The IOS-XE 16.x series was first released in November 2015. It uses code names of famous mountains/places (Fuji, Everest, etc) and covers two minor release trains, i.e. Denali covers 16.1.x to 16.3.x minor releases. The Cisco IOS XE 16.x and 17.x Software releases are time-based, each with a fixed release date. The schedule specifies 3 individual software releases per year at 4 month intervals.
Each Cisco IOS-XE software release is classified as either a Standard-Support release or an Extended-Support release.
Standard-Support Release
A sustaining support lifetime of 12 months from First Customer Shipment (FCS) with scheduled rebuilds.
Extended-Support release Details
A sustaining support lifetime of 36 months from First Customer Shipment (FCS) with scheduled rebuilds.
Note the Cisco IOS-XE Software Release 16.9 is the first Extended-Support release under the 16.x series to support 36 months and Cisco IOS-XE Software Release 17.3 is the first Extended-Support release under the 17.x series. Every subsequent third release (for example, Cisco IOS-XE Software releases 16.12, 17.6, 17.9 etc.) will also be an Extended Maintenance release.
I had to perform an IOS-XE upgrade on a Cisco ASR 920 router from 3.x to 16.12.x (Gibraltar). I upgraded the ROMMON firmware first to be compatible with the IOS-XE 16.12.x code.
ASR920#upgrade ?
hw-module Upgrade hardware module commands
hw-programmable Upgrade hw-programmable
raid Upgrade RAID1 capacity
rom-monitor Upgrade rom-monitor
ASR920#upgrade rom-monitor ?
filename ROMMON package filename
ASR920#upgrade rom-monitor filename ?
bootflash: RP-relative ROMMON package name
flash: RP-relative ROMMON package name
tmpfs: RP-relative ROMMON package name
ASR920#upgrade rom-monitor filename bootflash:asr920_15_6_32r_s_rommon.pkg ?
0 SPA-Inter-Processor slot 0
F0 Embedded-Service-Processor slot 0
FP Embedded-Service-Processor
R0 Route-Processor slot 0
RP Route-Processor
all Upgrade ROMMON on all slots
ASR920#upgrade rom-monitor filename bootflash:asr920_15_6_32r_s_rommon.pkg all
Upgrade rom-monitor on Route-Processor 0
Target copying rom-monitor image file
Checking upgrade image...
1966080+0 records in
3840+0 records out
Upgrade image MD5 signature is 40966c321c22ab1671ab5617c4ce3b79
Burning upgrade partition...
1966080+0 records in
1966080+0 records out
Checking upgrade partition...
1966080+0 records in
1966080+0 records out
Upgrade flash partition MD5 signature is 40966c321c22ab1671ab5617c4ce3b79
ROMMON upgrade complete.
To make the new ROMMON permanent, you must restart the RP.
ASR920#reload
System configuration has been modified. Save? [yes/no]: yes
Building configuration...
[OK]
Proceed with reload? [confirm]
Jan 28 14:11:01.392 R0/0: %PMAN-5-EXITACTION: Process manager is exiting: process exit with reload chassis code
System Bootstrap, Version 15.6(10r)S, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 2016 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 24-Mar-16 15:38 by alnguyen
Boot ROM1
Last reset cause: RSP-Board
Rommon upgrade requested
Flash upgrade reset 1 in progress
.......
System Bootstrap, Version 15.6(32r)S, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 2018 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 30-Aug-18 06:23 by pallavik
*Upgrade in progress* Boot ROM0
Last reset cause: BootRomUpgrade
link status 0
link status 0
UEA platform with 3670016 Kbytes of main memory
We're coming up from a flash upgrade reset cookie
Located asr920-universalk9_npe.03.16.07.S.155-3.S7-ext.bin
Image size 311284732 inode num 17, bks cnt 75998 blk size 8*512
#################################################################
<OUTPUT TRUNCATED>
#################################################################
Boot image size = 311284732 (0x128dd3fc) bytes
pid_str[ASR-920-24SZ-M]
ROM:RSA Self Test hash Mismatch in long long word No. 0
ROM:Sha512 Self Test
Package header rev 2 structure detected
Calculating SHA-1 hash...
You have been idle for 150 seconds. Your session will end in 150 seconds.
done
validate_package_cs: SHA-1 hash:
calculated f756f0e3:ae1eae7c:5742c1a0:5ee42ff4:9fe87a1c
expected f756f0e3:ae1eae7c:5742c1a0:5ee42ff4:9fe87a1c
RSA Signed RELEASE Image Signature Verification Successful.
Image validated
Passing control to the main image..
%IOSXEBOOT-4-BOOT_ACTIVITY_LONG_TIME: (rp/0): Checking if a ROMMON upgrade is pending after a reboot took: 5 seconds, expected max time 2 seconds
Restricted Rights Legend
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(c) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and subparagraph
(c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.
cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134-1706
Cisco IOS Software, ASR920 Software (PPC_LINUX_IOSD-UNIVERSALK9_NPE-M), Version 15.5(3)S7, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2018 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Wed 07-Feb-18 21:52 by mcpre
It took around 10 minutes for the new ROMMON upgrade to complete (still using the and old IOS-XE 3.x).
ASR920##show platform
Chassis type: ASR-920-24SZ-M
Slot Type State Insert time (ago)
--------- ------------------- --------------------- -----------------
0/0 24xGE-4x10GE-FIXED-Sok 07:10:00
R0 ASR-920-24SZ-M ok, active 07:14:05
F0 ok, active 07:14:05
P0 ASR920-PSU0 ok 07:12:09
P1 ASR920-PSU1 ok 07:12:11
P2 ASR920-FAN ok 07:11:58
Slot CPLD Version Firmware Version
--------- ------------------- ---------------------------------------
R0 19062614 15.6(32r)S
F0 19062614 15.6(32r)S
Change the router's boot varitable to use the new 16.12.4 IOS-XE. Save the config and perform a router reload afterwards.
ASR920(config)#no boot system
ASR920(config)#do show run | i boot
boot-start-marker
boot-end-marker
no ip bootp server
license boot level advancedmetroipaccess
ASR920(config)#boot system bootflash:asr920-universalk9_npe.16.12.04.SPA.bin
ASR920(config)#boot system bootflash:asr920-universalk9_npe.03.16.07.S.155-3.S7-ext.bin
ASR920(config)#
ASR920(config)#do show run | i boot
boot-start-marker
boot system bootflash:asr920-universalk9_npe.16.12.04.SPA.bin
boot system bootflash:asr920-universalk9_npe.03.16.07.S.155-3.S7-ext.bin
boot-end-marker
no ip bootp server
license boot level advancedmetroipaccess
ASR920(config)#end
ASR920#write memory
Building configuration...
[OK]
ASR920#reload
Proceed with reload? [confirm]
Jan 28 14:24:49.191 R0/0: %PMAN-5-EXITACTION: Process manager is exiting: process exit with reload
System Bootstrap, Version 15.6(32r)S, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 2018 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 30-Aug-18 06:23 by pallavik
Boot ROM0
Last reset cause: RSP-Board
link status 0
link status 0
UEA platform with 3670016 Kbytes of main memory
Located asr920-universalk9_npe.16.12.04.SPA.bin
Image size 467318537 inode num 19, bks cnt 114092 blk size 8*512
#########################################################################################################
<OUTPUT TRUNCATED>
#########################################################################################################
Boot image size = 467318537 (0x1bdab709) bytes
pid_str[ASR-920-24SZ-M]
ROM:RSA Self Test hash Mismatch in long long word No. 0
ROM:Sha512 Self Test
Package header rev 2 structure detected
Calculating SHA-1 hash...done
validate_package_cs: SHA-1 hash:
calculated 93d52b9c:88da0d2b:8dce19ea:db637a6a:1f59da0e
expected 93d52b9c:88da0d2b:8dce19ea:db637a6a:1f59da0e
RSA Signed RELEASE Image Signature Verification Successful.
Image validated
Passing control to the main image..
Stage2 Bootldr for Polaris-image
Restricted Rights Legend
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(c) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and subparagraph
(c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134-1706
Cisco IOS Software [Gibraltar], ASR920 Software (PPC_LINUX_IOSD-UNIVERSALK9_NPE-M), Version 16.12.4, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc5)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2020 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 09-Jul-20 17:13 by mcpre
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS CAREFULLY. INSTALLING THE LICENSE OR
LICENSE KEY PROVIDED FOR ANY CISCO SOFTWARE PRODUCT, PRODUCT FEATURE,
AND/OR SUBSEQUENTLY PROVIDED SOFTWARE FEATURES (COLLECTIVELY, THE
"SOFTWARE"), AND/OR USING SUCH SOFTWARE CONSTITUTES YOUR FULL
ACCEPTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS. YOU MUST NOT PROCEED FURTHER IF YOU
ARE NOT WILLING TO BE BOUND BY ALL THE TERMS SET FORTH HEREIN.
Your use of the Software is subject to the Cisco End User License Agreement
(EULA) and any relevant supplemental terms (SEULA) found at
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/legal/cloud-and-software/software-terms.html.
You hereby acknowledge and agree that certain Software and/or features are
licensed for a particular term, that the license to such Software and/or
features is valid only for the applicable term and that such Software and/or
features may be shut down or otherwise terminated by Cisco after expiration
of the applicable license term (e.g., 90-day trial period). Cisco reserves
the right to terminate any such Software feature electronically or by any
other means available. While Cisco may provide alerts, it is your sole
responsibility to monitor your usage of any such term Software feature to
ensure that your systems and networks are prepared for a shutdown of the
Software feature.
All TCP AO KDF Tests Pass
cisco ASR-920-24SZ-M (Freescale P2020) processor (revision 1.2 GHz) with 890398K/6147K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID CAT22041234
24 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
4 Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
32768K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
3670016K bytes of physical memory.
1328927K bytes of eMMC flash at bootflash:.
<OUTPUT TRUNCATED>
FPGA
System Bootstrap, Version 15.6(32r)S, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 2018 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 30-Aug-18 06:23 by pallavik
Boot ROM0
Last reset cause: PowerOn
link status 0
link status 0
UEA platform with 3670016 Kbytes of main memory
Warning: filesystem is not clean
Located asr920-universalk9_npe.16.12.04.SPA.bin
Image size 467318537 inode num 19, bks cnt 114092 blk size 8*512
#############################################################################
<OUTPUT TRUNCATED>
#############################################################################
Boot image size = 467318537 (0x1bdab709) bytes
pid_str[ASR-920-24SZ-M]
ROM:RSA Self Test hash Mismatch in long long word No. 0
ROM:Sha512 Self Test
Package header rev 2 structure detected
Calculating SHA-1 hash...done
validate_package_cs: SHA-1 hash:
calculated 93d52b9c:88da0d2b:8dce19ea:db637a6a:1f59da0e
expected 93d52b9c:88da0d2b:8dce19ea:db637a6a:1f59da0e
RSA Signed RELEASE Image Signature Verification Successful.
Image validated
Passing control to the main image..
Stage2 Bootldr for Polaris-image
The IOS-XE 16.12.4 upgrade took around 25 minutes. The license key (port license) remained intact. Note the tacacs-server host <TACACS IP> command was deprecated and replaced by the server-private <TACACS+ IP> key <TACACS+ KEY> under the aaa group server sub-command in IOS-XE 16.12.2
If you've been configuring Cisco devices long enough, you'll always see this log:
Warning: The cli will be deprecated soon
'tacacs-server host 10.1.1.1'
Please move to 'tacacs server <name>' CLI
ASR920#show version
Cisco IOS XE Software, Version 16.12.04
Cisco IOS Software [Gibraltar], ASR920 Software (PPC_LINUX_IOSD-UNIVERSALK9_NPE-M), Version 16.12.4, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc5)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2020 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Thu 09-Jul-20 17:13 by mcpre
Cisco IOS-XE software, Copyright (c) 2005-2020 by cisco Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved. Certain components of Cisco IOS-XE software are
licensed under the GNU General Public License ("GPL") Version 2.0. The
software code licensed under GPL Version 2.0 is free software that comes
with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. You can redistribute and/or modify such
GPL code under the terms of GPL Version 2.0. For more details, see the
documentation or "License Notice" file accompanying the IOS-XE software,
or the applicable URL provided on the flyer accompanying the IOS-XE
software.
ROM: IOS-XE ROMMON
ASR920 uptime is 7 hours, 10 minutes
Uptime for this control processor is 7 hours, 16 minutes
System returned to ROM by reload at 18:25:43 UTC Thu Jan 28 2021
System restarted at 18:35:28 UTC Thu Jan 28 2021
System image file is "bootflash:asr920-universalk9_npe.16.12.04.SPA.bin"
Last reload reason: Reload Command
This product contains cryptographic features and is subject to United
States and local country laws governing import, export, transfer and
use. Delivery of Cisco cryptographic products does not imply
third-party authority to import, export, distribute or use encryption.
Importers, exporters, distributors and users are responsible for
compliance with U.S. and local country laws. By using this product you
agree to comply with applicable laws and regulations. If you are unable
to comply with U.S. and local laws, return this product immediately.
A summary of U.S. laws governing Cisco cryptographic products may be found at:
http://www.cisco.com/wwl/export/crypto/tool/stqrg.html
If you require further assistance please contact us by sending email to
export@cisco.com.
License Level: advancedmetroipaccess
License Type: Permanent
Next reload license Level: advancedmetroipaccess
Smart Licensing Status: Smart Licensing is DISABLED
cisco ASR-920-24SZ-M (Freescale P2020) processor (revision 1.2 GHz) with 890398K/6147K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID CAT2201234
24 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
4 Ten Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
32768K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
3670016K bytes of physical memory.
1328927K bytes of eMMC flash at bootflash:.
Configuration register is 0x2102
