ASR router - IOS-XE upgrade

[Christian Jorge]

Good afternoon

Due to vulnerabilites present on our ASR route, we have to upgrade its IOS-XE version

We are a little confused about IOS-XE recommended version, smart licensing, ROMMON, etc, even reading some Cisco documentation.

router model: ASR1001-X

current IOS-XE: 03.16.09.S

current ROMMON:  15.4(2r)S

CPLD Version: 14041015

License Level: adventerprise (Permanent)

For this hardware model, Cisco site recommends to install IOS-XE 16.6.8 or 16.9.5.

IOS-XE 16.6.8 requires ROMMON 15.5(3r)S / 16.3(2r); IOS-XE 16.9.5 requires ROMMON 16.9(4r).

1 - Regarding Licensing, for both IOS-XE 16.6 and 16.9 can we use the same license already installed or should we upgrade it to new Smart Licensing?

2 - Is there any migration path from IOS-XE 3.16 to 16.6 or 16.9? Or can we upgrade to them direct from 3.16?

We are planning to use a change window considering production impact (no need to consider ISSU)

3 - Can we upgrade ROMMON to 16.9(4r), even considering IOS-XE version 16.6, or should we have to consider only recommended version - 16.3(2r)?

4 - Should we be worried about any firmware issue, CPLD, etc ?

Regards and thanks for helping me

Christian

[Leo Laohoo]

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@Christian Jorge wrote:

Regarding Licensing, for both IOS-XE 16.6 and 16.9 can we use the same license already installed or should we upgrade it to new Smart Licensing?

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It is worth it if you enable Cisco Smart Licensing (CSL) because if it not activated it will continously spam the routers log. 

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@Christian Jorge wrote:

Is there any migration path from IOS-XE 3.16 to 16.6 or 16.9? Or can we upgrade to them direct from 3.16?

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You can go direct to 16.9.X.

NOTE:  Strongly recommend the IOS be upgraded using Install Mode. 

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@Christian Jorge wrote:

Can we upgrade ROMMON to 16.9(4r), even considering IOS-XE version 16.6, or should we have to consider only recommended version - 16.3(2r)?

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Upgrading to 16.9(4r) is recommended. 
NOTE:  Upgrading the ROMMON and router firmware can be done with one reboot.

[Christian Jorge]

Thanks for our reply. Very helpful.

Regarding releases 16.6 and 16.9, from which one is mandatory to use Smart License?
I read something about starting from release 16.9, but we found some Cisco article informing that it's mandatory from release 16.10.

We'd like by now keep the licensing scheme the same

This is the reason we are still considering release 16.6