VM-Series Deployment Guide
    : init-cfg.txt File Components
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    4. Bootstrap the VM-Series Firewall
    5. Create the init-cfg.txt File
    6. init-cfg.txt File Components
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    VM-Series Deployment Guide

    init-cfg.txt File Components

    Table of Contents

    init-cfg.txt File Components

    The following table describes the bootstrap parameters in the init-cfg.txt file.
    Field
    Description
    type=
    Type of management IP address: static or dhcp-client. This field is required.
    ip-address=
    IPv4 address. This field is ignored if the type is dhcp-client. If the type is static, an IPv4 address is required; the ipv6-address field is optional and can be included.
    You cannot specify the management IP address and netmask configuration for the VM-Series firewall in AWS and Azure. If defined, the firewall ignores the values you specify.
    default-gateway=
    IPv4 default gateway for the management interface. This field is ignored if the type is dhcp-client. If the type is static, and ip-address is used, this field is required.
    netmask=
    IPv4 netmask. This field is ignored if the type is dhcp-client. If the type is static, and ip-address is used, this field is required.
    ipv6-address=
    IPv6 address and /prefix length of the management interface. This field is ignored if the type is dhcp-client. If the type is static, this field can be specified along with the ip-address field, which is required.
    ipv6-default-gateway=
    IPv6 default gateway for the management interface. This field is ignored if the type is dhcp-client. If the type is static and ipv6-address is used, this field is required.
    hostname=
    Hostname for the firewall. This field is required when adding Panorama configuration parameters.
    panorama-server=
    IPv4 or IPv6 address of the primary Panorama server. This field is not required but recommended for centrally managing your firewalls.
    When creating a bootstrap package, set panorama-server=cloud. The cloud parameter should be used when connecting the firewall to Strata Cloud Manager.
    When you provide a Panorama IP address in your init-cfg.txt file, Panorama pushes configuration to firewall automatically upon first connection.
    panorama-server-2=
    IPv4 or IPv6 address of the secondary Panorama server. This field is not required but recommended.
    A value defined for panorama-server-2 is ignored when panorama-server=cloud is used.
    tplname=
    Panorama template stack name. If you add a Panorama server IP address, you must include a template stack name in this field so that you can centrally manage and push configuration settings to the firewall. If you do not include a template stack name, the firewalls connection to Panorama fails.
    dgname=
    Panorama device group name. If you add a Panorama server IP address, you must include a device group name in this field so that you can group the firewalls logically and push policy rules to the firewall. If you do not include a device group name, the firewalls connection to Panorama fails.
    cgname=
    Panorama collector group name. If you want to bootstrap the firewall to send logs to a Panorama collector group, you must first configure a collector group on Panorama and then configure the firewall to forward logs to Panorama.
    On the M-Series appliances, a default Collector Group is predefined and already contains the local Log Collector as a member. On the Panorama virtual appliance, you must add the Collector Group and add the local Log Collector as a member.
    dns-primary=
    IPv4 or IPv6 address of the primary DNS server.
    dns-secondary=
    IPv4 or IPv6 address of the secondary DNS server.
    vm-auth-key=
    Virtual machine authentication key for Panorama (see Generate the VM Auth Key on Panorama). This field is ignored when bootstrapping hardware firewalls.
    op-command-modes=
    The following values are allowed: multi-vsys, jumbo-frame, mgmt-interface-swap. If you enter multiple values, use a space or a comma to separate the entries.
    op-cmd-dpdk-pkt-io=
    		The value on or off allows you to enable or disable Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) in environments where the firewall supports DPDK. DPDK allows the host to process packets faster by bypassing the Linux kernel; interactions with the NIC are performed using drivers and the DPDK libraries.
    plugin-op-commands=
    Specify VM-Series plugin operation commands.
    Multiple commands must be entered on a single, comma separated list with no spaces.
    • sriov-access-mode-on—This command is only valid for VM-Series firewall on ESXi and KVM hypervisors.
      For KVM only, if you enable sriov-access-mode-on, do not enable op-command-modes=jumbo-frame.
    • aws-gwlb-inspect:enable—Enables VM-Series Integration with an AWS Gateway Load Balancer.
    • aws-gwlb-associate-vpce:<vpce-id>@ethernet<subinterface> —Allows you to Associate a VPC Endpoint with a VM-Series Interface or subinterface on the firewall. The specified interface is assigned to a security zone.
    • aws-gwlb-overlay-routing:enable—Use this command to Enable Overlay Routing for the VM-Series on AWS when integrated with a AWS GWLB.
    • set-dp-cores:<#-cores>—Customize the number of dataplane vCPUs for a VM-Series firewall running PAN-OS 11.0 or later deployed with a Software NGFW license. This option is not supported on NSX-T. For more information, see Customize Dataplane Cores.
    • numa-perf-optimize:enable—enables NUMA performance optimization on the VM-Series firewall with VM-Series plugin 2.1.2 or later installed. For more information, see Enable NUMA Performance Optimization on the VM-Series.
    • advance-routing:enable—enables Advanced Routing. To ensure successful bootstrapping for Advanced Routing using both init-cfg.txt* and bootstrap.xml files, enable Advanced Routing in both* init-cfg.txt* and bootstrap.xml. Failing to enable Advanced Routing in both files could result in an unstable environment; for example, if you use show advanced routing route the output indicates that Advanced Routing is enabled, however, the command show deviceconfig setting indicates that Advanced Routing is not enabled. Further, Advanced Routing will not be completely working, and may end up in commit failure. If the setup is in the above state, to enable Advanced Routing, reboot VM-Series firewall after configuring set deviceconfig setting advanced-routing yes.
    dhcp-send-hostname=
    The value of yes or no comes from the DHCP server. If yes, the firewall will send its hostname to the DHCP server. This field is relevant only if type is dhcp-client.
    dhcp-send-client-id=
    The value of yes or no comes from the DHCP server. If yes, the firewall will send its client ID to the DHCP server. This field is relevant only if type is dhcp-client.
    dhcp-accept-server-hostname=
    The value of yes or no comes from the DHCP server. If yes, the firewall will accept its hostname from the DHCP server. This field is relevant only if type is dhcp-client.
    dhcp-accept-server-domain=
    The value of yes or no comes from the DHCP server. If yes, the firewall will accept its DNS server from the DHCP server. This field is relevant only if type is dhcp-client.
    vm-series-auto-registration-pin-id
    and
    vm-series-auto-registration-pin-value
    The VM-Series registration PIN ID and value for installing the device certificate on the VM-Series firewall. The PIN ID and value also enable you to automatically activate the site licenses for AutoFocus and Cortex Data Lake on PAYG instances of the firewall.
    You must generate this in registration PIN ID and value on the Palo Alto Networks CSP. See Install a Device Certificate on the VM-Series Firewall for information on generating PIN ID and value.

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