Chapter 9 High Availability for FortiOS 5.0 : Configuring and connecting HA clusters : Example: NAT/Route mode active-passive HA configuration : Configuring a NAT/Route mode active-passive cluster of two FortiGate-620B units - web‑based manager
  
Configuring a NAT/Route mode active-passive cluster of two FortiGate-620B units - web‑based manager
Use the following procedures to configure two FortiGate-620B units for NAT/Route HA operation using the FortiGate web‑based manager. These procedures assume you are starting with two FortiGate-620B units with factory default settings.
 
Give each cluster unit a unique host name to make the individual units easier to identify when they are part of a functioning cluster. The default FortiGate unit host name is the FortiGate serial number. You may want to change this host name to something more meaningful for your network.
 
Make sure your FortiGate interfaces are configured with static IP addresses. If any interface gets its address using DHCP you will not be able to configure HA.
To configure the first FortiGate-620B unit (host name 620_ha_1)
1. Power on the first FortiGate unit.
2. On your management computer with an Ethernet connection, set the static IP address to 192.168.1.2 and the netmask to 255.255.255.0.
3. On a management computer, start a web browser and browse to the address https://192.168.1.99 (remember to include the “s” in https://).
The FortiGate login is displayed.
4. Type admin in the Name field and select Login.
The FortiGate dashboard is displayed.
5. On the System Information dashboard widget beside Host Name, select Change.
6. Enter a new Host Name for this FortiGate unit.
New Name
620_ha_1
7. Select OK.
8. Go to System > Config > HA and change the following settings:
Mode
Active-Passive
Group Name
example1.com
Password
HA_pass_1
 
This is the minimum recommended configuration for an active-active HA cluster. You can also configure other HA options, but if you wait until after the cluster is operating you will only have to configure these options once for the cluster instead of separately for each unit in the cluster.
9. Select OK.
The FortiGate unit negotiates to establish an HA cluster. When you select OK you may temporarily lose connectivity with the FortiGate unit as the HA cluster negotiates and the FGCP changes the MAC address of the FortiGate unit interfaces (see “Cluster virtual MAC addresses”). The MAC addresses of the FortiGate‑620B interfaces change to the following virtual MAC addresses:
port1 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-00
port10 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-01
port11 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-02
port12 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-03
port13 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-04
port14 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-05
port15 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-06
port16 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-07
port17 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-08
port18 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-09
port19 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0a
port2 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0b
port20 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0c
port3 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0d
port4 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0e
port5 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0f
port6 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-10
port7 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-11
port8 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-12
port9 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-13
To reconnect sooner, you can update the ARP table of your management PC by deleting the ARP table entry for the FortiGate unit (or just deleting all arp table entries). You may be able to delete the arp table of your management PC from a command prompt using a command similar to arp -d.
To confirm these MAC address changes, you can use the get hardware nic (or diagnose hardware deviceinfo nic) CLI command to view the virtual MAC address of any FortiGate unit interface. For example, use the following command to view the port1 interface virtual MAC address (MAC) and the port1 permanent MAC address (Permanent_HWaddr):
get hardware nic port1
.
.
.
MAC: 00:09:0f:09:00:00
Permanent_HWaddr: 02:09:0f:78:18:c9
.
.
.
10. Power off the first FortiGate unit (620_ha_1).
To configure the second FortiGate-620B unit (host name 620_ha_2)
1. Power on the second FortiGate unit.
2. On a management computer, start a web browser and browse to the address https://192.168.1.99 (remember to include the “s” in https://).
The FortiGate login is displayed.
3. Type admin in the Name field and select Login.
The FortiGate dashboard is displayed.
4. On the System Information dashboard widget, beside Host Name select Change.
5. Enter a new Host Name for this FortiGate unit.
New Name
620_ha_2
6. Select OK.
7. Go to System > Config > HA and change the following settings:
Mode
Active-Passive
Group Name
example1.com
Password
HA_pass_1
8. Select OK.
The FortiGate unit negotiates to establish an HA cluster. When you select OK you may temporarily lose connectivity with the FortiGate unit as the HA cluster negotiates and because the FGCP changes the MAC address of the FortiGate unit interfaces.
To reconnect sooner, you can update the ARP table of your management PC by deleting the ARP table entry for the FortiGate unit (or just deleting all arp table entries). You may be able to delete the arp table of your management PC from a command prompt using a command similar to arp -d.
9. Power off the second FortiGate unit.
To connect the cluster to the network
1. Connect the port1 interfaces of 620_ha_1 and 620_ha_2 to a switch connected to the Internet.
2. Connect the port2 interfaces of 620_ha_1 and 620_ha_2 to a switch connected to the internal network.
3. Connect the port3 interfaces of 620_ha_1 and 620_ha_2 together. You can use a crossover Ethernet cable or regular Ethernet cables and a switch.
4. Connect the port4 interfaces of the cluster units together. You can use a crossover Ethernet cable or regular Ethernet cables and a switch.
5. Power on the cluster units.
The units start and negotiate to choose the primary unit and the subordinate unit. This negotiation occurs with no user intervention and normally takes less than a minute.
When negotiation is complete the cluster is ready to be configured for your network.
To view cluster status
Use the following steps to view the cluster dashboard and cluster members list to confirm that the cluster units are operating as a cluster.
 
Once the cluster is operating, because configuration changes are synchronized to all cluster units, configuring the cluster is the same as configuring an individual FortiGate unit. You could have performed the following configuration steps separately on each FortiGate unit before you connected them to form a cluster.
1. Start Internet Explorer and browse to the address https://192.168.1.99 (remember to include the “s” in https://).
The FortiGate Login is displayed.
2. Type admin in the Name field and select Login.
The FortiGate dashboard is displayed.
The System Information dashboard widget shows the Cluster Name (example1.com) and the host names and serial numbers of the Cluster Members. The Unit Operation widget shows multiple cluster units.
Figure 191: Sample FortiGate-620B System Information dashboard widget
3. Go to System > Config > HA to view the cluster members list.
The list shows both cluster units, their host names, their roles in the cluster, and their priorities. You can use this list to confirm that the cluster is operating normally. For example, if the list shows only one cluster unit then the other unit has left the cluster for some reason.
Figure 192: Sample FortiGate-620B cluster members list
To troubleshoot the cluster configuration
If the cluster members list and the dashboard do not display information for both cluster units, the FortiGate units are not functioning as a cluster. See “Troubleshooting HA clusters” to troubleshoot the cluster.
To add basic configuration settings to the cluster
Use the following steps to configure the cluster to connect to its network. The following are example configuration steps only and do not represent all of the steps required to configure the cluster for a given network.
1. Log into the cluster web‑based manager.
2. Go to System > Admin > Administrators.
3. For admin, select the Change Password icon
4. Enter and confirm a new password.
5. Select OK.
6. Go to System > Network > Interfaces.
7. Edit the port2 interface and change IP/Netmask to 10.11.101.100/24.
8. Select OK.
 
After changing the IP address of the port1 interface you may have to change the IP address of your management computer and then reconnect to the port1 interface using the 172.20.120.141 IP address.
9. Edit the port1 interface and change IP/Netmask to 172.20.120.141/24.
10. Select OK.
11. Go to Router > Static > Static Routes.
12. Change the default route.
Destination IP/Mask
0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0
Gateway
172.20.120.2
Device
port1
Distance
10
13. Select OK.