Configuring a NAT/Route mode active-passive cluster of two FortiGate units - web‑based manager
Use the following procedures to configure two FortiGate units for NAT/Route HA operation using the web‑based manager. These procedures assume you are starting with two FortiGate 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 host name is the FortiGate serial number. You may want to change this host name to something more meaningful for your network. |
To configure the first FortiGate unit (host name FGT_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.
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 interfaces change to the following virtual MAC addresses:
• port1 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-00
• port2 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-01
• port3 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-02
• port4 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-03
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
.
.
.
Current_HWaddr: 00:09:0f:09:00:00
Permanent_HWaddr 02:09:0f:78:18:c9
.
.
.
10. Power off the first FortiGate unit (FGT_ha_1).
| Note the details and format of the output of the get hardware nic command are specific to the interface hardware. Different FortiGate models and even different interfaces in the same FortiGate unit may have different output. |
To configure the second FortiGate- unit (host name FGT_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.
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 FGT_ha_1 and FGT_ha_2 to a switch connected to the Internet.
2. Connect the port2 interfaces of FGT_ha_1 and FGT_ha_2 to a switch connected to the internal network.
3. Connect the port3 interfaces of FGT_ha_1 and FGT_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.
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 device 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 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. Edit admin and select Change Password.
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.