Active-active HA cluster in Transparent mode

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 switch the cluster to Transparent mode

Switching from NAT/Route to Transparent mode involves adding the Transparent mode management IP address and default route.

This is the minimum recommended configuration for an active-active HA cluster. You can configure other HA options at this point, but if you wait until the cluster is operating you will only have to configure these options once for the cluster instead of separately for each cluster unit.

1. 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.

2. Type admin in the Name field and select Login.

3. Under System Information, beside Operation Mode select Change.

4. Set Operation Mode to Transparent.

5. Configure basic Transparent mode settings.

Operation Mode                        Transparent

Management IP/Mask               10.11.101.100/24

Default Gateway                        10.11.101.2

6. Select Apply.

The cluster switches to operating in Transparent mode. The virtual MAC addresses assigned to the cluster interfaces do not change.


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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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