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Creating a support account

Creating a support account

FortiGate for IBM Cloud supports only the bring your own license (BYOL) licensing model. See Order types.

To make use of Fortinet technical support and ensure products function properly, you must complete certain steps to activate your entitlement. Our support team can identify your registration in the system thereafter.

First, if you do not have a Fortinet account, you can create one.

You must obtain a license to activate the FortiGate. If you have not activated the license, you see the license upload screen when you log into the FortiGate and cannot proceed to configure the FortiGate.

You can obtain licenses for the BYOL licensing model through any Fortinet partner. If you do not have a partner, contact your nearest Fortinet sales office for assistance in purchasing a license.

After you purchase a license or obtain an evaluation license, you receive a PDF with an activation code.

FortiOS 7.2.1 introduces a new permanent trial license, which requires a FortiCare account. This trial license has limited features and capacity. The trial license only applies to BYOL deployments for FortiGate-VM on IBM Cloud. See VM license for details.

FortiOS 7.2.0 supports the older evaluation license, which has a 15-day term.

To register the BYOL license:
  1. Go to Fortinet Service & Support and create a new account or log in with an existing account.
  2. Go to Asset > Register/Activate to start the registration process. In the Specify Registration Code field, enter your license activation code and select Next to continue registering the product. Enter your details in the other fields.
  3. At the end of the registration process, download the license (.lic) file to your computer. You upload this license later to activate the FortiGate-VM.

    After registering a license, Fortinet servers may take up to 30 minutes to fully recognize the new license. When you upload the license (.lic) file to activate the FortiGate-VM, if you get an error that the license is invalid, wait 30 minutes and try again

Creating a support account

FortiGate for IBM Cloud supports only the bring your own license (BYOL) licensing model. See Order types.

To make use of Fortinet technical support and ensure products function properly, you must complete certain steps to activate your entitlement. Our support team can identify your registration in the system thereafter.

First, if you do not have a Fortinet account, you can create one.

You must obtain a license to activate the FortiGate. If you have not activated the license, you see the license upload screen when you log into the FortiGate and cannot proceed to configure the FortiGate.

You can obtain licenses for the BYOL licensing model through any Fortinet partner. If you do not have a partner, contact your nearest Fortinet sales office for assistance in purchasing a license.

After you purchase a license or obtain an evaluation license, you receive a PDF with an activation code.

FortiOS 7.2.1 introduces a new permanent trial license, which requires a FortiCare account. This trial license has limited features and capacity. The trial license only applies to BYOL deployments for FortiGate-VM on IBM Cloud. See VM license for details.

FortiOS 7.2.0 supports the older evaluation license, which has a 15-day term.

To register the BYOL license:
  1. Go to Fortinet Service & Support and create a new account or log in with an existing account.
  2. Go to Asset > Register/Activate to start the registration process. In the Specify Registration Code field, enter your license activation code and select Next to continue registering the product. Enter your details in the other fields.
  3. At the end of the registration process, download the license (.lic) file to your computer. You upload this license later to activate the FortiGate-VM.

    After registering a license, Fortinet servers may take up to 30 minutes to fully recognize the new license. When you upload the license (.lic) file to activate the FortiGate-VM, if you get an error that the license is invalid, wait 30 minutes and try again