Full mesh HA

To connect the cluster to your network

1. Make the following physical network connections for FGT_ha_1:

  • Port1 to Sw1 (active)
  • Port2 to Sw2 (inactive)
  • Port3 to Sw3 (active)
  • Port4 to Sw4 (inactive)

2. Make the following physical network connections for FGT_ha_2:

  • Port1 to Sw2 (active)
  • Port2 to Sw1 (inactive)
  • Port3 to Sw4 (active)
  • Port4 to Sw3 (inactive)

3. Connect Sw3 and Sw4 to the internal network.

4. Connect Sw1 and Sw2 to the external router.

5. Enable 802.1Q (Dot1Q) or ISL communication between Sw1 and Sw2 and between Sw3 and Sw4.

6. 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.

When negotiation is complete the cluster is ready to be configured for your network.

 

To view cluster status

Use the following steps to view cluster status from the CLI.

1. Log into the CLI.

2. Enter get system status to verify the HA status of the cluster unit that you logged into.

If the command output includes Current HA mode: a-a, master, the cluster units are operating as a cluster and you have connected to the primary unit.

If the command output includes Current HA mode: a-a, backup, you have connected to a subordinate unit.

If the command output includes Current HA mode: standalone the cluster unit is not operating in HA mode.

3. Enter the following command to confirm the HA configuration of the cluster:

get system ha status

Model: XXXX Mode: a-a Group: 0

Debug: 0

ses_pickup: disable

Master:128 FGT_ha_2 FG600B3908600825 0

Slave :128 FGT_ha_1 FG600B3908600705 1 number of vcluster: 1

vcluster 1: work 169.254.0.1

Master:0 FG600B3908600825

Slave :1 FG600B3908600705

The command output shows both cluster units, their host names, their roles in the cluster, and their priorities. You can use this command to confirm that the cluster is operating normally. For example, if the command shows only one cluster unit then the other unit has left the cluster for some reason.

4. Use the execute ha manage command to connect to the other cluster unit’s CLI and use these commands to verify cluster status.

This entry was posted in FortiOS 5.4 Handbook and tagged , , , on by .

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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