Recommended Releases for Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches
Change History
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
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May 08, 2026 |
Removed old End-of-Life and End-of-Sale Extended Support information. |
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September 08, 2025 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.4(3b) as the recommend release. |
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May 02, 2025 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.4(3a) as the recommend release. |
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March 07, 2025 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS 9396V 64-Gbps 96-Port Fibre Channel switch in General Recommendation for New Deployments for Fabric Switches table. |
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January 16, 2025 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.4(1a) as the recommend FICON release. |
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November 13, 2024 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.4(2a) as the recommend release. |
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June 03, 2024 |
Updated the document with
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Sep 22, 2023 |
Updated the document with the following:
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January 23, 2023 |
Updated the document with smart licensing recommended release, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.3(2) and non-smart licensing recommended release, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.2(1a). |
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September 22, 2022 |
Updated the document with smart licensing recommended release, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.3(1) and non-smart licensing recommended release, Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.2(1a). |
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April 6, 2022 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 9.2(2) as the recommend releases. |
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March 22, 2022 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.4(2d) as the recommend releases. |
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September 8, 2021 |
Updated the recommend release for Cisco DCNM to release 11.5(1). |
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August 25, 2021 |
Added the Cisco MDS 48-Port 64-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module and updated its recommended release. |
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July 16, 2021 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.4(2c) as the recommend releases. |
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May 27, 2021 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 6.2(33) as the recommend releases. |
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March 22, 2021 |
Added recommended release information for Cisco MDS 9220i switch. |
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November 24, 2020 |
Updated the recommended release to Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.4(2a). |
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June 15, 2020 |
Added the MSM-18/4 or SSN-16 Module information for Cisco MDS 9506 and 9513. Removed the following modules because of their end-of-life:
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May 21, 2020 |
Removed Cisco MDS 9222i and Cisco MDS 9000 Series 18/4-Port Multiservice Module (DS-X9304-18K9) information because of their end-of-support. |
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May 1, 2020 |
Updated the recommended release for IOA to Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.4(2). |
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April 1, 2020 |
Updated the document with Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 6.2(29) and Release 8.4(1a) as the recommend releases. |
This document lists the recommended Cisco MDS NX-OS software release for use with Cisco MDS 9000 Series switches for both new deployments and existing deployments. These are Cisco release recommendations based on important software fixes and hence we recommend that you upgrade to these releases at a minimum, if permitted by your current deployment and SAN design. These recommendations are general and should not replace environment-specific design review efforts. Customers can alternatively deploy more recent software releases to take advantage of newer hardware and software capabilities.
General Recommendation for New Deployments
The current releases for Cisco MDS 9000 Series provides latest security updates.
We recommend the following releases for new Cisco MDS 9000 Series deployments:
|
Director Switches |
Supported Modules |
Recommended Software Release |
|---|---|---|
|
Cisco MDS 9718 |
Cisco MDS 48-Port 64-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module (DS-X9748-3072K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9700 Series Supervisor-1E (DS-X97-SF1E-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9700 48-Port 32-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module (DS-X9648-1536K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 48-Port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Module (DS-X9848-480K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 16-Gbps Fibre Switching Module (DS-X9448-768K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Crossbar Fabric Switching Module (DS-X9718-FAB1) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 40-Gbps 24-Port FCoE Module (DS-X9824-960K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 24/10 Port SAN Extension Module (DS-X9334-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9710 |
Cisco MDS 48-Port 64-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module (DS-X9748-3072K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9700 Series Supervisor-4 Module (DS-X97-SF4-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Cisco MDS 9700 48-Port 32-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module (DS-X9648-1536K) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Crossbar Fabric Switching Module (DS-X9710-FAB3) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Cisco MDS 24/10 Port SAN Extension Module (DS-X9334-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 40-Gbps 24-Port FCoE Module (DS-X9824-960K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9700 Series Supervisor-1 Module (DS-X97-SF1-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 16-Gbps Fibre Switching Module (DS-X9448-768K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9000 48-Port 10-Gbps FCoE Module (DS-X9848-480K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Crossbar Fabric Switching Module (DS-X9710-FAB1) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9706 |
Cisco MDS 48-Port 64-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module (DS-X9748-3072K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9700 Series Supervisor-4 Module (DS-X97-SF4-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9700 48-Port 32-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module (DS-X9648-1536K) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Crossbar Fabric Switching Module (DS-X9706-FAB3) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Cisco MDS 24/10 Port SAN Extension Module (DS-X9334-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
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Cisco MDS 40-Gbps 24-Port FCoE Module (DS-X9824-960K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Cisco MDS 9700 Series Supervisor-1 Module (DS-X97-SF1-K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 16-Gbps Fibre Switching Module (DS-X9448-768K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
|
Cisco MDS 9000 48-Port 10-Gbps FCoE Module (DS-X9848-480K9) |
9.4(3b) |
|
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Crossbar Fabric Switching Module (DS-X9706-FAB1) |
9.4(3b) |
|
Fabric Switches |
Supported Modules |
Recommended Software Release |
|---|---|---|
|
Cisco MDS 9396V 64-Gbps 96-Port Fibre Channel switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9396T 32-Gbps 96-Port Fibre Channel Switch |
None (fixed configuration) |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9250i Multiservice Fabric Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9220i Fabric Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9148V 64-Gbps 48-Port Fibre Channel Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9148T 32-Gbps 48-Port Fibre Channel Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9148S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9132T 32-Gbps 32-Port Fibre Channel Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
|
Cisco MDS 9124V 64-Gbps 24-Port Fibre Channel Switch |
— |
9.4(3b) |
Recommendation for SAN Analytics
We recommend to use the current release of Cisco MDS NX-OS. If you are using SAN Analytics and SAN Telemetry Streaming, we recommend that you upgrade the NX-OS version of the switch to Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.4(1a) or later releases. See the Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.4(1a) or later release notes for nondisruptive upgrade procedure.
Before upgrading from Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 8.2(x) or 8.3(x) to 8.4(1a) or later releases, ensure that you disable the SAN Analytics feature using the feature analytics command before upgrading and this is a one time requirement.
Recommendation for FICON Environments
We recommend that customers choose from the following releases qualified by IBM for use in FICON environments:
|
MDS Switches |
Recommended Software Release |
|---|---|
|
Cisco MDS 9710 and 9706 Director Switches |
9.4(1a) |
|
MDS 9250i Switch |
9.4(1a) |
|
MDS 9220i Switch |
9.4(1a) |
For more information about FICON supported platforms with MDS NX-OS Releases, see the elease Notes for Cisco MDS 9000 Series.
Recommendation for Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (formerly Cisco Data Center Network Manager)
We recommend that customers choose the following Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC formerly Cisco Data Center Network Manager(DCNM)):
|
NDFC |
Recommended Software Release |
|---|---|
|
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller |
12.2.1 |
|
Cisco DCNM |
11.5(4) |
Recommendation for Cisco MDS 9000 Series Intelligent Applications
We recommend that customers choose from the following Cisco MDS 9000 Series Intelligent Applications recommended releases:
|
Intelligent Application |
Recommended Software Release |
|---|---|
|
I/O Accelerator (IOA) |
8.4(2) |
Related resources
The documentation set for the Cisco MDS 9000 Series includes the documents that are listed in this section. To find a document online, access the following URL:
https://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps5989/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
Release Notes
Documentation Suite
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/storage/san_switches/mds9000/roadmaps/rel90.html
Statement of Volatility
Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM)
https://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9369/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
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