Fortinet changes Release Management Process: Release Candidates are available now!

Starting from now Fortinet makes available "Candidate Release" builds of FortiOS software via support FTP site. If you are running Candidate Release you will immediately notice big "Candidate Release" banner on top of WebUI.

Warning: please be careful before installing Candidate releases in a production environment, these builds are targeted to a lab environment. Please read "Who should use these build" section below before installing it!

What is a Candidate Release?

A part of Fortinet's Release Management Process is to make available builds of product firmware (FortiOS, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, etc.) specifically for evaluation and feedback. Obtaining comments on how the firmware functions in a variety of environments is crucial to improving the quality. To that end, Fortinet releases preliminary builds, called "Candidate Releases", to its customers (external and internal) for the purpose of gaining insight on the quaility of the firmware. This is done at various stages of the maintenance release test cycle. Starting with FortiOS v3.00 MR3, the Release Management Process has included adding a label at the top of the Web UI - "MRx Candidate y" - PD builds will have the label removed. B0388 has been qualified to the point where QA has approved it for release as CR and thus the label reads "MR3 Candidate 1".

Who should use these builds?

Fortinet encourages customers who need a certain bug fix or wish to test the latest software to load the build, verify its functionality, and provide us with feedback. However, Fortinet does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation of the firmware therefore, if your network is considered mission-critical and can not tolerate any risk, then MR3 Candidate1 is not recommended. You should wait for the official release of the firmware.