Cisco Catalyst 9800-L IOS XE and End of Life

[jtrombley]

Hello,

I am considering a Cisco Catalyst 9800-L controller to replace our WLC 2504.  My question is regarding the End of Life.  I can only find information on the End of Life for the IOS XE versions, but not for the controller itself.  It is expensive and I want to make sure it will last long enough for the investment.  Does anyone know the EoL for the 9800-L?  Assuming the IOS XE is the software that runs on the 9800, why would that have an EoL?  Could I just upgrade to the latest if I have support?

Thanks for any help!

[Scott Fella · Accepted solution]

It will be a long time before the 9800 reaches end of life.  It's the new controller model that is replacing AireOS, so as of right now, its the only option since the AireOS will be end of life soon.

[Scott Fella]

Here are some guidelines for end of life and how long it will be supported after the announcement.  Most everyone will move to the 9800's once support for AireOS ends, so your fine with your investment on the 9800's.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en_ca/products/eos-eol-policy.html

[jtrombley]

Wow, thanks Scott!  If you know, is the IOS XE the OS that runs on the 9800?  If that needs to be upgraded, that can be done with a support contract right?  I guess I am just confused on why the IOS XE would have an End of Life / End of Sale...

[Scott Fella]

Yes... get a support contract so you can always download firmware and open TAC cases.  This also helps if you ever need to RMA a device.  Hardware as like code, will have an end of life, because... why support something that is very old, just makes it difficult to ensure compatibility in the future along with security fixes.  

If you look at code versions, most all code will be end of life at one point.  Also some code will get deferred earlier than end of life.  Don't worry about this as it will never be an issue as long as you have support and can download newer code versions.  This is also a great link to keep handy.

9800 tac recommended code version 

[Scott Fella]

Also keep in mind that a new train, 17.5.x to 17.6.x as an example will being new features vs 17.5.1 to 17.5.2.  Here is a guide to understanding the naming convention.

https://community.cisco.com/t5/networking-knowledge-base/cisco-ios-and-ios-xe-naming-convention-for-routing-platforms/ta-p/4520161

[jtrombley]

This is all great information.  Thanks for all the help and the links - very much appreciated!

[Scott Fella]

No problem.  Please rate the thread that helped so others can quickly find the appropriate solution when searching.

[Rich R]

Just to add to all that - every third major release is an extended support release so 17.3, 17.6 & 17.9 are extended support releases and 17.12 will be soon.  They get multiple maintenance updates with bug fixes and security fixes more or less every 3 months.  The releases in between (17.4, 17.5, 17.7, 17.8, 17.10) have only a single release with new features - no maintenance releases.  Any fixes go into later release trains only.  So generally aim to stay on the latest extended support release - currently 17.9 (most recently 17.9.3).

[surfside92]

We have 9800-40 and 9800-L controllers.

I recently upgraded the 9800-40s with code 17.9.3

But that would not load on the 9800-L. I notice the ios download page for the 9800-L does not actually list any 17.9.3

Any help or link to 9800-L download link much appreciated.

[Rich R]

You didn't actually mention the full model number of your 9800-L but assuming it's 9800-L-C then the download link is https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286323158/type/282046477/release/Cupertino-17.9.3 and for 9800-L-F then it's https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286321399/type/282046477/release/Cupertino-17.9.3 (although it's actually the exact same software image) and 17.9.3 is definitely supported - not sure why you thought it wasn't!

You should also refer to the release notes https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/17-9/release-notes/rn-17-9-9800.html#Cisco_Concept.dita_c9f5f62c-3813-4ab2-9365-71d583c3a462 which clearly state the supported hardware.

It's also important to make sure the PHY and ROMMON firmware are up to date before upgrading (also mentioned in the release notes):
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/config-guide/b_upgrade_fpga_c9800.html

> But that would not load on the 9800-L
If you tried to use the 9800-40 image - correct, that will not load - the images are platform specific so you can only use the 9800-L image on the 9800-L.

[surfside92]

My model  = C9800-L-C-K9

And that's where i went wrong.

I thought i simply had model C9800-L. The downloads page for c9800-L does not actually have the full os code - see below.

https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286323430/type

Thank you very much for the correct link.

And that explains why my 9800-l-c code upgrade failed - i was using the code for the 9800-40 !

Much appreciated

Charles.

[Rich R]

Cool, now you know for future.
It is a little bit confusing - because they still have SMUs and some other stuff under the 9800-L folder.

Don't forget to check/update the PHY & ROMMON firmware before upgrading the software.