During standard SD-WAN bootstrap, which component initially authenticates the edge device before enrollment?

• A. vBond
• B. vManage
• C. vSmart
• D. The edge uses self-signed identity

Answer: (A)

During standard SD-WAN bootstrap, the edge first authenticates to the vBond Orchestrator. vBond acts as the initial trust anchor, validating the edge's identity (via the bootstrap key or certificate) and authorizing it to join the network. Once authenticated, vBond provides the edge with the destinations of the other controllers (vSmart) and the path to enroll with vManage. After this, enrollment proceeds with vManage (guided by vBond’s trust and controller information) and the edge receives its policies and certificates. The other components don’t perform the initial authentication in this bootstrap flow, and self-signed identity isn’t the typical method for this first step.