initialise all the underlying hardware.

You could install Quagga and bridc on a bare-metal switch something like delta/dni

Quagga commands are very similar to IOS. Or use Cumulus OS on a bare-metal switch.

For learning, only legal images are what you get with CML-PE (ex-VIRL). You are supposed to run them on VIRL/CML server. Images used in GNS3 or Eve-NG are not officially released by Cisco. So I very much doubt any of those images are legal to use. But there are out there and thousands use them for learning.

hope this helps 

[VirtualAccess36632]

I have a customer that claims that they have a non-cisco vendor which uses Cisco's OS

I need to verify if this is legal (Not if it is Possible because it is possible)

and IF it is legal (which I doubt) how it works ... is there some software bulk or special license ? 

[Martin L]

what non-cisco vendor use Cisco's OS? it must be emulator I mentioned. otherwise, not sure how is that possible.

[VirtualAccess36632]

Would you mind me asking,  you know this because you are genuine Cisco sales engineer or you just "feel it" ?

[Martin L]

I am not Cisco sales engineer. For learning purpose, I have used IOS on GNS3 and Eve-ng (don't tell anyone) but those are emulators. Just curious about other emulators out there.

I think if it is used for educational purpose, it sort of OK; illegal but not as much as using for other purposes. It is unethical.  

[omz]

There is some "Eastern" country where you can buy fake Cisco hardware. It looks the same .. prompt looks the same but not all features really work. 

You didn't get the point in my last comment ... you can put a cisco image on an emulator and run the emulator on a VM inside some hardware that can look like a switch.

Its not Cisco hardware but its running Cisco IOS.

You can use all the feature in IOS unless you have Cisco hardware. 

If your question is about if you can install Cisco IOS on Juniper or Avaya or any other vendor hardware .. No you cannot.

[omz · Accepted solution]

regarding legal or not 

Section 5. Limitations and Restrictions

Unless expressly authorized by Cisco in writing or otherwise permitted under applicable law, 
You will not: (i) sell, resell, transfer, sublicense, or assign Your rights under this license
(except as expressly provided herein); (ii) modify, adapt or create derivative works; 
(iii) reverse engineer, decompile, decrypt, disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive the 
source code, except as provided in Section 17 below; (iv) make the functionality available 
to third parties, whether as an application service provider, or on an outsourcing, 
membership or subscription, rental, service bureau, cloud service, managed or hosted service,
 or other similar basis; (v) Use Software that is licensed for a specific device, whether 
physical or virtual, on another device; (vi) remove, modify, or conceal any product 
identification, copyright, proprietary, intellectual property notices or other marks; 
(vii) Use the Software on secondhand or refurbished Cisco equipment not authorized by Cisco; 
or (viii) Use the Cisco Content with third-party products or service offerings that Cisco 
has not identified as compatible with the Software, extract Cisco Content or provide Cisco 
Content to a third party.

[VirtualAccess36632]

Thank you! Would you mind sharing the source please? 

[Leo Laohoo]

---

@VirtualAccess36632 wrote:

I have a customer that claims that they have a non-cisco vendor which uses Cisco's OS

---

I think there is a "failure to communicate" between the vendor and the client.  

I've heard of this line many times.  It all comes down to the vendor's kit "behaves" like Cisco's IOS in CLI only. 

To be frank, any kit that runs UNIX- or Linux-based OS would "behave" like Cisco's IOS in CLI.  

[VirtualAccess36632]

Okay, This sounds interesting. Thanks for pointing this out!