Want to Manage Catalyst in the Meraki Dashboard?

Interested in adding Catalyst switches to the Meraki Dashboard?

Good news! C9200L and all C9300s (including C9300L, C9300, C9300X, and C9350) can now be managed in your Meraki dashboard! It's likely a little insight into what models will continue to be developed.  It's hard to justify having C9200, C9200L, C9300, and C9300L when all 4 models can now run any software and can stack.  I suspect the C9200 (non-L) is on its way out, as well as the Meraki switches themselves.  The recommended replacement for an MS355, for example, is a C9300.  

The Meraki platform as a whole is inferior to Catalyst, including performance, flexibility, scalability, and compatibility.  If you're a Meraki user, you know stacking Meraki is different than stacking Catalyst. If you want to add Multi-gig ports to your stack of MS225s, you can't!  You'd have to add a different platform like the MS355, which is 2x the cost of a data-only MS225.  StackPower isn't an option until the MS390.  The physical stack throughput maxed at 100G until the MS390, and the components used in the MS390 are the same as C9300.  There are other quirks, such as QSFP28 ports for the Meraki switches NOT supporting 40G, when every other QSFP28 port in Catalyst is 40/100G.

Speaking of Multi-Gig ports, as of 2024, there isn't a commercial access point that doesn't have at least a 2.5G network interface.  Any newly purchased access point plugged into a non multi-gig switch is a bottleneck. 2.5G, 5G, and 10G network interfaces are now the norm for access points.  Read more here: New mGig more of a “meh” gig?

Interested in marrying C9300s and Meraki management?  Lets do it!

C9200L, C9300, C9300L, C9300X, and C9350 can be migrated to Meraki. This includes stand-alone switches and stacks. IOS-XE will be replaced with a new software image provided by the Meraki cloud and local console access / CLI will no longer be available.

During the migration process, the switches flash, configuration, USB-flash, and all files will be formatted.

 

The following models can now be managed via Meraki:

• C9200L
  • C9200L-24T-4G-M, C9200L-24P-4G-M, C9200L-24T-4X-M, C9200L-24P-4X-M, C9200L-24PXG-4X-M, C9200L-24PXG-2Y-M, C9200L-48T-4G-M, C9200L-48P-4G-M, C9200L-48PL-4G-M, C9200L-48T-4X-M, C9200L-48P-4X-M, C9200L-48PL-4X-M, C9200L-48PXG-4X-M, C9200L-48PXG-2Y-M
• C9300L
  • C9300L-24T-4X-M, C9300L-24P-4X-M, C9300L-24UXG-4X-M, C9300L-48T-4X-M, C9300L-48P-4X-M, C9300L-48PF-4X-M, C9300L-48UXG-4X-M
• C9300
  • C9300-24S-M, C9300-24T-M, C9300-24P-M, C9300-24U-M, C9300-24UX-M, C9300-48S-M, C9300-48T-M, C9300-48P-M, C9300-48U-M, C9300-48UXM-M, C9300-48UN-M
    
    
• C9300X
  • C9300X-12Y-M, C9300X-24Y-M, C9300X-24HX-M, C9300X-48TX-M, C9300X-48HX-M, C9300X-48HXN-M
• C9350
  • C9350-24T-M, C9350-48T-M, C9350-24P-M, C9350-48P-M, C9350-24U-M, C9350-48U-M, C9350-48HX-M, C9350-48TX-M

The following network modules are also supported. If a switch has any other network module than the ones listed below, migration will fail.

• C3850-NM-2-40G
• C3850-NM-4-10G
• C3850-NM-8-10G
• C9300-NM-2Q
• C9300-NM-8X
• C9300-NM-2Y
• C9300X-NM-2C
• C9300X-NM-8Y
• MA-MOD-2X40G
• MA-MOD-4X10G
• MA-MOD-8X10G

Software updates will work just like Meraki cloud works today, although Cisco is officially calling them "Firmware Upgrades." We can easily see all firmware versions as well as schedule "Firmware Upgrades" on a per-network or per-device-type basis.  More about that process here:  Managing Firmware Upgrades

Beginning with CS15+, Network Based Application Recognition (NBAR and NBAR2) Netflow v10 (IPFIX) for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, as well as Encrypted Traffic Analysis (ETA) is supported on both Meraki managed C9300 and MS390 switches. MS NetFlow and Encrypted Traffic Analytics

Again, migration WILL NOT be successful if an incompatible network module is present.

To migrate, the C9300s must be running at least IOS-XE 17.10.x in INSTALL mode. Please check the release notes for your version to convert from BUNDLE mode.  INSTALL mode is loaded via 'packages.conf' where BUNDLE mode is loaded via 'longpackagefilename.bin'. C9300X require a certain image - IOS-XE 17.09.03m2.SPA.bin.

And without further ado, please follow these steps to move your Catalyst 9300 from IOS-XE to the Meraki cloud.

1. Check compatibility with the command ‘show Meraki compatibility’
   
2. Ensure switch can communicate with the Meraki dashboard
   
   If you can ping dashboard.meraki.com, you're good to go!
3. Begin the registration process
   
   or if in a stack:
   
   The 9300s will receive a Meraki ID that looks like a Meraki serial number. If registering a stack, each switch will be assigned a unique Meraki ID. You will need this ID to add the device to your Meraki network. CLI feedback will list the switches Cisco part IDs, serials, Meraki IDs, MAC addresses, its migration status, and its operating mode. You’re looking for a migration status of ‘Registered’ and an operating mode of ‘C9K-C’.
4. Migrate Switch to Meraki with 'service meraki start' command
   Before proceeding, please remember that all local files or any attached USB storage devices will be wiped clean.
   
   This command will begin a factory reset as well as disable CLI although console feedback will continue allowing you to monitor the process. We’ve seen devices take as much as 15 minutes to reset and boot in the Meraki managed deployment.

And that’s it! Assuming you have licenses available, you can now add your C9300 to your Meraki dashboard.

Licensing is available in the standard 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 year terms. The licensing nomenclature is simply LIC-C9300-(24/48)(A/E)-nY. 24 or 48 based on the port count, A/E based on the software image, and n based on the term you would like.