Creating firmware templates

With firmware templates, you can specify what firmware to install on FortiGate and the following associated access device: FortiAP, FortiSwitch, and FortiExtender.

Firmware images for FortiExtender are not available on FortiGuard. Before you can select a firmware image for FortiExtender in a firmware template, you must download the firmware image from the Customer Service & Support site, and import the image to FortiManager by using the FortiGuard module. See Firmware images.

You can schedule when to automatically start the firmware upgrades. Alternately, you can create a firmware template without a schedule, and manually initiate the firmware upgrade when you are ready.

You can also specify what type of upgrade path to use.

To create firmware templates:

1. Go to Device Manager > Firmware Templates.
2. In the toolbar, click Create New.

   The Create New Firmware Template pane is displayed.

   

3. In the Name box, type a name.
4. Create upgrade details:
   1. In the Upgrade Details area, click Create New.

      The Create New Upgrade Firmware dialog box is displayed.

      

   2. In the Product list, select a product to upgrade.
   3. In the Platform list, select the platform for the product.
   4. In the Upgrade to list, select the target firmware version for the upgrade.
   5. Click OK.

      The upgrade details are saved.

5. In the Install Window area, you can schedule the upgrade:

   Schedule Type	Specify whether to schedule the upgrade by selecting one of the following options: None: Select to have no schedule. Once: Select to schedule the upgrade to occur once. Daily: Select to schedule the upgrade to occur daily. Weekly: Select to schedule the upgrade to occur weekly.
   Day	Available when you select Weekly. Select what day of the week to run the upgrade.
   Start Time	Available when you select Once, Daily, or Weekly. Specify what time to start the upgrade.
   End Time	Available when you select Once, Daily, or Weekly. Specify what time to end the upgrade. If the upgrade is not completed by the end time, the upgrade stops.

6. In the Upgrade Options area, set the following options:

   Boot from Alternate Partition After Upgrade	Applies only to FortiGates. Select to upgrade the inactive partition. Clear to skip the inactive partition during upgrade.
   Let Device Download Firmware from FortiGuard	Select to have the device download the firmware from FortiGuard for the upgrade. Clear to have the device download the firmware from FortiManager.

7. In the Upgrade Path area, set the following options:

   Skip All Intermediate Steps in Upgrade Path If Possible	Select to skip some builds in an upgrade path.
   Follow The Recommended Upgrade Path	Select to install all builds in an upgrade path. The Follow The Recommended Upgrade Path feature is not supported when FortiManager is operating in a closed network. Each image in the path must instead be imported to FortiManager and manually pushed to the managed devices in the correct order. You can view the recommended upgrade path at support.fortinet.com.

8. Click OK.

   The upgrade template is created.

9. Assign the template to one or more devices.