CISCO IOS XRd Virtual Routing IOS XR Documentation
Specifications
- Product Name: Cisco IOS XRd
- Release Version: 25.1.2
- Supported Deployments: XRd vRouter, XRd Control Plane on AWS EKS
- Related Resources: Smart Licensing, Cisco XRd Documentation, Cisco IOS XR Error Messages, Cisco IOS XR MIBs
Product Usage Instructions
Supported Deployments:
This release supports XRd vRouter or XRd Control Plane on AWS EKS.
Related Resources:
Refer to the following resources for additional information:
- Smart Licensing: Information about Smart Licensing, Using Policy solutions and their deployment on IOS XR Routers.
- Cisco XRd Documentation: CCO documentation for Cisco IOS XRd.
- Cisco IOS XR Error Messages: Search by release number, error strings, or compare release numbers to view a detailed repository of error messages and descriptions.
- Cisco IOS XR MIBs: Select the MIB of your choice from a drop-down to explore an extensive repository of MIBs.
Document YANG Data Models:
A user-friendly reference designed to easily explore and understand the various data models supported in Cisco IOS XR platforms and releases.
XRd Tools:
A GitHub repository offering utilities to verify host resource sufficiency and assist in launching Cisco IOS XRd instances in a lab environment.
XR Docs Virtual Routing:
The XR Docs Virtual Routing tutorials offer instructions for deploying XRd in lab settings, along with information on other deployment environments that are not yet officially supported.
Recommended Release:
A general guide in case of upgrading IOS XR routers or new deployments that involve IOS XR routers.
Revised: May 22, 2025
Release Notes for Cisco IOS XRd, IOS XR Release
- XRd is a powerful IOS XR virtual platform that supports a wide variety of technology roles such as virtual route reflector (vRR), virtual cell-site router (vCSR), and virtual provider-edge (vPE). It is available in a containerised form factor, enabling both standalone and Kubernetes-based containerised network deployments.
Cisco IOS XRd Overview
XRd is the latest virtual platform from Cisco that brings the highly scalable, feature-rich, and reliable IOS-XR operating system to containerised network deployments. With XR control plane pedigree shared with the likes of Cisco 8000 and data plane capabilities that are derived from the powerful XRv9000, XRd brings the best of both worlds – enabling high-scale control plane use cases such as virtual route-reflector (vRR) and high-throughput requirements in virtual provider edge (vPE).
XRd is available in two formats:
- XRd Control Plane
- XRd vRouter
Cisco IOS XRd Licensing Model
- The Cisco IOS XRd platform offers two types of licensing schemes. This table lists details of Cisco IOS XRd Router’s software licenses or entitlements, arranged according to licensing PIDs.
- The Cisco IOS XRd instances are pre-loaded with an evaluation license valid for 90 days. For licenses post the evaluation period, you can purchase the XRd licenses using Cisco Smart Licensing.
Table 1: Cisco IOS XRd Licensing PIDs
| PIDs | Description |
| XRD-VR-CP | XRd Control Plane |
What’s New in Cisco IOS XR Release
Software Features Introduced
The following user scenarios are supported with this release:
| User Scenarios | Deployment |
| vPE | • Standalone Docker
• OpenShift-based K8S |
| vRR | • Standalone Docker
• OpenShift-based K8S |
| User Scenarios | Deployment |
| vCSR | VMware Tanzu-based K8S |
| Simulation | • Manual Testing
• Automation • CI/CD Workflows |
- Cisco is continuously enhancing the product with every release, and this section lists key features. It also includes links to detailed documentation, where available.
- Cisco IOS XRd supports the majority of the Cisco IOS XR technologies. The following sections detail the feature set per user scenarios:
vPE
| Feature | See the Following Documentation |
| L3VPN | L3VPN Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers |
| HSRP | Implement HSRP |
| VRRP | Implement VRRP |
| LDP | Implementing MPLS Label Distribution Protocol |
| RSVP | Implementing RSVP for MPLS-TE |
| MPLS TE | Implementing MPLS Traffic Engineering |
| MPLS OAM | Implementing MPLS OAM |
| MPLS SR | Segment Routing Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers |
vCSR
| Feature | See the Following Documentation |
| L3VPN | L3VPN Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers |
| HSRP | Implement HSRP |
| VRRP | Implement VRRP |
| LDP | Implementing MPLS Label Distribution Protocol |
| RSVP | Implementing RSVP for MPLS-TE |
| MPLS TE | Implementing MPLS Traffic Engineering |
| MPLS OAM | Implementing MPLS OAM |
| MPLS SR | Segment Routing Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers |
| EVPN-VPWS | EVPN Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS) |
vRR
- ORR for IPv6 Unicast AF for the single ISIS topology case
XRd: Generic features
| Feature | See the Following Documentation |
| SSH | Implementing Secure Shell |
| NETCONF | Use NETCONF Protocol to Define Network Operations with Data Models |
| gNMI | Use gRPC Protocol to Define Network Operations with Data Models |
| Telemetry | Telemetry Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers |
| Syslog | Implementing System Logging |
| SNMP | Configuring Simple Network Management Protocol |
| • AAA
• TACACS+ |
Configuring AAA Services |
| Flex-CLI | Configuring Flexible Command Line Interface |
| ZTP | Upgrade the Current Active Version of Cisco IOS XR Software |
| ACLs | Implementing Access Lists |
| Call Home | Configuring Call Home |
| Smart Licensing | Configuring Smart Licensing |
| BGP | BGP Configuration Guide for Cisco 8000 Series Routers |
| RPL | Implementing Routing Policy |
| IS-IS | Implementing IS-IS |
| OSPF | Implementing OSPF |
| PCE | Configure Segment Routing Path Computation Element |
| BMP | Overview of BGP Monitoring Protocol |
Host Requirements
This section details the host requirements for XRd Control Plane :
Table 2: XRd Control Plane
| Parameter | Requirement |
| XRd Control Plane Host | |
| Parameter | Requirement |
| CPU | x86-64 CPU with at least 2 cores |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Linux kernel | Version 4 and above
Note The Linux kernel must install the dummy and nf_tables modules. |
| Linux cgroups | Version 1
Note Support for unified hierarchy cgroups is not available. |
| XRd Control Plane instance on the host | |
| CPU | 1 core minimum |
| RAM | 2 GB minimum |
| Inotify user instances and watches | 4000 |
| XRd Control Plane on AWS EC2 instance | |
| Instance Type | m5.2xlarge |
| Number of threads per processor core | 1 |
| Minimum Disk Size | 8 GB
Note An XRd instance requires a minimum disk size of 8 GB, but there may be demand for additional disk space depending on how the node handles core files. |
| Operating System | Amazon Linux 2 with EKS Optimisations |
| Kernel Settings | 4000 inotify user instances and watches per XRd instance |
Note
For using Docker to run the containers, you need Docker version 18 or above with permission to run Docker containers.
Note
Cisco IOS XRd is not supported for production networks on Linux, including Ubuntu or any other distribution. Carefully consider this restriction when planning deployments to avoid potential issues.
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FAQs
Are there any new software features introduced in Release 25.1.2?
No, there are no new software features introduced in this release.
Are there any known issues in Release 25.1.2?
No, there are no known issues in this release.
What are the supported deployments for Cisco IOS XRd, Release 25.1.2?
The supported deployments include XRd vRouter or XRd Control Plane on AWS EKS.
Documents / Resources
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CISCO IOS XRd Virtual Routing IOS XR Documentation [pdf] User Manual IOS XRd Virtual Routing Documentation, IOS XRd, Virtual Routing Documentation, Documentation, Documentation |