The recommended best practice for standardizing FortiGate deployments with consistent configurations across multiple branches is to use provisioning templates combined with metadata variables. Metadata variables act as placeholders for device-specific values, such as IP addresses, hostnames, or VLAN IDs. An administrator creates a single, standardized provisioning template for interface configurations. During deployment to each branch FortiGate, FortiManager dynamically replaces the metadata variables in the template with the unique values assigned to that specific device. This approach allows for the use of a consistent configuration base while accommodating the necessary per-device variations, fulfilling the requirement for standardization.

B: The Install On feature is used to target which devices or groups receive a policy package; it does not configure the interfaces or assign their settings.

C: Using scripts is a viable but less efficient method. The recommended best practice involves using FortiManager's built-in template and metadata features for better scalability and management.

D: Normalized interfaces are essential for creating consistent interface roles (e.g., LAN, WAN) across different hardware models, enabling the use of a single policy package. However, metadata variables (A) perform the dynamic assignment of configuration settings (like IP addresses) to those interfaces, which is the core of standardizing the device-level configuration.

1. FortiManager Administration Guide 7.2

"Provisioning Templates" > "Using metadata in provisioning templates" section.

Quote: "Metadata allows you to define custom variables that you can use to dynamically configure managed devices. You can reference the metadata variables in provisioning templates... When the template is applied to a device

the metadata variables are replaced with the values defined for the device." This directly supports using metadata for dynamic configuration assignment.

2. FortiManager Administration Guide 7.2

"Best Practices" > "Device and policy management" section.

Quote: "Use provisioning templates with metadata to standardize device settings across multiple devices." This explicitly states that the combination of provisioning templates and metadata is the best practice for standardization.

3. Fortinet Certified Professional - Network Security Study Guide for FortiManager 7.2

Chapter "Provisioning"

Section "Using Metadata in Provisioning Templates".

This section provides examples of creating a provisioning template for a system interface and using a metadata variable

such as $(ipaddress)

to assign a unique IP address to each managed device. This illustrates the practical application of the concept in option A.