IPSO OS is based on FreeBSD OS, therefore most of the directories have the same meaning as in FreeBSD OS.
However:

Partition	Mounted as	Contents
/ (root)	read-only	IPSO OS required IPSO OS packages
/opt	read-write	Optional packages (e.g., Check Point FireWall-1) Documentation package
/var	read-write	Home directories Files, to which data needs to be written (e.g., /var/etc/rc.local)
/config	read-write	Master configuration files, based on which IPSO OS rebuilds /etc on boot-up (/config/db/initial file contains all the required information; alternate configurations may be stored in /config/db directory)

The /config/db/initial file must be present and valid (in other words, not corrupted) at boot time for IP Series Appliance to get configured. Otherwise, the IP Series Appliance will go into first-time boot mode and attempt to configure itself using DHCP, or wait for the user to configure it through the serial console port.

The active settings in the /config/db/initial files are marked by the "t" flag (stands for "true") at the end of the configuration line. Non-active settings (previous configuration) might appear in the file, but it will not have the the "t" flag at the end of the configuration line.

No fix is required; the system is functioning as designed.

This solution has been verified for the specific scenario, described by the combination of Product, Version and Symptoms. It may not work in other scenarios.