Summary of steps

These steps summarize how to get your FortiGate up and running by using the GUI. For information about the Command Line Interface (CLI), see Using the CLI.

1. Set up your FortiGate for initial management access with the GUI. See Setting up FortiGate for management access.

   For more information	Go to
   Physical appliances, such as FortiGate	Go to FortiGate/FortiOS Hardware Guides to view QuickStart Guides for all supported FortiGate models.
   Hypervisors, such as FortiGate-VM on ESXi, KVM, Hyper-V, and so on.	Go to FortiGate Public Cloud or FortiGate Private Cloud and follow the deployment section of the administration guide for your hypervisor, for example, Microsoft Hyper-V Administration Guide > Deployment.

   Depending on the topology and FortiGate model, internet access may not yet be configured for the FortiGate. If no internet access, you cannot yet register the FortiGate with Fortinet until later in the setup.

2. In the GUI, follow the FortiGate Setup wizard to change the hostname, change the password, and specify a default layout for the FortiOS dashboards. See Completing the FortiGate Setup wizard.

3. Complete the basic configuration steps for FortiOS. After this step, all FortiGate models should have internet access. See Configuring basic settings.

4. Register FortiGate with Fortinet by using your FortiCare/FortiCloud account with Fortinet Technical Support (https://support.fortinet.com). See Registering FortiGate.

5. Configure a policy for the FortiGate to give clients behind FortiGate access to the internet. See Configuring a firewall policy.

6. Back up the configuration. See Backing up the configuration.

7. If necessary, troubleshoot the installation. See Troubleshooting your installation.

After completing the Getting started section, next steps can include:

• Getting familiar with the FortiOS GUI and CLI:

  • See Using the GUI.

  • See Using the CLI.

• Configuring FortiOS features. The following table lists a few of the features available with FortiOS. Many additional features are available:

  For	Go to
  Security profiles	See antivirus, IPS, web filter, and application control.
  VPN	See IPsec VPN.
  Fortinet Security Fabric	See Fortinet Security Fabric.
  User & Authentication	See User & Authentication.
  Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN)	See SD-WAN.
  Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)	See Zero Trust Network Access.