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ens160
ens160
New Member
May 17, 2026
Question

FortiGate-VM64 upgrade path from 7.0.19: which VM model should I select?

  • May 17, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 83 views

Hi everyone,

I need to upgrade a FortiGate-VM64 currently running FortiOS 7.0.19.

Relevant output from get system status:

Version: FortiGate-VM64 v7.0.19, build0696, 260129 (GA.M)
License Status: Valid
VM Resources: 2 CPU / 2 allowed, about 4 GB RAM
Current HA mode: standalone
Release Version Information: GA
FortiOS x86-64: Yes

I also checked the active firmware image with diagnose sys flash list:

Partition  Image                                  Active
1          FGVM64-7.00-FW-build0696-260129        Yes

My doubt is about the Fortinet Upgrade Path Tool.

In the product list I see several similar VM options, such as:

FortiGate-VM
FortiGate-VM-KVM
FortiGate-VM-HV
FortiGate-VM-AWS
FortiGate-VM-AZURE
FortiOS-VM
FortiOS-VM-HV
FortiOS-VM-KVM

For this firewall, should I simply select FortiGate-VM in the Upgrade Path Tool?

Also, for a manual upgrade, should the correct firmware image be from the FGT_VM64 family, for example:

FGT_VM64-vX.X.X-buildXXXX-FORTINET.out
This one to be precise in this case:
FGT_VM64-v7.2.13.M-build1762-FORTINET.out

The GUI Firmware Management page also suggests newer FortiOS versions automatically, but before using it


I would like to clearly understand which product/model and firmware family are correct.

Thanks in advance for your help.

2 replies

sjoshi
Staff
sjoshi
Staff
May 18, 2026

Hi ​@ens160 

 

can you let me know what’s the platform where you have deployed the FortiGate VM/

Based on that we can recommend

Thanks, Salon
    ens160
    ens160Author
    New Member
    May 27, 2026

    Hi ​@sjoshi ,


    sorry for the late reply, and thank you for your answer.

    At the moment I do not know the exact platform where the FortiGate VM is hosted. It is a remote environment and I do not currently have this information available.

    I was hoping to understand it from the firmware/model information itself, but from your answer I understand that the virtualization platform is an important detail to confirm before choosing the correct upgrade path.

    One thing I was also wondering is: when the FortiGate GUI automatically suggests a firmware upgrade, which firmware image does it select? Does it use the generic FortiGate-VM image, or does it detect the correct platform-specific image?

    In the end, I managed to complete the upgrade using the GUI suggestion, but I would still like to understand this better. I do not want to face the same situation again in the future without being clear on which firmware family is actually being used.

    Thanks for any of your help

    sjoshi
    Staff
    sjoshi
    Staff
    May 27, 2026

    automatic upgrade will select the correct platform-specific image

    Further based on your get sys status output the correct file would be

    “FGT_VM64-v7.4.11.M-build2878-FORTINET.out”

    Thanks, Salon
    funkylicious
    SuperUser
    funkylicious
    SuperUser
    May 18, 2026

    this should clarify the difference between FortiOS-VM and FortiGate-VM

     therefore, you should download the FortiGate-VM file for the appropriate virtualization platform and has in the description/name, Upgrade from previous version of FortiGate for <> 

    "jack of all trades, master of none"
      ens160
      ens160Author
      New Member
      May 27, 2026

      Hi ​@funkylicious,

      sorry for the late reply, and thank you for the link.

      I still have a lot of Fortinet documentation to read, so I really appreciate precise references like this. This is exactly the kind of guidance I was looking for here.

      The difference between FortiOS-VM and FortiGate-VM was one of the points that was confusing me.

      Thanks again.

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