FortiOS 5.2.2 Upgrade

[Gabana]

Hi all :)

we have a fortigate with fortiOS 5.2.2 and we need to upgrade it to 5.6.3

i have a question about it :

    "can we directly install fortiOS 5.6.3 on it if our firewall has no config ? or we should go through the upgrade path?"

[bmekler · Accepted solution]

The firewall always has a configuration, even if it's the default one, and this configuration gets converted during upgrades. The conversion scripts that run as part of a software upgrade are built and tested only for a limited number of versions, hence the recommended upgrade paths. Your options are:

1. Follow the recommended path, which is long and annoying - 5.2.3>>5.2.5>>5.2.7>>5.2.9>>5.4.4>>5.6.2>>5.6.3

2. Upgrade directly to 5.6.3, then reset to factory defaults, to load default configuration for 5.6.3

3. Load 5.6.3 in bootloader over TFTP - this will ignore current configuration and load 5.6.3 directly with factory defaults.

Personally, I would go with option 4: load 5.4.8 over TFTP. Unless you absolultely require certain features in 5.6.x, staying one branch behind the leading version is generally best for stability. The only environments where I'm currently deploying 5.6.x are sites with FortiAP-221E access points, which require 5.6.x to work.