FortiGate-5000 active-active HA cluster with FortiClient licenses

To add a FortiClient license to each cluster unit

Normally you would add FortiClient licenses to the FortiGate units before forming the cluster. However, you can can use the following steps to add FortiClient licenses to an operating cluster.

Contact your reseller to purchase FortiClient licenses for your cluster units. Each cluster unit must have its own FortiClient license.

When you receive the license keys you can log into https://support.fortinet.com and add a FortiClient license key to each licensed FortiGate unit. Then, as long as the cluster can connect to the Internet the license keys are downloaded from the FortiGuard network to all of the FortiGate units in the cluster.

You can also use the following steps to manually add the license keys to your cluster units from the web-based manager. Your cluster must be connected to the Internet.

1. Log into the -web-based manager of each cluster unit using its reserved management interface IP address.

2. Go to the License Information dashboard widget and beside FortiClient select Enter License.

3. Enter the license key and select OK.

4. Confirm that the license has been installed and the correct number of FortiClients are licensed.

5. Repeat for all of the cluster units.

You can also use the following command to add the license key from the CLI:

execute FortiClient-NAC update-registration-license <license-number>

You can connect to the CLIs of each cluster unit using their reserved management IP address.

You can also log into the primary unit CLI and use the execute ha manage command to connect to each cluster unit CLI.

 

Configuring the FortiGate-5000 active-active cluster – CLI

These procedures assume you are starting with three FortiGate-5001C boards and two FortiSwitch-5003B boards installed in a compatible FortiGate-5000 series chassis. The FortiSwitch-5003B boards are in chassis slots 1 and 2 and the FortiGate-5001C boards are in chassis slots 3, 4, and 5 and the chassis is powered on. All devices are in their factory default configuration. No configuration changes to the FortiSwitch-5003B boards are required.

 

To configure the FortiGate-5005FA2 units

1. From the internal network, log into the CLI of the FortiGate-5001C unit in chassis slot 3 by connecting to the mgmt1 interface.

By default the mgmt1 interface of each FortiGate-5001C unit has the same IP address. To log into each FortiGate-5001C unit separately you could either disconnect the mgmt1 interfaces of the units that you don’t want to log into or change the mgmt1 interface IP addresses for each unit by connecting to each unit’s CLI from their console port.

 

You can also use a console connection.

2. Register and apply licenses to the FortiGate unit. This includes FortiCloud activation, and FortiToken licensing, and entering a license key if you purchased more than 10 Virtual Domains (VDOMS). In this example you will leave FortiClient licensing until after you have formed the cluster.

3. You can also install any third-party certificates on the primary FortiGate before forming the cluster. Once the cluster is formed third-party certificates are synchronized to the backup FortiGate.

4. Change the host name for this FortiGate unit. For example:

config system global

set hostname 5001C-Slot-3 end

5. Enter the following command to display backplane interfaces on the web-based manager:

config system global

set show-backplane-intf enable end

6. Set the Administrative Status of the base1 and base 2 interfaces to Up.

config system interface edit base1

set status up next

edit base2

set status up end

7. Add an IP address to the mgmt1 interface.

config system interface edit mgmt1

set ip 172.20.120.110/24

set allowaccess http https ssl ping end

Because mgmt1 will become the reserved management interface for the cluster unit each FortiGate-

5001C should have a different mgmt1 interface IP address. Give the mgmt1 interface an address that is valid for the internal network. Once HA with the reserved Management interface is enabled the IP address of the mgmt1 interface can be on the same subnet as the port2 interface (which will also be connected to the Internal network).

8. Configure HA settings.

config system ha set mode a-a

set ha-mgmt-status enable set ha-mgmt-interface mgmt1 set group-name example3.com set password HA_pass_3

set hbdev base1 50 base2 50 mgmt2 50 end

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. The MAC addresses of the FortiGate-5001C interfaces change to the following virtual MAC addresses:

  • base1 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-00
  • base2 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-01
  • fabric1 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-02 l  fabric2 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-03 l  fabric3 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-04 l  fabric4 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-05 l  fabric5 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-06 l  mgmt1 keeps its original MAC address
  • mgmt2 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-08
  • port1 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-09
  • port2 interface virtual MAC: 00-09-0f-09-00-0a

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.

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 (Current_HWaddr) and the port1 permanent MAC address (Permanent_HWaddr):

get hardware nic base1

 

Current_HWaddr 00:09:0f:09:00:00

Permanent_HWaddr 00:09:0f:71:0a:dc

 

7. Repeat these steps for the FortiGate-5001C units in chassis slots 4 and 5, with the following differences.

Set the mgmt1 interface IP address of each FortiGate-5001C unit to a different IP address. Set the FortiGate-5001C unit in chassis slot 4 host name to:

config system global

set hostname 5001C-Slot-4 end

Set the FortiGate-5001C unit in chassis slot 5 host name to:

config system global

set hostname 5001C-Slot-5 end

As you configure each FortiGate unit, they will negotiate and join the cluster.

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About Mike

Michael Pruett, CISSP has a wide range of cyber-security and network engineering expertise. The plethora of vendors that resell hardware but have zero engineering knowledge resulting in the wrong hardware or configuration being deployed is a major pet peeve of Michael's. This site was started in an effort to spread information while providing the option of quality consulting services at a much lower price than Fortinet Professional Services. Owns PacketLlama.Com (Fortinet Hardware Sales) and Office Of The CISO, LLC (Cybersecurity consulting firm).

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