Installing alternate firmware

You can install alternate firmware which can be loaded from its separate partition if the primary firmware fails. This can be accomplished via the web UI or CLI.

1. Download the firmware file from the Fortinet Technical Support web site:

2. Log in to the web UI of the FortiWeb appliance as the admin administrator, or an administrator account whose access profile contains Read and Write permissions in the Maintenance category.


	Updating firmware on an HA pair requires some additions to the usual steps for a standalone appliance. For details, see “Updating firmware on an HA pair”.

3. Go to System > Maintenance > Backup & Restore.

To access this part of the web UI, your administrator's account access profile must have Read and Write permission to items in the Maintenance category. For details, see “Permissions”.

4. In the Firmware area, in the row of the alternate partition, click Upload and Reboot.

5. Click Browse to locate and select the firmware file that you want to install, then click OK.

Your management computer uploads the firmware image to the FortiWeb appliance. The FortiWeb appliance installs the firmware and restarts. The time required varies by the size of the file and the speed of your network connection.


	If you are downgrading the firmware to a previous version, and the settings are not fully backwards compatible, the FortiWeb appliance may either remove incompatible settings, or use the feature’s default values for that version of the firmware. You may need to reconfigure some settings.

7. Clear the cache of your web browser and restart it to ensure that it reloads the web UI and correctly displays all interface changes. For details, see your browser's documentation.

8. To verify that the firmware was successfully installed, log in to the web UI and go to System > System > Status.

In the System Information widget, the Firmware Version row indicates the currently installed firmware version.

1. Download the firmware file from the Fortinet Technical Support web site:

2. Connect your management computer to the FortiWeb console port using a RJ-45-to-DB-9 serial cable or a null-modem cable.

3. Initiate a connection from your management computer to the CLI of the FortiWeb appliance, and log in as the admin administrator, or an administrator account whose access profile contains Read and Write permissions in the Maintenance category.

4. Connect port1 of the FortiWeb appliance directly or to the same subnet as a TFTP server.

5. Copy the new firmware image file to the root directory of the TFTP server.

6. If necessary, start your TFTP server. (If you do not have one, you can temporarily install and run one such as tftpd (Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux) on your management computer.)


	Because TFTP is not secure, and because it does not support authentication and could allow anyone to have read and write access, you should only run it on trusted administrator-only networks, never on computers directly connected to the Internet. If possible, immediately turn off tftpd off when you are done.

7. Verify that the TFTP server is currently running, and that the FortiWeb appliance can reach the TFTP server.

To use the FortiWeb CLI to verify connectivity, enter the following command:

8. Enter the following command to restart the FortiWeb appliance:

9. As the FortiWeb appliances starts, a series of system startup messages appear.


	You have only 3 seconds to press a key. If you do not press a key soon enough, the FortiWeb appliance reboots and you must log in and repeat the execute reboot command.

If you successfully interrupt the startup process, the following messages appears:

[G]: Get firmware image from TFTP server.
[F]: Format boot device.
[B]: Boot with backup firmware and set as default.
[Q]: Quit menu and continue to boot with default firmware.
[H]: Display this list of options.

Enter G,F,B,Q,or H:

Please connect TFTP server to Ethernet port "1".

13. Type a temporary IP address that can be used by the FortiWeb appliance to connect to the TFTP server.

The FortiWeb appliance downloads the firmware image file from the TFTP server and displays a message similar to the following:

Save as Default firmware/Backup firmware/Run image without saving:[D/B/R]?


	If the download fails after the integrity check with the error message: invalid compressed format (err=1) but the firmware matches the integrity checksum on the Fortinet Technical Support web site, try a different TFTP server.

The FortiWeb appliance saves the backup firmware image and restarts. When the FortiWeb appliance reboots, it is running the primary firmware.