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Cisco® NX-OS is a data center-class operating system built with modularity, resiliency, and serviceability at its foundation. Based on the industry-proven Cisco MDS 9000 SAN-OS Software, Cisco NX-OS helps ensure continuous availability and sets the standard for mission-critical data center environments. The self-healing and highly modular design of Cisco NX-OS makes transparent operations a reality and enables exceptional operational flexibility.
Focused on the requirements of the data center, Cisco NX-OS provides a robust and rich feature set that fulfills the routing, switching, and storage networking requirements of present and future data centers. With an Extensible Markup Language (XML) interface and a command-line interface (CLI) like that of Cisco IOS® Software, Cisco NX-OS provides state-of-the-art implementations of relevant networking standards as well as a variety of true data center-class Cisco innovations.
Overview
A comprehensive Cisco NX-OS Software release methodology has been developed that both preserves the integrity and stability of mission-critical networks and has the flexibility to respond to market needs for timely delivery of advanced networking features with multilayer intelligence.
This document is a guide to understanding the Cisco NX-OS Software release methodology. It describes the types of releases, their functions, and their lifecycles with various scenarios. It also describes the Cisco NX-OS Software release and image naming conventions.
Types of Cisco NX-OS Software Releases
Table 1 lists the Cisco NX-OS Software release variants: major releases, minor releases, maintenance releases, and support patches.
Table 1. Cisco NX-OS Software Release Types
Each Cisco NX-OS Software release is uniquely numbered as X.Y(z), where X is the major release, Y is a feature release that enhances major release X, and z is a maintenance release that addresses product defects in minor release Y. Figure 1 shows an example of how Cisco NX-OS Software releases are numbered.
Figure 1. Cisco NX-OS Software Release Numbering
Lifecycle of a Cisco NX-OS Software Release
The lifecycle of a major release spans several minor and maintenance releases.
Lifecycle of a Major Release
Figure 2 illustrates the lifecycle of a major release. For simplification, the maintenance releases are not shown.
Figure 2. Cisco NX-OS Software Major Release Lifecycle
The lifecycle of a major release starts with the first customer shipment (FCS) of the first minor release. It represents the date of the first shipment of a software release to customers for revenue. A major release usually occurs every 12 to 16 months.
The major release then enters the minor release introduction phase, where several minor and maintenance releases are released to enhance functioning and address product defects, respectively. The lifecycle of a minor release is described in the next section.
After the integrity and stability of the final minor release is established, the major release achieves general deployment status. General deployment status indicates that the major release has been proven with extensive market exposure in diverse deployment scenarios and has passed rigorous metrics analyzing stability and problem trends. No new features or functions are added to the major release after it achieves general deployment status. The general deployment phase lasts for 18 to 24 months, and product defects in this phase are addressed in maintenance releases.
After the general deployment phase, the major release transitions to the mature maintenance phase. In this phase, the release receives defect repairs only for severity 1 and severity 2 defects that the customer finds. Problems found internally are addressed on a case-by-case basis.
During the mature maintenance phase, the major release reaches the end-of-sale (EoS) milestone, which represents the last date for product orderability through Cisco customer service or manufacturing. The product will still be available through Cisco field support offices and Cisco.com.
After the EoS milestone, the major release achieves end-of-engineering (EoE) status, which represents the last scheduled maintenance revision of the major release. Engineering will no longer actively apply any defect repairs to the release, regardless of origin or severity (except for security defects). The product will still be available through Cisco field support offices and Cisco.com.
Finally, the major release reaches end-of-life (EoL) status, where the software image is no longer supported by Cisco and is removed from Cisco.com.
Cisco will generally provide a 6-month notice of a product's EoS date or the last day when the affected product can be ordered. This notice will appear on Cisco.com at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/prod_end_of_life.html.
You are encouraged to visit this site regularly; it contains useful information regarding the Cisco EoL program. Access to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a period of 5 years from the EoS date for Cisco NX-OS Software concerns.
Lifecycle of a Minor Release
Figure 3 illustrates the lifecycle of a minor release. After FCS of each minor release, there is an initial deployment phase in which product defects are addressed in maintenance releases every 4 to 6 weeks.
To preserve the integrity, stability, and quality of a minor release, maintenance releases primarily address product defects. Few or no new features or functions, which can potentially be destabilizing, are added to the maintenance release.
Figure 3. Cisco NX-OS Software Minor Release Lifecycle
A minor release achieves generally qualified status after it is qualified and quantified with metrics. Minor releases are analyzed for integrity, stability, and problem trends and are proven through extensive qualification testing and exposure in diverse storage networks.
After achieving generally qualified status, the minor release transitions to the restricted maintenance phase. During this phase, only critical, pervasive, and service-affecting severity 1 and severity 2 product defects are addressed. All other types of defects are addressed by upgrading to another minor release. These types of scenarios are described in the next section, along with recommendations.
Figure 4 shows the evolution of major, minor, and maintenance Cisco NX-OS Software releases.
Figure 4. Evolution of Cisco NX-OS Software Major, Minor, and Maintenance Releases
Cisco NX-OS Software Release Management Scenarios
This section describes the Cisco NX-OS Software release methodology using examples.
Integrity and Stability of a Release
Because all post-FCS activity in Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(1) addresses only product defects (Figure 5), the integrity and stability of this release is preserved. New features and requests for enhancements will be addressed in a subsequent minor release, which in this scenario is 1.1(1).
Figure 5. Integrity and Stability of a Release
Product Defects in Initial Deployment Phase
During the initial deployment phase, the product defects in Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(x) are addressed in maintenance releases 1.0(2) and 1.0(3), occurring every 4 to 6 weeks, with Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(5) achieving generally qualified status (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Initial Deployment Phase
By upgrading to Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(5), customers can achieve the benefit of receiving updates for all known product defects. Because the maintenance release Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(5) addresses product defects and is fully regression tested for all features and functions, the integrity, stability, and quality of the minor release Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(x) is preserved.
Product Defects in the Restricted Maintenance Phase
Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(x) progresses to maintenance release Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(5), where it achieves generally qualified status and transitions to the restricted maintenance phase. If a fabric running maintenance release Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.0(5) encounters a product defect in this phase, there are two mechanisms to address the problem (Figure 7) depending on the severity of the defect.
Figure 7. Restricted Maintenance Phase
For a critical product defect that is pervasive, a new maintenance release, CISCO NX-OS Software Release 1.0(6), is introduced. This is the only exception scenario where a maintenance release is introduced after the generally qualified phase.
For a noncritical product defect, a fabric upgrade to the next minor release, Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.1(3), should be planned. With this planned upgrade, the fabric gets the benefit of an update for all other product defects. Noncritical product defects are not addressed in the restricted maintenance phase of a minor release. Even though the next minor release introduces new features, the comprehensive regression testing process that Cisco uses helps ensure that the integrity, stability, and quality of Cisco NX-OS Software Release 1.1(3) is preserved with the new features.
Transition to General Deployment Status
Major release 1.0 has three minor releases: 1.0(x), 1.1(x), and 1.2(x) (Figure 8). The major release achieves general deployment status when the final minor release (1.2(x) in this example) transitions to generally qualified status. As described in the previous sections, general deployment status indicates the end of new features and functions in the major release. Additionally, general deployment status indicates that the major release has been proven with extensive market exposure in diverse deployment scenarios and has passed rigorous metrics analyzing stability and problem trends. Product defects (if any) during the general deployment phase are addressed in maintenance releases.
Figure 8. Transition to General Deployment Status
Summary
Cisco NX-OS Software release methodology preserves the integrity, stability, and quality of customers' mission-critical networks. It has the flexibility to respond to market needs for timely delivery of innovative features. Primary attributes of release methodology include the following:
• Major releases introduce significant new features, functions, and platforms.
• Minor releases enhance the features and functions of an existing major release.
• Maintenance releases address product defects in a minor release.