Virtual metadata collector mode, a specialized sub-mode for the VM-Series firewall designed to improve IoT data collection efficiency while reducing your resource usage. A default allow-all security policy is automatically configured when you perform the initial configuration of your VM-Series firewall. This policy and its associated default security profiles are non-editable. Panorama is required for managing virtual metadata collector mode VMs. After you bootstrap and license, the VM connects and syncs with Panorama automatically. Additionally, Panorama information can also be provisioned in the firewall after it comes up either through firewall CLI or the web interface.

Virtual metadata collector mode is supported only on ESXi and KVM platforms with PAN-OS version 11.2.5 or later.