Migration from CLI-managed Catalyst Switches to Meraki-managed Mode

Supported Models

Migration is available for the following Catalyst 9000 models. 

NOTE: ATTEMPTING TO CONVERT UNSUPPORTED MODELS SUCH AS C9200CX MAY RESULT IN A UNUSABLE SWITCH. PLEASE REVIEW THE LIST OF SUPPORTED MODELS BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THE UPGRADE.

Supported Firmware 

For the migration to cloud management, switches are required to be on IOS-XE 17.15.1. The special firmware release can be downloaded from the software download page.

Step 1: Validate Compatibility and Upgrade to the Minimum IOS-XE Release

To validate that your Catalyst switch has the hardware and software configuration compatible with the Meraki-managed mode, run the following command from the IOS-XE CLI.

show meraki compatibility

Switch#show meraki compatibility
==================================================
Compatibility Check    Status
--------------------------------------------------
Boot Mode        INSTALL  - Compatible
Stackwise Virtual    Disabled - Compatible
--------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switch#  SKU                         Bootloader Version          Network Modules
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1        C9300-48U   - Compatible    17.10.1r  - Compatible      C9300-NM-8X    - Compatible
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compatible SKUs: C9300-24P, C9300-24T, C9300-24U, C9300-24UX, C9300-48P, C9300-48T, C9300-48U, C9300-48UN, C9300-48UXM
Compatible NMs : C3850-NM-2-40G, C3850-NM-4-10G, C3850-NM-8-10G, C9300-NM-2Q, C9300-NM-8X, MA-MOD-2X40G, MA-MOD-4X10G,
                 MA-MOD-8X10G
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Step 2: Initiate Registration with the Cloud

Ensure that the Catalyst switch is able to connect to the internet and resolving dashboard.meraki.com.

vlan {vlan used for cloud connectivity}
exit
!
interface vlan {VLAN where DHCP is present}
 ip address dhcp
 no shutdown
exit
!
ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 dhcp
ip http client source-interface {vlan-interface}
!
ip name-server 8.8.8.8

Once you have validated that the switch can reach the Meraki Dashboard, use the following command within the configure terminal to register the switch(es) unit or stack member with dashboard:

Single Member or Stack Active member:

Switch# configure terminal
Switch(config)# service meraki connect

Single Member or Stack ctive member:

During the registration process, the switch will communicate with the Meraki Dashboard to register itself and receive its Meraki ID or Cloud ID. Each switch, including switches in a stack will receive an individual Meraki ID. The Catalyst serial number and Meraki ID mapping, along with the registration status, will be displayed on the CLI terminal, as shown in the following image:

You can also issue the show meraki connect command to view the status of the registration and its details as shown below. Once the output of “show meraki connect” indicates that the meraki tunnel config fetch has succeeded, the switch is ready to be claimed on the Meraki dashboard.

Switch# show meraki connect 

Step 3: Claim the Switch to Meraki Dashboard Using Cloud ID

Once the output of “show meraki connect” indicates that the config fetch has succeeded, the switch is ready to be claimed on the Meraki dashboard. The cloud ID generated as part of the registration process above will be needed to claim the devices to your Meraki dashboard. Navigate to the Organization>Inventory page on the Meraki dashboard and claim the switch.

Step 4: Add the switch to the dashboard network 

When you are ready to migrate the device to cloud-management mode, add the device to a dashboard network. Migration to management mode will not happen until the device has been added to a dashboard network. 

When adding the device to dashboard network, a warning message appears to remind you that any existing configurations will be replaced by dashboard configurations for the assigned network. The warning message is shown in the following image:

After the device has been added to a dashboard network, migration to Meraki cloud management mode will be triggered, initiating a factory reset procedure and restricting the console to read-only mode. 

Once the migration has been successful, use the local status page to make basic configuration updates. For information on how to access and use the local status page please refer to our documentation on Using Cisco Meraki Device Local Status Page.