In the quiet, humming cathedrals of modern data centers, the "hardware" is increasingly a ghost. Where once rows of physical switches like the Cisco Catalyst 9000 series stood as the heavy iron of connectivity, their digital twin—the Cat9kv-prd-17.12.01prd9.qcow2
Finish the wizard and drag the new node into your workspace topology. First Boot and Initial Configuration
conf t license boot level network-advantage addon dna-advantage end write memory reload ``` Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard
Operational checklist for deployment
| Attribute | Value | |-----------|-------| | | cat9kv-prd-17.12.01prd9.qcow2 | | Platform | Cisco Catalyst 9000v Virtual Switch | | OS version | IOS‑XE 17.12.01 | | File format | QEMU copy‑on‑write disk image (qcow2) | | Primary source | Cisco CML 2.7 Reference Platforms ISO | | Minimum vCPUs | 4 | | Minimum vRAM | 12 GB (18 GB for most modes) | | Supported hypervisors | KVM, QEMU, EVE‑NG, CML, Proxmox | | Boot modes | Regular UDAP (9 ports), Q200 (25 ports), UADP (25 ports) | | Status | Beta – no formal TAC support |
In CML 2.7, the Catalyst 9000v appears as two node types:
The .qcow2 extension dictates the virtualization platform. download cat9kv-prd-17.12.01prd9.qcow2
running Cisco IOS XE Amsterdam 17.12.1. This enterprise-grade virtual switch allows network engineers, architects, and students to build high-fidelity network simulations. It mirrors the control plane functionality of physical Catalyst 9000 switches within virtualized environments.
Version 17.12.01prd9 belongs to the Cisco IOS XE Cupertino release train. It delivers high-performance routing, advanced security features, and programmatic interfaces (like NETCONF and RESTCONF) directly to virtualized infrastructures. The .qcow2 format (QEMU Copy-On-Write) is specifically optimized for open-source hypervisors, making it the industry-standard choice for virtualized testing environments. Where to Safely Download the Image
Full support for NetConf, RESTConf, and YANG models. In the quiet, humming cathedrals of modern data
Rename the uploaded file to the strict EVE-NG naming convention: mv cat9kv-prd-17.12.01prd9.qcow2 virtioa.qcow2 Use code with caution. Fix the server permissions to recognize the new node: /opt/unetlab/wrappers/unl_wrapper -a fixpermissions Use code with caution. Integrating with GNS3 Launch the GNS3 GUI and open > QEMU Nodes . New to create a template. Name the template " Cisco Catalyst 9000v Go to product viewer dialog for this item.
Whether you are deploying it as a or as part of a Cisco SD-WAN fabric
Because VMware uses .vmdk , you must convert the .qcow2 file. Copied to clipboard Operational checklist for deployment |
Upload your downloaded cat9kv-prd-17.12.01prd9.qcow2 file to the created directory using SCP or SFTP (like FileZilla). Step 3: Rename and Fix Permissions