First Published: August 13, 2020

Last Updated: March 26, 2024

About Cisco Enterprise NFVIS


Note
To achieve simplification and consistency, the Cisco SD-WAN solution has been rebranded as Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. In addition, from Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Release 17.12.1a and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Release 20.12.1, the following component changes are applicable: Cisco vManage to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, Cisco vAnalytics to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Analytics, Cisco vBond to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Validator, Cisco vSmart to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller, and Cisco Controllers to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Control Components. See the latest Release Notes for a comprehensive list of all the component brand name changes. While we transition to the new names, some inconsistencies might be present in the documentation set because of a phased approach to the user interface updates of the software product.

Find all the information you need about this release—new features, known behavior, resolved and open bugs, and related information.

What's New

New and Enhanced Features for Cisco Enterprise NFVIS Release 4.2.1

Feature

Description

Where Documented

Enhancements to backup and restore of configurations

New commands are introduced to view the overall status of backup and restore process.

Enhancements to backup file location and factory default options are introduced.

Information on how to troubleshoot failure to restore NFVIS configurations is added.

Backup and Restore NFVIS and VM Configurations

HugePage memory and CPU allocation

The system memory allocations are enhanced and all memory apart from the amount reserved for system is converted to HugePage memory.

Host System Requirements

Command for PnP certificates

A certificate can be used as a PnP root certificate through Command Line Interface (CLI).

Certificate for Static PnP discovery

Secure Operation in FIPS Mode on NFVIS

The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 140-2 are publicly announced standards developed by the United States federal government for use in computer systems by non-military government agencies and government contractors.

Secure Operation in FIPS Mode on NFVIS

BIOS and CIMC password

New password restrictions and security measures are added for CIMC and BIOS.

BIOS and CIMC Password

Limitation with NFVIS Host Backup Process

NFVIS host backup process can receive error message from Linux tar or gzip. While running hostaction backup with configuration-and-vms option, especially the components which requires longer time to copy and archive, the hostaction backup status output can show BACKUP-PARTIALLY-COMPLETED and FAILURE for the affected component. In case of discrepancy regarding the backup, delete the old backup and generate a new backup.

Resolved and Open Bugs

About the Cisco Bug Search Tool

Use the Cisco Bug Search Tool to access open and resolved bugs for a release.

The tool allows you to search for a specific bug ID, or for all bugs specific to a product and a release.

You can filter the search results by last modified date, bug status (open, resolved), severity, rating, and support cases.

Key Fixed bugs in 4.2.1

Caveat ID Number

Description

CSCvu22897

Absolute File Paths exposed on NFVIS 3.12.3-FC4

CSCvu26963

Insecure CORs Policy

Open Bugs for Cisco Enterprise NFVIS Release 4.2.1

Caveat ID Number

Description

CSCvt22539

NFVIS: factory-reset-all with VM having disk deployed on NFS

CSCvu62778

NFVIS: power cycle during host backup, files are not cleaned up

CSCvu75840

For system with more than 128Gb memory, need 8Gb free memory while upgrading to NFVIS4.2

CSCvu78025

NFVIS-ESC-LITE: vmExport process blocking other vmAction process

CSCvu81545

NFVIS: log-data name filter does not work for module vm-management

CSCvu93715

show bridge-settings cli doesnt work

CSCvu94040

custom bridge attached to sriov disabled pnic didnt migrate to dpdk

CSCvv06774

NFVIS Packaging tool doesn't work with python3

CSCvv14470

System hang after multiple iterations of upgrade and multiple iterations of reboot

CSCvv16328

Notification on /var/log critical (>=90% full) after multiple NFVIS reboots

CSCvv16664

CPU high and system is very slow and couple services keep restarting after reboot ENCS in HA topo

CSCvv16678

PnP cco redirect failure due to the 1st DNS server is unreachable and system not try the 2nd DNS one

CSCvv16807

SNMP Error=snmp_104 Unexpected value sensor_values

CSCvv19181

vBranch ZTP: Linux provision in error state. operation failed: domain 'Redhat' already exists

CSCvv19239

System restore doesnt account for deployment of low latency VM first

CSCvv23602

NFVIS switch: vlan is not enabled properly on Portchannel when apply configuration from vManage

CSCvv25576

Restore failure followed by hostaction reboot can delete the VM.

CSCvv28644

multi upgrade->backup->fresh install->restore fail

CSCvv28736

System uses 95.6747690837% of memory, which is more than or equal to the threshold of 95

CSCvv29238

cannot scp out backup file from NFVIS when backup under /mnt/extdatastoreX

CSCvv29349

factory reset when device attached to template: NMI watchdog: BUG: soft lockup / journal i/o error

CSCvv33835

NFVIS: restore configuration-only failed on unwanted image

System Requirements

The following resources are required for a standalone Cisco Enterprise NFVIS:

  • For a system that has 16 or less CPU cores, one CPU core is reserved for NFVIS. For a system that has more than 16 CPU cores, 2 CPU cores are reserved for NFVIS.

  • For a system that has 32 GB or less of RAM, 3 GB is reserved for NFVIS. For a system that has more than 32 GB of RAM, 4 GB is reserved for NFVIS.

  • 20 GB storage.

  • For NFVIS portal, the minimum supported version of browsers are:

    • Mozilla Firefox 66

    • Google Chrome 71

    • Windows 10 Edge

    • MacOS 10.15 Safari


Note

More memory and disk space are required to be added to the system, depending on VM deployments.

Supported Programs and Platforms

Supported Platforms and Firmware

The following table lists the only supported platforms and firmware for Cisco ENFV

Platform

Firmware

Version

ENCS 5406, ENCS 5408, and ENCS 5412

BIOS

ENCS54_BIOS_2.11.SPA

CIMC

CIMC_3.2.10.bin

WAN Port Driver

1.4.22.7-10-ciscocsx

LAN Port Driver

5.4.0-3-k CISCO

ENCS 5104

BIOS

V010

MCU

1.1

WAN Port Driver

5.4.0-1-k, 0x80000f76

UCS-E160S-M3/K9

BIOS

UCSEM3_2.6

CIMC

3.2(8.20190624114303)

UCS-E140S-M2/K9

BIOS

UCSES_1.5.0.8

CIMC

3.2(8.20190624114303)

UCS-E160D-M2/K9

BIOS

UCSED_3.5.0.1

CIMC

3.2(8.20190624114303)

UCS-E180D-M2/K9

BIOS

UCSED_3.5.0.1

CIMC

3.2(8.20190624114303)

UCS-E180D-M3/K9

BIOS

UCSEDM3_2.6

CIMC

3.2(8.20190624114303)

UCS-E1120D-M3/K9

BIOS

UCSEDM3_2.6

CIMC

3.2(8.20190624114303)

UCS-C220-M4

BIOS

3.0.3a

CIMC

3.0(3c)

CSP-2100-X1

BIOS

3.0.3a

CIMC

3.0(3a)

UCS-C220-M5

BIOS

C220M5.3.1.3c.0.0307181404

CIMC

3.1(3a)

CSP-5228

BIOS

C220M5.4.0.4c.0.0506190754

CIMC

4.1(1c)

CSP-5436 and CSP- 5444 (Beta)

BIOS

Use HUU 4.1(1c)

CIMC

Use HUU 4.1(1c)

Guest VNFs

This section provides support statements for different guest Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) that you can run on Cisco Routing virtual platforms enabled by the NFVIS 4.2.1 release.

Cisco Router VNFs


Note
  • Cisco provides support for deployment and configuration of the VNF versions listed below, when deployed on Cisco Routing virtual platforms, enabled by this release of NFVIS.
  • Cisco provides support on a case-by-case basis for unlisted combinations of NFVIS release + VNF version.

Product homepage

Software download

Cisco ISRv

17.3.1a

17.2.1r

16.12.4

Cisco vEdge

20.3.1

20.1.1

19.2.3

Other Cisco Owned VNFs


Note
  • Limited testing is done to ensure you can create a guest VM instance using the software download image for these versions, as posted on Cisco Software download page.
  • For full-support statement see the individual product release documentation.

Product homepage

Software download

Security VNFs

Cisco NGFW (FTDv)

6.5

Cisco ASAv

9.14.1

9.12.1

WAN Optimization VNFs

Cisco vWAAS

6.4.5-b-75

6.4.3c-b-42

Non-Cisco Vendor Owned VNFs

You can run VNFs owned by various vendors on Cisco’s NFV platforms enabled by NFVIS . Formal support for these VNFs requires a joint effort between Cisco and the VNF vendor.

Cisco offers VNF vendors a "for-fee" NFVIS 3rd-party certification program to test and certify their VNFs on Cisco’s virtualized platforms. After testing and certification is complete, the results are published on this page- Cisco Enterprise NFV Open Ecosystem and Qualified VNF Vendors.

For more specific support details about VNF versions and test compatibility matrix with NFVIS releases, see the VNF release documentation on the vendor support site.

As a NFVIS customer, if you need a unique combination of NFVIS release and a specific VNF version, you may submit your certification request to Cisco at nfv-ecosystem@cisco.com or reach out to the VNF vendor support team asking them to initiate a certification on the Cisco platform.

Related Documentation