Deploying a firewall by hand, logging in to set an IP, license it, update it and configure it, does not scale in the cloud or across hundreds of sites. Bootstrapping lets a VM-Series firewall configure itself on first boot, and Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) does something similar for supported hardware firewalls. Both remove the skilled engineer from the first-boot process, which makes autoscaling and large rollouts possible, and it guarantees every new firewall starts from the same known configuration. A bootstrap package is a set of folders the firewall reads at first boot. config holds init-cfg.txt and optionally bootstrap.xml. license holds an authcodes file with the license authorization codes. software holds a PAN-OS image to upgrade to. content holds Applications and Threats and optionally antivirus content packages to install. plugins holds VM-Series plugin images. The config, license, software and content folders must exist even when empty; plugins is optional.
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