License feature matrix

Overview

The following matrix shows which features are available in the two Cisco Catalyst 9000 license tiers Network Essentials and Network Advantage. It is used internally by the configuration wizard to lock routing cards and toggles, or mark them as a hint, when the license does not match.

Features with a lock badge are hard-locked under Network Essentials – this currently covers EIGRP (Full), BGP, HSRP and StackWise Virtual. On a license change the wizard shows a confirm dialog listing the configuration to be removed.

As of: 08.05.2026 Platforms: C9200, C9200L, C9300, C9300L, C9300X, C9400, C9500, C9600, C9610 Source: Cisco IOS XE 17.x – Catalyst 9000 Software Configuration Guide
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Layer-3-Routing 9
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
Static Routing
RIP / RIPv2
OSPF (v2 & v3)
EIGRP Stub Stub-Modus reicht für Essentials. Full-EIGRP ist Advantage.
EIGRP (Full) App gating active Wird vom Wizard hart gesperrt, wenn die Lizenz Essentials ist.
BGP (IPv4 / IPv6 / MP-BGP) App gating active
IS-IS
Policy-Based Routing (PBR)
IP Helper-Address (DHCP-Relay)
First-Hop Redundancy (FHRP) 3
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
VRRP (v2 & v3) In beiden Tiers verfügbar – Default-Protokoll im FHRP-Modal.
HSRP (v1 & v2) App gating active
GLBP
High Availability / Stacking 4
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
StackWise (1T / 480 / 320 / 160) Klassisches StackWise mit gemeinsamer Control-Plane (max. 8 Member).
StackWise Virtual (SVL) App gating active Cross-Chassis Active/Standby. C9500 / C9600 / C9610 sowie C9400 mit SUP-1XL+.
NSF / SSO (Stateful Switchover)
Graceful Restart
Encryption / MACsec 2
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
MACsec MKA – 128-Bit (AES-GCM-128)
MACsec MKA – 256-Bit (AES-GCM-256)
Multicast 5
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
IGMP v1/v2/v3 + Snooping
PIM Sparse Mode
PIM Dense Mode
PIM Source-Specific (SSM)
MSDP (Multicast Source Discovery Protocol)
Segmentation / VRF / MPLS 4
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
VRF Lite (begrenzte Instanzen) C9300 / C9500 Essentials: bis zu 4 VRF-Instanzen. Mehr Instanzen + MPLS = Advantage.
VRF (Full Scale)
MPLS L3VPN / Inter-AS / 6VPE
VXLAN (Static / Manual VTEP) Static-VTEP/Manual-VXLAN ist tier-übergreifend. EVPN und SD-Access erfordern zusätzlich eine DNA-Lizenz.
Security & Access Control 7
Feature Network
Essentials
Network
Advantage
Note
AAA (RADIUS / TACACS+)
IEEE 802.1X / MAB
First-Hop Security (DAI, DHCP Snooping, IP Source Guard, RA Guard)
Named & Numbered ACLs (IPv4 / IPv6)
Object-Groups in ACLs
TrustSec SGACL
TrustSec CTS / SGT-Tagging / Inline-Tagging

Note: The matrix reflects the state at the date shown above and focuses on features the configurator actively supports or explicitly gates. For definitive statements on license scope, individual platforms and IOS-XE releases, the respective Cisco Software Licensing Reference Guide and the Catalyst 9000 datasheets apply.

Please always document changes to the table (admin/includes/license-matrix.php) with a version bump.