FortiGate Next Generation Firewall utilizes purpose-built security processors and threat intelligence security services from FortiGuard labs to deliver top-rated protection and high performance, including encrypted traffic.
This article describes how to check the NIC driver and version from the FortiGate CLI and provides a reference of commonly supported NIC types for FortiGate-VM deployments.
Scope
FortiGate-VM running on VMware ESXi, KVM, Hyper-V or other supported hypervisors FortiOS v6.4.x, v7.0.x, v7.2.x, v7.4.x.
Solution
When running FortiGate-VM in a virtualized environment, there may be situations where the underlying hypervisor physical NICs are upgraded or replaced, for example, migrating from Mellanox to Intel cards or updating a NIC firmware/driver version on the host.
In such cases, it is often necessary to confirm which NIC driver FortiGate-VM is using internally to handle the virtual or passthrough interface.
Verify NIC Driver and Version from the FortiGate-VM CLI.
FortiGate provides an internal hardware diagnostic command that displays the underlying NIC information for each interface.
Run the following command:
diagnose hardware deviceinfo nic <interface_name>
Example Output:
FGT-VM_FW (global) # diagnose hardware deviceinfo nic port2
Name: port2
Driver: net_ice <----- Driver used by FortiGate-VM
Version: 0.1 <----- Driver version
Bus: 0000:03:00.0
HWaddr: 30:3e:a7:0a:90:64
Permanent Hwaddr:30:3e:a7:0a:90:64
State: up
Link: up
Mtu: 1500
Speed: 25000full
Auto: enabled
Interpretation:
Driver: Identifies which NIC driver FortiGate-VM is using. Example: net_ice indicates Intel 100G-class NIC (ICE driver).
Version: The internal driver version FortiGate is using.
This confirms whether the FortiGate-VM is running on the correct NIC model after a hypervisor-level hardware change.
Common NIC Drivers Supported by FortiGate-VM. FortiGate-VM includes built-in drivers to support common SR-IOV and passthrough NICs across hypervisors.
Intel cards compatible with igb, ixgbe, and i40e drivers (1/10/25/40 Gbps)
Intel cards compatible with the ice driver (100 Gbps) (FortiOS v6.4.1 and later versions). Shown as an example in the above CLI output.
Mellanox 100G cards (mlx_4 and mlx_5)
Broadcom 100G cards (P2100G) (FortiOS 6.4.3 and later versions)
Example mapping:
If Driver: net_ice → Intel ICE driver → 100G NIC (or 25G if presented by the host).
