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Installing the FWSM

FWSM is installed in the Catalyst 6500 series switches and the Cisco 7600 series routers. The configuration on both platforms is identical, except for the basic initialization depending on the following:

The Catalyst 6500 series switches supports two software modes:

white square Cisco IOS Software on both the switch supervisor engine and the integrated MSFC (known as Supervisor IOS or Native IOS)
Catalyst Operating System (CatOS) on the supervisor engine, and Cisco IOS Software on the MSFC (known as Hybrid mode—two separate OSs)

The Cisco 7600 series routers support only Cisco IOS software.

	Cisco IOS Software on both the switch supervisor engine and the integrated MSFC (known as Supervisor IOS or Native IOS)
	Catalyst Operating System (CatOS) on the supervisor engine, and Cisco IOS Software on the MSFC (known as Hybrid mode—two separate OSs)

Note

Refer to Cisco documentation for supported supervisor engine and software releases that support the FWSM. The version of code required to support FWSM depends on the supervisor model and whether you are running CatOS (Hybrid) or Cisco IOS (Native).