Troubleshooting Tip: Error 'Manual license upload failed' received while uploading the license in FortiGate due to file downloaded too early

Description

This article describes how to fix an issue where uploading the license file in FortiGate shows 'Manual license upload failed' because the file was downloaded less than 1 hour after the FortiGate was registered in FortiCloud Asset Management.

Scope

FortiGate.

Solution

When trying to activate the license on FortiGate, the process might fail due to the error 'Manual license upload failed', as shown below:

Usually, this issue occurs when the license is downloaded in less than 1 hour after the FortiGate has been registered in FortiCloud Asset Management. To fix the issue, wait around 4 hours after registering the FortiGate and then download the license again from FortiCloud Asset Management after going to 'Product' -> 'Product List', searching with the FortiGate Serial Number, and selecting 'Download' under 'LICENSE & KEY':

After downloading the license again, upload it in the same way as before and the license should be uploaded successfully.