Cloud-init using config drive

This section describes how to bootstrap a FortiGate-VM in VMware vCenter using config drive. This configuration is ideal if you are deploying VMs on VMware vCenter or standalone VMware ESXi and want to preconfigure the FortiGate-VM so that it boots with a predetermined configuration and valid license.

Verify the config drive functionality available for your FortiGate-VM version in the Release Notes. FortiGate-VM supports version 2 of the config-drive capabilities. Config drive was initially created for OpenStack and other cloud environments and is a capability available on the FortiGate-VM even when booting within a VMware vCenter or standalone VMware ESXi environment. With config drive, you can pass day zero configuration scripts and FortiGate-VM licenses to the FortiGate on initial boot.

To pass a config drive to the FortiGate-VM, create a directory structure and place the license file and configuration script file in the appropriate places. Here is the directory structure you need:

For information on the directory structure, see ESXi cloud init reference.