Tag Archives: howard it services

I really despise Sonic Wall

Sometimes, after a long day of work, the need to vent is so powerful that you can’t overcome it. Well, today is one of those days so I figured I would bless you guys with a little bit of information. If you use a Dell Sonic Wall…..I pity you for you know not what you do….These devices are horrible. Absolutely horrible. Go buy a FortiGate, or hell, a Palo Alto even just to stay away from these things. I seriously almost shot one today with a Springfield Armory XDS 45 ACP. It would have caused and incredibly warm feeling, like that of morphine flowing through your veins, to be experienced by myself. Speaking of which, I will be filming myself shooting AND blowing up some competitor hardware as I remove them from the client’s offices. I thought you guys might get a kick out of that and lets face it, as soon as I figure out the logistics with doing it legally, I too, will enjoy it. Keep your eyes open for some Fortinet GURU how to videos. Going to start with videos based on the Cook Book, but with better explanations than what Fortinet provided and then I will move on to tasks and encounters I have seen in the field.

Remember kids, friends don’t let friends buy SonicWall.

FortiCache 4.0.1 Administration Guide

Introduction

FortiCache high performance web caching appliances address bandwidth saturation, high latency, and poor performance caused by caching popular internet content locally for carriers, service providers, enterprises, and educational networks. FortiCache appliances reduce the cost and impact of cached content on the network while increasing performance and the end-user experience by improving the speed of delivery of popular repeated content.

About this document

This document contains the following sections:

  • Introduction l Concepts l System Administration l Policy & Objects l Objects l Security Profiles l User Authentication l WAN Optimization and Web Caching
  • WCCP
  • Logging

Concepts

FortiCache web caching is a form of object caching that accelerates web applications and web servers by reducing bandwidth usage, server load, and perceived latency.

Web caching involves storing HTML pages, images, videos, servlet responses, and other web-based objects for later retrieval. These objects are stored in the web cache storage location defined by the config wanopt storage command. You can also go to System > Config > Disk to view the storage locations on the FortiCache unit hard disks.

There are three significant advantages to using web caching to improve HTTP performance:

  • reduced bandwidth consumption because fewer requests and responses go over the WAN or Internet l reduced web server load because there are fewer requests for web servers to handle l reduced latency because responses for cached requests are available from a local FortiCache unit instead of from across the WAN or Internet.

When enabled in a web caching policy, the FortiCache unit caches HTTP traffic processed by that policy. A web caching policy specifies the source and destination addresses and destination ports of the traffic to be cached.

Web caching caches compressed and non-compressed versions of the same file separately. If the HTTP protocol considers the compressed and uncompressed versions of a file the same object, only the compressed or uncompressed file will be cached.

You can also configure a FortiCache unit to operate as a Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP) client. WCCP provides the ability to offload web caching to one or more redundant web caching servers.

This chapter describes:

  • Web caching topologies l WCCP topologies l Content Analysis Service

Web caching topologies

FortiCache web caching involves one or more FortiCache units installed between users and web servers. The FortiCache unit can operate in both Network Address Translator (NAT) and transparent modes. The FortiCache unit intercepts web page requests accepted by web cache policies, requests web pages from the web servers, caches the web page contents, and returns the web page contents to the users. When the FortiCache unit intercepts subsequent requests for cached web pages, the FortiGate unit contacts the destination web server just to check for changes.

Most commonly the topology uses a router to route HTTP and HTTPS traffic to be cached to one or more FortiCache units. Traffic that should not be cached bypasses the FortiCache units. This is a scalable topology that allows you to add more FortiCache units if usage increases.

Web caching topologies                                                                                                                      Concepts

Web caching topology with web traffic routed to FortiCache units

You can also configure reverse proxy web-caching. In this configuration, users on the Internet browse to a web server installed behind a FortiCache unit. The FortiCache unit intercepts the web traffic (HTTP and HTTPS) and caches pages from the web server. Reverse proxy web caching on the FortiGate unit reduces the number of requests that the web server must handle, leaving it free to process new requests that it has not serviced before. Since all traffic is to be cached the FortiCache unit can be installed in Transparent mode directly between the web server and the Internet.

Reverse proxy web caching topology

The reverse proxy configuration can also include a router to route web traffic to a group of FortiCache units operating in Transparent Mode. This is also a scalable solution for reverse proxy web caching.

Reverse proxy web caching topology with web traffic routed to FortiCache unit

When web objects and video are cached on the FortiCache hard disk, the FortiCache unit returns traffic back to client using cached object from cache storage. The clients do not connect directly to the server.

When web objects and video are not available in the FortiCache hard disk, the FortiCache unit forwards the request to original server. If the HTTP response indicates it is a cacheable object, the object is forwarded to cache storage and the HTTP request is served from cache storage. Any other HTTP request for the same object will be served from cache storage as well.

The FortiCache unit forwards HTTP responses that cannot be cached from the server back to the client that originated the HTTP request.

 

Concepts                                                                                                                                 WCCP topologies

All non-HTTP traffic and HTTP traffic that is not cached by FortiCache will pass through the unit. HTTP traffic is not cached by the FortiCache unit if a web cache policy has not been added for it.

WCCP topologies

You can operate a FortiCache unit as a WCCP cache engine. As a cache engine, the FortiCache unit returns the required cached content to the client web browser. If the cache server does not have the required content, it accesses the content, caches it, and returns the content to the client web browser.

WCCP topology

WCCP is transparent to client web browsers. The web browsers do not have to be configured to use a web proxy.

Content Analysis Service

FortiGuard Content Analysis Service is a licensed feature for the real-time analysis of images in order to detect adult content. Detection of adult content in images uses various patented techniques (not just color-based), including limb and body part detection, body position, etc.

Once detected, such content can be optionally blocked or reported.

Please contact your Fortinet Account Manager should you require a trial of this service. You can purchase this service from support.fortinet.com.

For configuration information, see Content Analysis on page 101.

FortiBridge 4.0 Administration Guide

Introduction

FortiBridge enables you to add traffic monitoring and security devices to your network, without any loss in network integrity.

FortiBridge supports two normal modes of operation: inline mode and TAP mode. Inline mode supports network

configurations that require in-line monitoring/security devices. TAP mode supports various traffic TAP configurations, where the main network path is mirrored to the monitoring devices.

The FortiBridge product provides monitoring features to ensure that any inline or TAP devices do not impact network integrity and availability. For example, FortiBridge runs a heartbeat probe for in-line configurations, and automatically switches to Bypass mode if the heartbeat fails.

Bypass mode provides active and passive bypass circuitry. Active bypass restores the traffic path between network ports, if the monitoring path fails. If the FortiBridge suffers a catastrophic failure such as power loss, it automatically reverts to Passive Bypass mode, so that traffic flow is not interrupted.

Hardware Configurations

The FortiBridge consists of a host system (a 1U chassis), which houses up to three bypass modules.

A bypass module supports one or more network segments. A network segment provides one inline or bypass traffic path. Each segment provides two network ports (NET0 and NET1) and two monitoring ports (MON1 and MON2).

The following bypass modules are available:

  • 40G bypass module l Supports one bypass segment.
  • Supports 40G Single mode fiber (40GBase-SR4) network standards l Provides MPO/LC ports for the network ports.
  • Provides QSFP+ ports for the monitor ports.
  • Dual-rate 1/10G bypass module l Supports two bypass segments l Supports dual rate 1/10G Multimode Fiber (10GBase-SR , 1000Base-SX) network standards l Supports dual rate 1/10G Single mode fiber (10GBase-LR, 1000Base-LX) network standards l Provides MPO/LC Duplex ports for the network ports. l Provides SFP+ ports for the monitor ports.

The network ports have built-in transceivers. The monitor ports require plug-in optical transceivers. The correct transceivers are delivered (pre-installed) with your FortiBridge product.

Product Overview

Modes of Operation

Each FortiBridge segment operates in one of the following modes:

  • Inline mode l The system diverts all incoming network traffic to the monitoring ports. No traffic flows directly between the network ports.
  • The inline network element must bridge the traffic between the monitoring ports. l The system monitors the inline traffic path using a heartbeat probe.
  • In the event of a fault, the segment transitions to one of the bypass modes (Bypass, TAP or Fail-cutoff mode, depending on configuration values).
  • When the fault condition clears, the segment can automatically transition back to Inline mode (the exact behavior is defined by configuration values). The segment transitions to Inline mode only after it detects that the heartbeat probe is working again
  • TAP mode l The system sends traffic between the network ports, and incoming traffic is mirrored to the monitoring ports.
  • The system does not provide a heartbeat probe on the mirrored path (because the network path is the primary traffic path).
  • If the system loses power, the traffic path is maintained between the network ports (the segment transitions to passive bypass mode).
  • Bypass mode l The system sends traffic only between the network ports, and not to the monitoring ports.
  • Fail-cutoff mode l The system disables the links on the network ports, to simulate cable disconnection between the network devices.

Fortinet Single Sign On – FortiAuthenticator 4.0

Fortinet Single Sign-On

FSSO is a set of methods to transparently authenticate users to FortiGate and FortiCache devices. This means that the FortiAuthenticator unit is trusting the implicit authentication of a different system, and using that to identify the user. FortiAuthenticator takes this framework and enhances it with several authentication methods:

  • Users can authenticate through a web portal and a set of embeddable widgets. l Users with FortiClient Endpoint Security installed can be automatically authenticated through the FortiClient SSO Mobility Agent.
  • Users authenticating against Active Directory can be automatically authenticated. l RADIUS Accounting packets can be used to trigger an FSSO authentication. l Users can be identified through the FortiAuthenticator API. This is useful for integration with third party systems.

The FortiAuthenticator unit must be configured to collect the relevant user logon data. After this basic configuration is complete, the various methods of collecting the log in information can be set up as needed.

Domain controller polling

When the FortiAuthenticator runs for the first time, it will poll the domain controller (DC) logs backwards until either the end of the log file or the logon timeout setting, whichever is reached first.

When the FortiAuthenticator is rebooted, the memory cache is written to the disk, then re-read at startup, allowing the previous state to be retained. Windows DC polling restarts on boot, then searches backwards in the DC log files until it reaches either the log that matches the last known serial number found in the login cache file, the log that is older than the last recorded read time, or the end of the log file, whichever is reached first.

The currently logged in FSSO users list is cached in memory and periodically written to disk. In an active-passive HA cluster, this file is synchronized to the slave device.

Windows management instrumentation polling

The FortiAuthenticator supports Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) polling to detect workstation log off. This validates the currently logged on user for an IP address that has been discovered by the DC polling detection method.

Remote WMI access requires that the related ports are opened in the Windows firewall, and access to a domain account that belongs to the Domain Admin group.

To open ports in the Windows firewall in Windows 7, run gpedit.msc, go to Computerconfiguration >

Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections > Windows Firewall > Domain Profile, go to Allow remote admin exception, then enable remote admin exception and, if necessary, configure an IP subnet/range.

 

General settings

General settings

The FortiAuthenticator unit listens for requests from authentication clients and can poll Windows Active Directory servers.

To configure FortiAuthenticator FSSO polling:

  1. Go to Fortinet SSO Methods > SSO > General to open the Edit SSO Configuration The Edit SSO Configuration window contains sections for FortiGate, FSSO, and user group membership.
  2. In the FortiGate section, configure the following settings:
Listening port Leave at 8000 unless your network requires you to change this. Ensure this port is allowed through the firewall.
Enable authentication Select to enable authentication, then enter a secret key, or password, in the Secret key field.
Login Expiry The length of time, in minutes, that users can remain logged in before the system logs them off automatically. The default is 480 minutes (8 hours).
Extend              user             session beyond logoff by The length of time, in seconds, that a user session is extended after the user logs off, from 0 (default) to 3600 seconds.
Enable NTLM

authentication

Select to enable NTLM authentication, then enter the NETBIOS or DNS name of the domain that the login user belongs to in the Userdomain field.
  1. In the Fortinet Single Sign-On (FSSO) section, configure the following settings:
Maximum concurrent user sessions Enter the maximum number of concurrent FSSO login sessions a user is allowed to have. Use 0 for unlimited.

Select Configure Per User/Group to configure the maximum number of concurrent sessions for each user or group. See Fine-grained controls on page 112.

Log Level Select one of Debug, Info, Warning, or Error as the minimum severity level of events to log from the drop- down list.

Select Download all logs to download all FSSO logs to your management computer.

General settings

Enable       Windows         Active

Directory domain controller polling

Select             to             enable             Windows             AD             polling.

Select to enable polling additional logon events, including from devices using Kerberos authentication or from Mac OS X systems, and from event IDs 672, 680, 4776, and 4768.

Enable polling additional logon events When additional active directory logon event IDs is enabled, event IDs 528, 540, and 4624 are also polled. These event are generated when a user attempts to access a domain service or resource. When a user logs off from the          workstation,         such      an          event     will         be               generated.

Enter the additional logon event timeout time in the Additional logon event timeout field, from 1 to 480 minutes, with 5 minutes being the default time.

Note: After a user logs off, their SSO session will stay active for the above configured period of time. During this time, if another user changes to the previous user’s IP address, they may be able to bypass the necessary authentication. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that the timeout time be kept short.

                     Enable         DNS

lookup to get IP

from workstation name

Select to use DNS lookup to get IP address information when an event contains only the workstation name.

This option is enabled by default.

Directly use domain DNS

suffix in lookup

Select to use the domain DNS suffix when doing a DNS lookup.

This option is disabled by default.

Enable  reverse DNS               lookup  to get         workstation name from IP Select to enable reverse DNS lookup. Reverse DNS lookup is used when an event contains only an IP address and no workstation name.

This option is enabled by default.

Do one more DNS lookup to get full list of IPs after reverse lookup of workstation name Reverse DNS lookup is used when an event contains only an IP address and no workstation name. Once the workstation name is determined, it is used in the DNS lookup again to get more complete IP address

information. This is useful in environments where workstations have multiple network interfaces.

This option is disabled by default.

Include     account name         ending

with $ (usually computer account)

Accounts that end in “$” used to exclusively denote computer accounts with

no actual user, but in some cases, valid accounts imported from dated systems can        feature  them.

This option is disabled by default.

Enable Radius Accounting SSO clients Select to enable the detection of users sign-ons and sign- offs from incoming RADIUS accounting (Start, Stop, and Interim-Update) records.
Use RADIUS realm as

Windows       Active

Directory domain

Select to use the RADIUS realm as the Windows AD domain.
Enable Syslog SSO Select to enable Syslog SSO.

General settings

Enable        FortiClient     SSO

Mobility Agent Service

Select to enable single sign-on (SSO) by clients running FortiClient Endpoint Security. For more information, see FortiClient SSO Mobility Agent on page 123.
FortiClient listening port Enter the FortiClient listening port number.
Enable authentication Select to enable authentication, then enter a secret key, or password, in the Secret key field.
Keep-alive interval Enter the duration between keep-alive transmissions, from 1 to 60 minutes. Default is 5 minutes.
Idle timeout Enter an amount of time after which to logoff a user if their status is not updated. The value cannot be lower than the Keep-alive interval value.
Enable NTLM Select to enable the NT LAN Manager (NTLM) to allow logon of users who are connected to a domain that does not have the FSSO DC Agent installed. Disable NTLM authentication only if your network does not support NTLM authentication for security or other reasons. Enter an amount of time after which NTLM authentication expires in the NTLM authentication expiry field, from 1 to 10080 minutes (7 days).
Enable hierarchical FSSO tiering Select to enable hierarchical FSSO tiering. Enter the collector listening port in the Collectorlistening port field.
Enable DC/TS Agent Clients Select to enable clients using DC or TS Agent. Enter the UDP port in the

DC/TS      Agent     listening     port     field.       Default       is          8002.

Select Enable authentication to enable authentication, then enter a secret key, or password, in the Secret key field.

Restrict             auto- discovered domain             controllers          to configured domain

controllers

Select to enable restricting automatically discovered domain controllers to already configured domain controllers only. See Domain controllers on page 114.
Enable       Windows         Active

Directory workstation IP

verification

Select to enable workstation IP verification with Windows Active Directory. If enabled, select Enable IP change detection via DNS lookup to detect IP changes via DNS lookup.
  1. In the UserGroup Membership section, configure the following settings:

General settings

Group cache mode Select the group cache mode:

Passive: Items have an expiry time after which the are removed and re-queried on the next logon.

Active: Items are periodically updated for all currently logged on users.

Group cache item

lifetime

Enter the amount of time after which items will expire (default = 480 minutes). This is only available when the group cache mode is set to Passive.
Do not use cached groups… Select to prevent using cached groups and to always load groups from server for the following SSO sources: l Windows Active Directory domain controller polling l RADIUS Accounting SSO l Syslog SSO

FortiClient SSO Mobility Agent l DC Agent l TS Agent

User login portal l SSO web service

Base distinguished names to search… Enter the base distinguished names to search for nesting of users or groups into cross domain and domain local groups.
  1. Select OK to apply the settings.

Port Based Network Access Control – FortiAuthenticator 4.0

Port-based Network Access Control

Port-based Network Access Control (PNAC), or 802.1X, authentication requires a client, an authenticator, and an authentication server (such as a FortiAuthenticator device).

The client is a device that wants to connect to the network. The authenticator is simply a network device, such as a wireless access point or switch. The authentication server is usually a host that supports the RADIUS and EAP protocols.

The client is not allowed access to the network until the client’s identity has been validated and authorized. Using 802.1X authentication, the client provides credentials to the authenticator, which the authenticator forwards to the authentication server for verification. If the authentication server determines that the credentials are valid, the client device is allowed access to the network.

FortiAuthenticator supports several IEEE 802.1X EAP methods.

EAP

The FortiAuthenticator unit supports several IEEE 802.1X EAP methods. These include authentication methods most commonly used in WiFi networks.

EAP is defined in RFC 3748 and updated in RFC 5247. EAP does not include security for the conversation between the client and the authentication server, so it is usually used within a secure tunnel technology such as TLS, TTLS, or MS-CHAP.

The FortiAuthenticator unit supports the following EAP methods:

Method Server Auth Client Auth Encryption Native OS Support
PEAP (MSCHAPv2) Yes Yes Yes Windows XP, Vista, 7
EAP-TTLS Yes No Yes Windows Vista, 7
EAP-TLS Yes Yes Yes Windows (XP, 7), Mac OS X, iOS,

Linux, Android

EAP-GTC Yes Yes Yes None (external supplicant required)

In addition to providing a channel for user authentication, EAP methods also provide certificate-based authentication of the server computer. EAP-TLS provides mutual authentication: the client and server authenticate each other using certificates. This is essential for authentication onto an enterprise network in a BYOD environment.

For successful EAP-TLS authentication, the user’s certificate must be bound to their account in Authentication >

UserManagement > Local Users (see Local users on page 58) and the relevant RADIUS client in Authentication > RADIUS Service > Clients (see RADIUS service on page 91) must permit that user to authenticate. By default, all local users can authenticate, but it is possible to limit authentication to specified user groups.

Port-based Network Access Control                                                                                                          EAP

The FortiAuthenticator unit and EAP

A FortiAuthenticator unit delivers all of the authentication features required for a successful EAP-TLS deployment, including:

  • Certificate Management: create and revoke certificates as a CA. See Certificate Management on page 132.
  • Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) Server: exchange a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and the resulting signed certificate, simplifying the process of obtaining a device certificate.

FortiAuthenticator unit configuration

To configure the FortiAuthenticator unit, you need to:

  1. Create a CA certificate for the FortiAuthenticator unit. See Certificate authorities on page 140.

Optionally, you can skip this step and use an external CA certificate instead. Go to Certificate Management > Certificate Authorities > Trusted CAs to import CA certificates. See Trusted CAs on page 147.

  1. Create a server certificate for the FortiAuthenticator unit, using the CA certificate you created or imported in the preceding step. See End entities on page 133.
  2. If you configure EAP-TTLS authentication, go to Authentication > RADIUS Service > EAP and configure the certificates for EAP. See Configuring certificates for EAP on page 102.
  3. If SCEP will be used:
    1. Configure an SMTP server to be used for sending SCEP notifications. Then configure the email service for the administrator to use the SMTP server that you created. See E-mail services on page 46.
    2. Go to Certificate Management > SCEP > General and select Enable SCEP. Then select the CA certificate that you created or imported in Step 1 in the Default CA field and select OK. See SCEP on page 147.
  4. Go to Authentication > Remote Auth. Servers > LDAP and add the remote LDAP server that contains your user database. See LDAP on page 88.
  5. Import users from the remote LDAP server. You can choose which specific users will be permitted to authenticate. See Remote users on page 65.
  6. Go to Authentication > RADIUS Service > Clients to add the FortiGate wireless controller as an authentication client. Be sure to select the type of EAP authentication you intend to use. See RADIUS service on page 91.

Configuring certificates for EAP

The FortiAuthenticator unit can authenticate itself to clients with a CA certificate.

  1. Go to Certificate Management > Certificate Authorities > Trusted CAs to import the certificate you will use. See Trusted CAs on page 147.
  2. Go to Authentication > RADIUS Service > EAP.
  3. Select the EAP server certificate from the EAP ServerCertificate drop-down list.
  4. Select the trusted CAs and local CAs to use for EAP authentication from their requisite lists.
  5. Select OK to apply the settings.

Configuring switches and wireless controllers to use 802.1X authentication

The 802.1X configuration will be largely vendor dependent. The key requirements are:

Device self-enrollment                                                                           Port-based Network Access Control

l RADIUS Server IP: This is the IP address of the FortiAuthenticator l Key: The preshared secret configured in the FortiAuthenticator authentication client settings l Authentication Port: By default, FortiAuthenticator listens for authentication requests on port 1812.

Device self-enrollment

Device certificate self-enrollment is a method for local and remote users to obtain certificates for their devices. It is primarily used in enabling EAP-TLS for BYOD. For example:

l A user brings their tablet to a BYOD organization. l They log in to the FortiAuthenticator unit and create a certificate for the device. l With their certificate, username, and password they can authenticate to gain access to the wireless network. l Without the certificate, they are unable to access the network.

To enable device self-enrollment and adjust self-enrollment settings, go to Authentication > Self-service Portal > Device Self-enrollment and select Enable userdevice certificate self-enrollment.

SCEP enrollment template Select a SCEP enrollment template from the drop-down list. SCEP can be configured in Certificate Management > SCEP. See SCEP on page 147 for more information.
Max. devices Set the maximum number of devices that a user can self-enroll.
Key size Select the key size for self-enrolled certificates (1024, 2048, or 4096 bits).

iOS devices only support two key size: 1024 and 2048.

Enable self-enrollment for Smart Card certificate Select to enable self-enrollment for smart card certificates.

This requires that a DNS domain name be configured, as it is used in the CRL Distribution Points (CDPs) certificate extension.

Port-based Network Access Control                                                                          Non-compliant devices

Select OK to apply any changes you have made.

Non-compliant devices

802.1X methods require interactive entry of user credentials to prove a user’s identity before allowing them access to the network. This is not possible for non-interactive devices, such as printers. MAC Authentication Bypass is supported to allow non-802.1X compliant devices to be identified and accepted onto the network using their MAC address as authentication.

This feature is only for 802.1X MAC Authentication Bypass. FortiGate Captive Portal MAC Authentication is supported by configuring the MAC address as a standard user, with the MAC address as both the username and password, and not by entering it in the MAC Devices section.

Multiple MAC devices can be imported in bulk from a CSV file. The first column of the CSV file contains the device names (maximum of 50 characters), and the second column contains the corresponding MAC addresses (0123456789AB or 01:23:45:67:89:AB).

To configure MAC-based authentication for a device:

  1. Go to Authentication > User Management > MAC Devices. The MAC device list will be shown.
  2. If you are adding a new device, select Create New to open the Create New MAC-based Authentication Device

If you are editing an already existing device, select the device from the device list.

  1. Enter the device name in the Name field, and enter the device’s MAC address in the MAC address
  2. Select OK to apply your changes.

To import MAC devices:

  1. In the MAC device list, select Import.
  2. Select Browse to locate the CSV file on your computer.
  3. Select OK to import the list.

The import will fail if the maximum number of MAC devices has already been reached, or if any of the information contained within the file does not conform, for example if the device name too long, or there is an incorrectly formatted MAC address.

Configuring Mail Settings

Configuring mail settings

The Mail Settings menu lets you configure the basic email settings of the FortiMail unit (such as the port number of the FortiMail SMTP relay/proxy/server), plus how to handle connections and how to manage the mail queues.

This section includes:

  • Configuring the built-in MTA and mail server
  • Configuring protected domains
  • Managing the address book (server mode only)
  • Sharing calendars and address books (server mode only)
  • Migrating email from other mail servers (server mode only)
  • Configuring proxies (transparent mode only)

Configuring the built-in MTA and mail server

Go to Mail Settings > Settings to configure assorted settings that apply to the SMTP server and webmail server that are built into the FortiMail unit.

This section includes:

  • Configuring mail server settings
  • Configuring global disclaimers
  • Configuring disclaimer exclusion list
  • Selecting the mail data storage location

Configuring mail server settings

Use the mail server settings to configure SMTP server/relay settings of the System domain, which is located on the local host (that is, your FortiMail unit).

To access this part of the web UI, your administrator account’s:

  • Domain must be System
  • access profile must have Read or Read-Write permission to the Others category

For details, see “About administrator account permissions and domains” on page 290.

To configure local SMTP server settings

  1. Go to Mail Settings > Settings > Mail Server Settings.

A multisection page appears.

Page 366

Figure 153:Mail Server Settings tab

  1. Configure the following sections as needed:
  • “Configuring local host settings” on page 368
  • “Configuring SMTP relay hosts” on page 373
  • “Configuring deferred message delivery” on page 371
  • “Configuring DSN options” on page 369
  • “Configuring mail queue setting” on page 370
  • “Configuring domain check options” on page 372

Configuring local host settings

Provide the name and SMTP information for the mail server.

GUI item Description
Host name Enter the host name of the FortiMail unit.

Displays the FortiMail unit’s fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is in the format:

<host-name>.<local-domain-name>

such as fortimail-400.example.com, where fortimail-400 is the Host name and example.com is the Local domain name.

Note: The FQDN of the FortiMail unit should be different from that of protected SMTP servers. If the FortiMail unit uses the same FQDN as your mail server, it may become difficult to distinguish the two devices during troubleshooting.

Note: You should use a different host name for each FortiMail unit, especially when you are managing multiple FortiMail units of the same model, or when configuring a high availability (HA) cluster. This will let you to distinguish between different members of the cluster. If the FortiMail unit is in HA mode, the FortiMail unit will add the host name to the subject line of alert email messages. For details, see “Configuring alert email” on page 682.

Local domain name Enter the local domain name to which the FortiMail unit belongs.

The local domain name is used in many features such as email quarantine, Bayesian database training, quarantine report, and delivery status notification (DSN) email messages.

Displays the FortiMail unit’s fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is in the format:

<host-name>.<local-domain-name>

such as fortimail-400.example.com, where fortimail-400 is the Host name and example.com is the Local domain name.

Note: The IP address should be globally resolvable into the FQDN of the FortiMail unit if it will relay outgoing email. If it is not globally resolvable, reverse DNS lookups of the FortiMail unit’s domain name by external SMTP servers will fail. For quarantine reports, if the FortiMail unit is operating in server mode or gateway mode, DNS records for the local domain name may need to be globally resolvable to the IP address of the FortiMail unit. If it is not globally resolvable, web and email release/delete for the per-recipient quarantines may fail. For more information on configuring required DNS records, see “Setting up the system” on page 25.

Note: The Local domain name is not required to be different from or identical to any protected domain. It can be a subdomain or different, external domain.

For example, a FortiMail unit whose FQDN is fortimail.example.com could be configured with the protected domains example.com and accounting.example.net.

SMTP server port number Enter the port number on which the FortiMail unit’s SMTP server will listen for SMTP connections. The default port number is 25.
GUI item Description
SMTP over SSL/TLS Enable to allow SSL- and TLS-secured connections from SMTP clients that request SSL/TLS.

When disabled, SMTP connections with the FortiMail unit’s built-in MTA must occur as clear text, unencrypted.

Note: This option must be enabled to receive SMTPS connections. However, it does not require them. To enforce client use of SMTPS, see “Configuring access control rules” on page 456.

SMTPS server port number Enter the port number on which the FortiMail unit’s built-in MTA listens for secure SMTP connections. The default port number is 465.

This option is unavailable if SMTP over SSL/TLS is disabled.

SMTP MSA

service

Enable let your email clients use SMTP for message submission on a separate TCP port number from deliveries or mail relay by MTAs.

For details on message submission by email clients as distinct from SMTP used by MTAs, see RFC 2476.

SMTP MSA port number Enter the TCP port number on which the FortiMail unit listens for email clients to submit email for delivery. The default port number is 587.
POP3 server port number Enter the port number on which the FortiMail unit’s POP3 server will listen for POP3 connections. The default port number is 110.

This option is available only if the FortiMail unit is operating in server mode.

Default domain for

authentication

If you set one domain as the default domain, users on the default domain only need to enter their user names without the domain part for webmail/SMTP/IMAP/POP3 authentication, such as user1. Users on the non-default domains must enter both the user name part and domain part to authentication, such as user2@example.com.

Webmail access Enable to redirect HTTP webmail access to HTTPS.

Configuring DSN options

Use this section to configure mail server delivery status notifications.

For information on failed deliveries, see “Managing the deferred mail queue” on page 179 and “Managing undeliverable mail” on page 181.

For more information on DSN, see “Managing the deferred mail queue” on page 179.

GUI item Description
DSN (NDR) email generation Enable to allow the FortiMail unit to send DSN messages to notify email users of delivery delays and/or failure.
GUI item Description
Sender displayname Displays the name of the sender, such as FortiMail administrator, as it should appear in DSN email.

If this field is empty, the FortiMail unit uses the default name of postmaster.

Sender address Displays the sender email address in DSN.

If this field is empty, the FortiMail unit uses the default sender email address of postmaster@<domain_str>, where <domain_str> is the domain name of the FortiMail unit, such as example.com.

Using High Availability

Using high availability (HA)

Go to System > High Availability to configure the FortiMail unit to act as a member of a high availability (HA) cluster in order to increase processing capacity or availability.

For the general procedure of how to enable and configure HA, see “How to use HA” on page 312.

This section contains the following topics:

  • About high availability
  • About the heartbeat and synchronization
  • About logging, alert email and SNMP in HA
  • How to use HA
  • Monitoring the HA status
  • Configuring the HA mode and group
  • Configuring service-based failover
  • Example: Failover scenarios
  • Example: Active-passive HA group in gateway mode

About high availability

FortiMail units can operate in one of two HA modes, active-passive or config-only.

Table 31:Comparison of HA modes

Active-passive HA Config-only HA
2 FortiMail units in the HA group 2-25 FortiMail units in the HA group
Typically deployed behind a switch Typically deployed behind a load balancer
Both configuration* and data synchronized Only configuration* synchronized
Only primary unit processes email All units process email

Table 31:Comparison of HA modes

No data loss when hardware fails Data loss when hardware fails
Failover protection, but no increased processing capacity Increased processing capacity, but no failover protection

* For exceptions to synchronized configuration items, see “Configuration settings that are not synchronized” on page 309.

Figure 126:Active-passive HA group operating in gateway mode

Figure 127:Config-only HA group operating in gateway mode

If the config-only HA group is installed behind a load balancer, the load balancer stops sending email to failed FortiMail units. All sessions being processed by the failed FortiMail unit must be restarted and will be re-directed by the load balancer to other FortiMail units in the config-only HA group.

You can mix different FortiMail models in the same HA group. However, all units in the HA group must have the same firmware version.

Communications between HA cluster members occur through the heartbeat and synchronization connection. For details, see “About the heartbeat and synchronization” on page 307.

To configure FortiMail units operating in HA mode, you usually connect only to the primary unit (master). The primary unit’s configuration is almost entirely synchronized to secondary units (slave), so that changes made to the primary unit are propagated to the secondary units.

Exceptions to this rule include connecting to a secondary unit in order to view log messages recorded about the secondary unit itself on its own hard disk, and connecting to a secondary unit to configure settings that are not synchronized. For details, see “Configuration settings that are not synchronized” on page 309.

To use FortiGuard Antivirus or FortiGuard Antispam with HA, license all FortiMail units in the cluster. If you license only the primary unit in an active-passive HA group, after a failover, the secondary unit cannot connect to the FortiGuard Antispam service. For FortiMail units in a config-only HA group, only the licensed unit can use the subscription services.

For instructions of how to enable and configure HA, see “How to use HA” on page 312.