For the FortiGate fabric connector to successfully retrieve information from Google Cloud Platform (GCP), two fundamental prerequisites must be met within the GCP project. First, the Compute Engine API must be enabled to allow FortiGate to query for resources. Second, the service account used for authentication must be granted the appropriate Identity and Access Management (IAM) role, specifically Compute Viewer, to have the necessary permissions to read VM and network data. If either of these is not correctly configured, the API calls from the FortiGate will fail, resulting in an empty list of dynamic objects.

C. The FortiGate does not have a valid license.

Basic fabric connector functionality is included in the base FortiOS and is not dependent on a specific subscription license like FortiGuard services.

D. The administrator is using the wrong browser.

The browser is only used to access the FortiGate GUI. The data synchronization between FortiGate and GCP is a backend process, unaffected by the administrator's browser.

1. Fortinet FortiOS 7.6.0 Administration Guide, Security Fabric > Fabric Connectors > SDN > Google Cloud Platform (GCP) section.

This official guide explicitly lists the prerequisites for configuring the GCP SDN connector. It states, "Enable the Compute Engine API," and "Create a service account... Assign the Compute Engine > Compute Viewer role to the service account." This directly supports that a failure in either of these steps will prevent the connector from functioning.

2. Fortinet Cookbook - Google Cloud Platform (GCP) SDN connector, 5. Configuring the GCP SDN connector in the FortiGate GUI.

The configuration steps in the Cookbook reiterate the same prerequisites found in the Administration Guide. Step 1 involves creating a service account with the Compute Viewer role, and a preliminary step is always to ensure the necessary APIs (like Compute Engine API) are enabled in the GCP project. This confirms these are critical and foundational steps for the connector's operation.