FortiManager high availability (HA) provides a solution for a key requirement of critical enterprise management and networking components: enhanced reliability. Understanding what’s required for FortiManager reliability begins with understanding what normal FortiManager operations are and how to make sure that these normal operations continue if a FortiManager unit fails.

Most of the FortiManager operations involve storing FortiManager, FortiGate, FortiMail and FortiClient configuration and related information in the FortiManager database on the FortiManager unit hard disk. The Device Manager also stores and manages FortiGate firmware images and optionally FortiGuard service data on the FortiManager unit hard disk.

A key way to enhance reliability of FortiManager is to protect the data in the FortiManager database from being lost if the FortiManager unit fails. This can be achieved by dynamically backing up FortiManager database changes to one or more backup FortiManager units. Then if the operating FortiManager unit fails, a backup FortiManager unit can take the place of the failed unit.

A FortiManager HA cluster consists of up five FortiManager units of the same model. One of the FortiManager units in the cluster operates as a primary or master unit and the other one to four units operate as backup units. All of the units are visible on the network. The primary unit and the backup units can be at the same location. FortiManager HA also supports geographic redundancy so the primary unit and backup units can be in different locations attached to different networks as long as communication is possible between them (for example over the Internet, over a WAN, or through a private network).

Administrators connect to the primary unit Web‑based Manager or CLI to perform FortiManager operations. The primary unit also interacts with managed FortiGate, FortiCarrier and FortiMail devices, and FortiClient applications. Managed devices connect with the primary unit for configuration backup and restore. If FortiManager is used to distribute firmware updates and FortiGuard updates to managed devices, the managed devices can connect to the primary unit or one of the backup units.

If the primary FortiManager unit fails you must manually configure one of the backup units to become the primary unit. The new primary unit will have the same IP addresses as it did when it was the backup unit.