New CS 17.15.4 stable release candidate: includes DHCP options 3 & 15 (gateway and domain name) 🎉🎉

[cmr]

CS firmware versions IOS XE 17.15.4 changelog

Important notes

• After upgrading to Cloud Management with IOS XE 17.15 it is not possible to downgrade to any CS firmware via Dashboard. In order to downgrade to CS a factory reset may be required, and support assistance will be necessary. Please consider this before upgrading your network to Cloud Management with IOS XE. Learn more - http://cs.co/9002xhAan
• Stacking Limit for C9200L: C9200L series models support stacking configurations of up to 5 members. Please ensure your stacks for these models adhere to this limit. Exceeding 5 members may lead to unexpected behavior. This will be resolved in a future release.
• Switch Templates with bound networks cannot directly upgrade from CS firmware to IOS XE firmware. We recommend unbinding and migrating networks independently, and then rebinding into an IOS XE switch template.
• After upgrading from CS to IOS XE please allow at least 30 minutes for configuration to be marked safe. Rebooting/reloading within 30 minutes of upgrading may cause the switchports to revert to default configuration

Cloud management with ios xe overview

• Cloud management with IOS XE introduces a significant architectural shift from the previous container-based design to a cloud-native framework, unlocking benefits for your cloud-managed Cisco Catalyst switches, including the C9300-M, C9300L-M, C9300X-M, C9200L and MS390 families. These include faster boot and initialization performance, especially for stacks, and the start of a new generation of capabilities as we enable more underlying IOS-XE capabilities, and a Cloud CLI Terminal that introduces the ability to run Show CLI commands directly from Dashboard!
• CS16 or CS17 are prerequisites before initiating this upgrade. We do not recommend attempting to upgrade to IOS XE from other firmware versions.

Release highlights

• In this release, we are excited to support the following features and enhancements. Below are the key highlights:
• 802.1x Trunk Authentication for IOS XE switches
• Support for DHCP Server options (3 and 15), configuration for default routers & domain name
• Upgrade CS switch templates (no bound networks) to IOS XE firmware with support for default profile port module migration

Before you upgrade or migrate: key considerations

• After migrating CLI/DNA managed switches to cloud configuration source, please note that console and SSH access are no longer available. All management access is only available via the cloud Dashboard or the local status page through the rear management port.
• Please refer to the documentation (https://documentation.meraki.com/MS/Cloud-Native_IOS_XE/Cloud-Native_IOS_XE_Overview#Changes_in_Beha...) to familiarize yourself with management interface architecture changes.
• Layer 3 switches cannot run DHCP servers on uplink interfaces with IOS XE 17.15+. Post-upgrade, Interfaces with both Preferred Uplink and DHCP server configurations will have the DHCP server configuration disabled on that interface.
• Switches using the Alternative Management Interface (AMI) will require an L3 SVI to be configured for the same VLAN assigned to AMI. For AMI to work, your network must have AMI configured and your switch must have an SVI configured matching that AMI VLAN.
• After upgrading from CS to Cloud Management with IOS XE firmware, port mirroring configurations on module ports will not be retained. Users will need to reconfigure port mirroring on module ports following the upgrade.
• The 30-day grace period applies to licensing for Catalyst switches onboarded to Meraki Dashboard, allowing customers to trial cloud mode prior to fully committing. Valid DNA licenses can be converted to Meraki licenses through a qualified promotion process. Refer http://cs.co/9005aw6VH for more details.

Share your post-upgrade feedback!

• We value your feedback on our latest release! Please take a moment to complete this brief 5-minute survey (https://forms.office.com/r/gHuK4bJRZ5) and share your experience with us.

Known issues

• Modifying the default DSCP-to-COS Mappings in the Quality of Service section of Switch settings results in errors. Networks that use non-default DSCP-to-COS Mappings may fail to correctly upgrade from CS 17 and earlier firmware versions.
• Using MAC allow list on the default or currently installed network module ports will result in a config apply failure, requiring a factory reset to resolve
• Named VLAN configuration for stacks generates configuration errors
• SNMPv3 only supports AES 256 encryption, and will be reconfigured as part of your transition to IOSXE 17.15.4
• CFLOW data may be missing when capturing packets from the uplink port
• The Default VLAN profile API appends new configurations instead of overwriting existing ones potentially leading to unexpected behavior.
• Client Tracking does not work on ports at speeds of 10G or more
• Device uptime for stack members incorrectly displays the stack active device’s uptime instead of the member device’s uptime
• Attempting to create a DHCP server using DHCP option 135 (DNS Suffix) with hex value greater than 180 characters results in an error
• Attempting to use the MTR live tool in Dashboard does not correctly return data results, and may return errors
• Switch configuration is cleared after an immediate reboot following an upgrade from CS firmware to IOS XE firmware, causing the upstream Port-channel to enter a suspended state.
• Network locations with unstable Dashboard connectivity may trigger UAC to use a non-preferred uplink. Once stable connectivity is restored on the preferred uplink, management IP may not automatically fall back to the preferred one.
• Switch Client Summary displays incorrect VLAN for specific ports
• Exported Netflow flow records incorrectly omit Adaptive Policy group information
• Client devices that don’t support link auto-negotiation may cause their connected Port to show as disconnected on Dashboard • MS-33903 Download config keeps failing on port-security with uplink ports

Fixed issues

• Fixed a bug that prevented DHCP clients from being correctly reported in Dashboard
• Resolved an issue that caused storm-control configurations to be removed by Dashboard when the active switch in a stack was power cycled
• Fixed a bug that caused the configuration application to fail when changing the destination port configuration for encrypted traffic analysis
• Fixed a bug that prevented named VLANs from correctly displaying in the client summary page
• Resolved an issue that prevented some clients from being correctly displayed on the Network-wide > Clients and Switching > Switch Summary pages
• Implemented several improvements to the firmware upgrade process to reduce incidents of upgrades failing to complete or configuration being lost during the upgrade
• Resolved a bug that prevented changing Clients’ Static DHCP reservations
• Fixed a bug that caused fixed IP assignment via DHCP lease to fail when client MAC addresses or IP addresses overlapped

Supported models

• 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
• C9300-24T-M, C9300-24P-M, C9300-24U-M , C9300-24UX-M , C9300-48T-M , C9300-48P-M , C9300-48U-M , C9300-48UXM-M , C9300-48UN-M , C9300-24S-M, C9300-48S-M , C9300X-12Y-M, C9300X-24Y-M, C9300X-48HXN-M, C9300X-24HX-M, C9300X-48HX-M, C9300X-48TX-M, C9300L-24P-4X-M, C9300L-24T-4X-M, C9300L-24UXG-4X-M, C9300L-48P-4X-M, C9300L-48PF-4X-M, C9300L-48T-4X-M, C9300L-48UXG-4X-M, and the corresponding Catalyst switch SKUs for migration
• MS390-24-HW, MS390-24P-HW, MS390-24U-HW, MS390-24UX-HW, MS390-48-HW, MS390-48P-HW, MS390-48U-HW, MS390-48UX-HW, MS390-48UX2-HW
• Breakout Cables aren’t supported at this time.

Transitioning from cs to ios xe 17.15: unsupported features

• The following CS features are not supported in this release:
• Sticky MAC
• Gov (Federal), Canada, China, or India Cloud
• Meraki Dashboard HTTP proxy
• Port mirroring (SPAN) configuration will need to be reconfigured post upgrade
• Certain features will be added to the IOS XE versions in future releases. Refer to the Cloud Management with IOS XE documentation for further details: http://cs.co/9001Q4ALF

[GIdenJoe]

Network locations with unstable Dashboard connectivity may trigger UAC to use a non-preferred uplink. Once stable connectivity is restored on the preferred uplink, management IP may not automatically fall back to the preferred one.

Good to see they have acknowledged the issue here.

[nlev]

Has anyone seen upgrade failures when going to 17.15.4? We've had some issues upgrading 

C9300-48UXM and C9300-48P from 17.15.3.

After the upgrade, the switch goes offline in the dashboard but still appears to be switching traffic. In the dashboard event log we see:

"Image Install failed - Device is unreachable" and "Dashboard Upgrade Final Status - unreachable".

I'm able to access the local status page and it says "Something's not right" "Device is not connected to the Internet." event though it appears to have a valid uplink configuration.

Sometimes rebooting the switch gets it to go back online in the dashboard. Other times it has to be level 3 reset.