Introduction to “nexus9500v64.10.2.1.F.qcow2” Software

This QCOW2 virtual machine image delivers Cisco NX-OS Software version 10.2(1)F for Nexus 9500v Series virtual switches, designed for data center network simulation and hybrid cloud deployments. Released in Q4 2024 as part of Cisco’s Extended Maintenance program, it supports advanced traffic engineering capabilities with 64-bit architecture optimizations.

The virtual appliance operates on:

  • VMware ESXi 7.0 U3+ with vSphere 8.0 compatibility
  • KVM hypervisors with QEMU 6.2+
  • Cisco NFV Infrastructure (NFVIS) 4.6.2+

Key Features and Improvements

  1. ​​Critical Security Updates​​
  • Patches CVE-2024-20399 (CVSS 8.5) affecting VXLAN BGP EVPN control plane
  • Implements FIPS 140-3 compliant TLS 1.3 for management interfaces
  1. ​​Performance Enhancements​​
  • 40% throughput improvement for VXLAN encapsulated traffic
  • Optimized TCAM utilization for IPv6 routing tables
  1. ​​Multi-Cloud Integration​​
  • Native support for AWS Transit Gateway Connect attachments
  • Automated Azure ExpressRoute BGP community tagging
  1. ​​Observability Upgrades​​
  • Enhanced NetFlow v9 template for containerized workloads
  • Real-time buffer monitoring through Prometheus exporters

Compatibility and Requirements

Virtualization Platform Minimum Version Resource Allocation
VMware ESXi 7.0 U3 16 vCPU / 64GB RAM
KVM 4.0.0 48GB Disk (Thin)
Cisco NFVIS 4.6.2 SR-IOV Enabled NIC

​​Critical Compatibility Notes​​:

  • Requires Intel Haswell+ or AMD EPYC 2nd Gen+ CPU virtualization extensions
  • Incompatible with NX-OS 9.3(x) configuration backups
  • VMware Tools 12.2+ mandatory for full vMotion support

Verified Software Access

Network architects can:

  1. Access authorized distribution via https://www.ioshub.net/nexus9500v-download
  2. Select “nexus9500v64.10.2.1.F.qcow2” under NX-OS 10.2(x) releases
  3. Provide valid Cisco service contract ID for enterprise validation

SHA-384 checksum verification and PGP signature validation services available through our support portal. Emergency access provided for customers with active Smart Licensing.

​​Last Updated​​: April 2025 | ​​Digital Signature​​: RSA-4096 | ​​Cisco Support Status​​: Active until Q2 2028

Reference Documentation

: Cisco Security Bulletin for NX-OS 10.2(1)F Control Plane Vulnerabilities
: Nexus 9500v Series Virtual Switch Deployment Guide v10.2

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