Cloud Configuration: Release Versions and Highlights

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Cloud Management with IOS XE unlocks the full potential of IOS XE, empowering organizations to simplify operations, enhance efficiency, and improve network performance from access to core. This article highlights the new features for each major Cloud Management with IOS XE version in Cloud Configuration.

Refer to the Cloud Management with IOS XE Overview page for information on Key Consideration Before You Upgrade or Migrate, as well as Changes in Behavior (such as LED behavior, Spanning Tree changes, safe-config and rollback, etc.).

For CLI to Cloud Management (cloud configuration source) migration instruction, see the documentation Conversion from CLI-managed IOS XE Catalyst Switches to Cloud Management with Cloud Configuration and learn more about the latest Cloud Entitlement for DNA licensing offer.

Support Models

Supported Models and Minimum Required Version

Family	Models	Minimum Required Version
MS390	MS390-24, MS390-24P, MS390-24U, MS390-24UX, MS390-48, MS390-48P, MS390-48U, MS390-48UX, MS390-48UX2	17.15+
C9200L	C9200L-24T-4X , C9200L-24P-4X, C9200L-48T-4X , C9200L-48P-4X , C9200L-48PL-4X , C9200L-24PXG-4X , C9200L-48PXG-4X , C9200L-24PXG-2Y , C9200L-48PXG-2Y , C9200L-24T-4G , C9200L-24P-4G , C9200L-48T-4G , C9200L-48P-4G , C9200L-48 PL-4G, and its corresponding -M switch SKUs.
C9300	C9300-24T, C9300-24P, C9300-24U , C9300-24UX , C9300-48T , C9300-48P, C9300-48U , C9300-48UXM, C9300-48UN, C9300-24S, C9300-48S , C9300X-12Y, C9300X-24Y, C9300X-48HXN, C9300X-24HX, C9300X-48HX, C9300X-48TX, C9300L-24P-4X, C9300L-24T-4X, C9300L-24UXG-4X, C9300L-48P-4X, C9300L-48PF-4X, C9300L-48T-4X, C9300L-48UXG-4X, and its corresponding -M switch SKUs.

Remaining C9300 models	C9300-24UB, C9300-24UXB, C9300-48UB, C9300-24H, C9300-48H, C9300L-24T-4G, C9300L-48T-4G, C9300L-24P-4G, C9300L-48P-4G, C9300L-48PF-4G, C9300L-24UXG-2Q, C9300L-48UXG-2Q, C9300LM-48UX-4Y, C9300LM-48U-4Y, C9300LM-24U-4Y, C9300LM-48T-4Y		17.18.1+
C9200	C9200-24T, C9200-24P, C9200-24PB, C9200-24PXG, C9200-48T, C9200-48P, C9200-48PL, C9200-48PB, C9200-48PXG
C9200CX	C9200CX-12T-2X2G, C9200CX-12P-2X2G, C9200CX-8P-2X2G, C9200CX-8UXG-2X, C9200CX-12P-2XGH, C9200CX-8P-2XGH, C9200CX-8UXG-2XH
C9500 high-performance switch with 100G Uplink	C9500-48Y4C, C9500-24Y4C, C9500-32C, C9500-32QC
C9350 Smart Switches*	C9350-24T, C9350-48T, C9350-48TX, C9350-48HX, C9350-24P, C9350-48P, C9350-24U, C9350-48U

Firmware Upgrade Advisory for C9300L (-M) series: Due to a known issue, C9300L (-M) series switches that experience problems upgrading from a CS version to IOS XE 17.15.4 may encounter an issue rolling back to the original software image, and then fail to properly boot. To avoid running into this issue, please DO NOT make any configuration changes that could impact switch connectivity to the dashboard to the dashboard until the upgrade is complete and successful.

Firmware Upgrade Advisory for C9300L: Due to a known issue, 9300L switches will not upgrade when a network upgrades to IOS XE 17.15.4. If your network is scheduled for an upgrade from a CS firmware version to IOS XE 17.15.4 version, all other devices will upgrade as planned and C9300L models will remain on the current CS firmware version. This measure is in place to prevent an issue where 9300L may experience a problem upgrading to 17.15.4, attempt to roll back to the original software image, and then fail to properly boot. Once this issue has been patched, the switches will upgraded normally.

Supported Network Modules and Minimum Required Version

Network Modules	Compatible Switch	Minimum Required Version
C9300X-NM-2C (-M) ^1** C9300X-NM-8Y (-M) ¹	C9300X	CS16+ and IOS XE 17.15 For existing C9300 network module support with 17.15 or prior firmware, please refer to the Uplink Modules table here.
C9300-NM-2Q (-M) C9300-NM-8X (-M) C9300-NM-2Y (-M)²	C9300

C9300X-NM-4C	C9300X-48HX, C9300X-48TX and C9300X-24Y models.	17.18.1+
C9300X-NM-8M ¹	C9300X
C9300-NM-4G C9300-NM-4M	C9300
C9200-NM-2Y C9200-NM-2Q	Support only on C9200-24PXG, C9200-48PXG
C9200-NM-4G	C9200 (Not supported on C9200-24PXG, C9200-48PXG)
C9200-NM-4X	C9200

The number of Network Module ports are limited when C9300X-NM-xx are used with the C9300X-48HXN models. For more details see IOS-XE documentation.
The C9300-NM-2Y-M module is supported on C9300-24S/48S with firmware CS16.7. Support for the other C9300 switch models require CS16.8

The C9300X-NM-2C-M modules will operate at 40Gbps with software support in CS17 firmware. For 100G operation, IOS-XE 17.15+ is required.

Cloud Management with IOS XE

Cloud-managed Catalyst switches that are being scheduled for an upgrade from any CS firmware version to the latest Cloud Management with IOS XE version (17.15+) should first meet the minimum CS firmware requirement of CS17 version before upgrading.

Cloud-managed Catalyst switch platforms are now supported in the Meraki India, Meraki China, and Meraki Canada regional clouds. Both cloud configuration mode and device configuration mode are supported with IOS XE. For more details, see the Cloud Management with IOS XE Overview.

IOS XE 17.18

The new 17.18 release delivers high-scale management with advanced features such as enhanced routing protocols, robust high availability capabilities, expanded cloud visibility and troubleshooting tools like SmartPorts and Intelligent Capture (scheduling). With support for additional switch platforms, including C9200/CX, C9300LM, and C9500, it provides seamless, scalable, and reliable management across multiple sites—all through a single, intuitive dashboard.

Try the new Cloud Management with IOS XE 17.18.2 Release Candidate for additional powerful capabilities, such as BGP, VRF, and Cloud EVPN Fabric. For in-dash upgrade, please see the "Other Available Versions" tab.

Refer to feature list and documentation: Additional Features in 17.18.2

Features in 17.18.1

Feature	Supported Models/Family	Minimum Required License
Expand switching platform supports	C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)	C9200CX, C9300, MS390, and C9500H	Enterprise
Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF)	All supported C9000 and MS390 switches in Cloud Management with Cloud Configuration running IOS XE 17.18.1	Enterprise
Routed Ports		Enterprise
StackWise Virtual	C9500H	Enterprise
In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU)¹	C9500H	Enterprise
Rapid Per-VLAN STP (RPVST+)²	All supported C9000 and MS390 switches in Cloud Management with Cloud Configuration running IOS XE 17.18.1	Enterprise
Cloud value expansion: SmartPorts Profiles Intelligent Capture Scheduling Device Uptime Digital Optical Monitoring Radius Caching Additional DHCP options		Enterprise

ISSU will only become available when upgrading to the next release from IOS XE 17.18.1
IMPORTANT! Please prune unused VLANs. VLANs greater than the number of supported RPVST Instances will automatically be removed for each switch in the network. For more information, refer to VLAN Profiles documentation.

Cisco C9350 Series Smart Switches are running their first IOS XE release. The following advanced Layer 3 features are not supported in this release: BGP, VRF, Rapid Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Protocol (RPVST+), Routed Ports, Digital Optical Monitoring, Radius Caching, Intelligent Capture Scheduling, SmartPort Profiles, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), detailed traffic analytics(trunk ports, port channels, and uplink modules), and VLAN to SGT mapping. Additionally, certain fields in NetFlow exporters are not supported

Additional Features in 17.18.2

Feature	Supported Models/Family	Minimum Required License
SmartPort Automation (early access)	MS390/ C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
UAC Uplink Allow List (early access)	MS390/ C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
Live Tool - Multicast	MS390/ C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
VRF Enhancements (ARP/TraceRoute/Multicast Live Tool)	MS390/ C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
VRRP	MS390/ C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
Configure Allowed VLAN DB on LSP	MS390/ C9200/C9300/C9500H	Enterprise
Cloud EVPN Fabric	C9300X and C9500H	Advanced

Please note, UAC Automatic Fallback to Preferred Uplink (new with 17.15.4.1+) is also supported in 17.18.2+.

Unsupported Features

The following features are not available in Cloud Management with IOS XE 17.18.1 and will be added in future releases.

MAC Blocklist

RSPAN / VLAN SPAN

IPv6 RA Guard / DHCP Guard

HTTP Proxy
Sticky MAC
Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) Auto-Uplink
Netflow on IPv6
SecurePort

Meraki for Government Cloud

IOS XE 17.15

Key Highlights

Introducing a new onboarding flow including both cloud and device configuration: two powerful ways to manage your Catalyst 9000 switches from the Meraki dashboard. These options give you the flexibility to choose cloud management with cloud configuration in Meraki dashboard or device configuration (previously referred to as cloud monitoring) that offers configuration via an embedded cloud CLI while leveraging the cloud for monitoring and troubleshooting. Learn more.
Management Interface Architecture Change: a dedicated management interface is no longer required.
Default Network Module: this enhancement simplifies and consolidates network module configuration into 8 default ports that get applied dynamically to any inserted network module. (Watch this video to learn more about this change or see the Cloud Operating Mode for Catalyst Cloud-Managed Switches Overview documentation)
Standardized Cisco Logging and Interface Naming

Supported Features

UAC Automatic Fallback to Preferred Uplink (new with 17.15.4.1+)
Configuration Templates
Adaptive Policy
Intelligent Capture
Storm Control
Radius Multi-Auth (dot1X)
Device Uptime
802.1X Control Direction
Meraki Authentication (Meraki Auth)
Alternate Management Interface (AMI)
Port Schedules
C9200L Hardware Platform Support (see supported models above)
SNMPv3
Encrypted Traffic Analytics
Energy Efficient Ethernet
MAC Allow Lists
Support for regional clouds: Meraki India, Meraki China, and Meraki Canada

Unsupported Features

The following features are not available in IOS XE 17.15 with cloud configuration and will be added in future releases.

SmartPorts
MAC Blocklist
Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM)
RSPAN / VLAN SPAN
IPv6 RA Guard / DHCP Guard
WarmSpare / VRRP
HTTP Proxy
Sticky MAC
Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) Auto-Uplink
Netflow on IPv6
SecurePort
Meraki for Government Cloud

IOS XE 17.15.5 Release Highlights and Important references

Highlights and References	Details
UAC Enhancements UAC enhancements and expected behavior	Key UAC Improvements: More reliable uplink selection and IP management. Uses gateway ARP probes instead of PING for connectivity checks. Automatically reverts to the preferred uplink after successful ARP probe. Always prioritizes the preferred uplink after a reboot.
Layer 3 Migration Guide L3 Migration guide from CS to IOS XE firmware	For customers migrating their L3 switches from CS to IOS XE firmware, we highly recommended they review the architectural differences as well as the best practices to follow for a smoother transition experience
Expanded Meraki regional cloud support for switches on IOS XE firmware	Cloud Management with IOS XE now available in Meraki India, China, and Canada regions.
Firmware Upgrade Optimizations	Numerous enhancements have been made to the CS to IOS XE upgrade process, significantly reducing upgrade times and optimizing firmware upgrade experience. These improvements ensure faster, more reliable upgrades with minimized downtime.