Choosing an ExtremeXOS Software Release

When updating ExtremeXOS, it is important to choose your software release carefully.  The newest builds may contain new features that are not yet stable.  I learned this the hard way.  The Extreme support portal currently does not label their software builds with anything that indicates what is a stable build and what is may contain new unstable features.

I called Extreme support to find out how to determine the latest stable EXOS version, and they recommended the following:

1. Go to http://www.extremenetworks.com/support/documentation/ 
2. Scroll down to Related ExtremeXOS Documents
3. Open ExtremeXOS-Hardware-Software-Compatibility-Matrices.pdf (currently located here: http://documentation.extremenetworks.com/hw_sw_compatibility/downloads/HW_SW_Compatibility_Matrix.pdf)
4. Scroll to the bottom of the document to the “Release Recommendations” section.
5. Determine the recommended release code line for the appropriate model (15.5.2.9)
6. Go to the Extreme eSupport download portal.
7. Find the most recent patch revision in the recommended code line (ie. 15.5.2.9-patch1-5)

At the time of this post the latest EXOS is version 15.6.1.  The compatibility matrix document recommends 15.5.2.9-patch1-5 which is actually the latest version available for download.  However, the next release within the same code line (for example 15.5.2.9-patch1-9) is usually released before the compatibility matrix is updated.