You can display the cluster index assigned to each cluster unit using the CLI command get system ha status. The following example shows the information displayed by the get system ha status command for a cluster consisting of two FortiGate-5001SX units operating in active-passive HA mode with virtual domains not enabled and without virtual clustering.

In this example, the cluster unit with serial number FG50012205400050 has the highest serial number and so has a cluster index of 0 and the cluster unit with serial number FG50012204400045 has a cluster index of 1. From the CLI of the primary (or master) unit of this cluster you can connect to the CLI of the subordinate (or slave) unit using the following command:

This works because the cluster unit with serial number FG50012204400045 has a cluster index of 1.

The get system ha status command output shows two similar lists of indexes and serial numbers. The listing on the sixth and seventh lines of the command output are the cluster indexes assigned according to cluster unit serial number. These are the cluster indexes that you enter when using the execute ha manage command. The cluster indexes shown in the last two lines of the command output are the operating cluster indexes that reflect how the cluster units are actually operating in the cluster. In this example both sets of cluster indexes are the same.

The last three lines of the command output display the status of vcluster 1. In a cluster consisting of two cluster units operating without virtual domains enabled all clustering actually takes place in virtual cluster 1. HA is designed to work this way to support virtual clustering. If this cluster was operating with virtual domains enabled, adding virtual cluster 2 is similar to adding a new copy of virtual cluster 1. Virtual cluster 2 is visible in the get system ha status command output when you add virtual domains to virtual cluster 2.

The HA heartbeat IP address displayed on line 8 is the HA heartbeat IP address of the cluster unit that is actually operating as the primary unit. For a default configuration this IP address will always be 169.254.0.1 because the cluster unit with the highest serial number will be the primary unit. This IP address changes if the operating primary unit is not the primary unit with the highest serial number.