Chapter 9 High Availability for FortiOS 5.0 : Configuring and connecting HA clusters : Example: Transparent mode active-active HA configuration : Configuring a Transparent mode active-active cluster of two FortiGate-620B units - web‑based manager
  
Configuring a Transparent mode active-active cluster of two FortiGate-620B units - web‑based manager
Use the following procedures to configure the FortiGate-620B units for HA operation using the FortiGate web‑based manager. These procedures assume you are starting with two FortiGate-620B units with factory default settings.
 
Waiting until you have established the cluster to switch to Transparent mode means fewer configuration steps because you can switch the mode of the cluster in one step.
To configure the first FortiGate-620B unit (host name 620_ha_1)
1. Power on the first FortiGate unit.
2. Set the IP address of a management computer with an Ethernet connection to the static IP address 192.168.1.2 and a netmask of 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-Active
Group Name
example2.com
Password
HA_pass_2
 
This is the minimum recommended configuration for an active-active HA cluster. You can configure other HA options at this point, but if you wait until the cluster is operating you will only have to configure these options once for the cluster instead of separately for each cluster unit.
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.
To configure the second FortiGate-620B unit (host name 620_ha_2)
1. Power on second FortiGate unit.
2. On a management computer, 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.
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-Active
Group Name
example2.com
Password
HA_pass_2
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 switch the cluster to Transparent mode
Switching from NAT/Route to Transparent mode involves adding the Transparent mode management IP address and default route.
 
Since configuration changes are synchronized to all cluster units, switching the cluster to operate in Transparent mode once the cluster is operating is the same as switching an individual FortiGate unit to Transparent mode. You could have performed the following configuration steps separately on each FortiGate unit before you connected them to form a cluster.
1. 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.
2. Type admin in the Name field and select Login.
3. Under System Information, beside Operation Mode select Change.
4. Set Operation Mode to Transparent.
5. Configure basic Transparent mode settings.
Operation Mode
Transparent
Management IP/Mask
10.11.101.100/24
Default Gateway
10.11.101.2
6. Select Apply.
The cluster switches to operating in Transparent mode. The virtual MAC addresses assigned to the cluster interfaces do not change.
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://10.11.101.100 (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 (example2.com) and the host names and serial numbers of the Cluster Members. The Unit Operation widget shows multiple cluster units.
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.
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. Note that 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.
 
You added a default gateway when you switched to Transparent mode so you don’t need to add a default route as part of the basic configuration of the cluster at this point.