Guides

Choose a task, then follow the guide for your platform. For a first deployment, the getting-started guide takes you from installation to a running application.

Prepare a device

Platform	Start with
Catalyst 8000V	VirtualPortGroup and App-Hosting setup
Catalyst 9000	AppGigabitEthernet and App-Hosting setup
IR1100 Series	Device and networking prerequisites
IE3500 Series	Device and networking prerequisites
Supported NX-OS devices · Beta	NX-OS getting-started example

Check the feature status and the platform guide for support limits.

Build your workflow

• Run applications

  Connect a device, make its application images accessible, and schedule a pod to its virtual node.

  Getting started · Image distribution

• Declare configuration

  Express device intent with Network as Code and follow reconciliation, verification and drift.

  Network as Code · Migration guide

• Use topology

  Understand protected device identity and labels, then place application Pods with native Kubernetes scheduling.

  Topology overview · Enable and enroll · Schedule workloads

• Connect a controller

  Choose an Alpha adapter with the capabilities your workflow needs. SD-WAN apply is fixture-qualified; Nexus Dashboard covers health, inventory and opt-in device adoption.

  Catalyst SD-WAN · Nexus Dashboard

Plan access and trust

Use the security overview to choose the credential, TLS and authorization guidance for your role. Keep device administration separate from application-author permissions, and match your deployment to a published release. This documentation targets v2026.11.1; check publication status and upgrade older installations before using features introduced in November.

For day-to-day diagnostics, telemetry and planned changes, continue to Operations. For field definitions and commands, use Reference.