Identifying the cluster and cluster units

You can use the cluster group name, group id, and password to identify a cluster and distinguish one cluster from another. If you have more than one cluster on the same network, each cluster must have a different group name, group id, and password.

 

Group name

Use the group name to identify the cluster. The maximum length of the group name is 32 characters. The group name must be the same for all cluster units before the cluster units can form a cluster. After a cluster is operating, you can change the group name. The group name change is synchronized to all cluster units. The group name appears on the FortiGate dashboard of a functioning cluster as the Cluster Name.

To add or change the group name from the web-based manager go to System > HA and change the Group

Name.

Enter the following CLI command to change the group name to Cluster_name:

config system ha

set group-name Cluster_name end

 

Password

Use the password to identify the cluster. You should always change the password when configuring a cluster. The password must be the same for all FortiGate units before they can form a cluster. When the cluster is operating you can change the password, if required. Two clusters on the same network cannot have the same password.

To change the password from the web-based manager go to System > HA and change the Password. Enter the following CLI command to change the password to ha_pwd:

config system ha

set password ha_pwd end

 

Group ID

Similar to the group name, the group ID is also identifies the cluster. In most cases you do not have to change the group ID. However, you should change the group ID if you have more than one cluster on the same network. All members of the HA cluster must have the same group ID. The group ID is a number from 0 to 255.

Changing the group ID changes the cluster virtual MAC address. If two clusters on the same network have the same group ID you may encounter MAC address conflicts.

Enter the following CLI command to change the group ID to 10:

config system ha set group-id 10

end

 

Device failover, link failover, and session failover

The FGCP provides transparent device and link failover. You can also enable session pickup to provide session failover. A failover can be caused by a hardware failure, a software failure, or something as simple as a network cable being disconnected causing a link failover. When a failover occurs, the cluster detects and recognizes the failure and takes steps to respond so that the network can continue to operate without interruption. The internal operation of the cluster changes, but network components outside of the cluster notice little or no change.

If a failover occurs, the cluster also records log messages about the event and can be configured to send log messages to a syslog server and to a FortiAnalyzer unit. The cluster can also send SNMP traps and alert email messages. These alerts can notify network administrators of the failover and may contain information that the network administrators can use to find and fix the problem that caused the failure.

For a complete description of device failover, link failover, and session failover, how clusters support these types of failover, and how FortiGate HA clusters compensate for a failure to maintain network traffic flow see HA and failover protection on page 1498.

 

Primary unit selection

Once FortiGate units recognize that they can form a cluster, the cluster units negotiate to select a primary unit. Primary unit selection occurs automatically based on the criteria shown below. After the cluster selects the primary unit, all of the remaining cluster units become subordinate units.

Negotiation and primary unit selection also takes place if a primary unit fails (device failover) or if a monitored interface fails or is disconnected (link failover). During a device or link failover, the cluster renegotiates to select a new primary unit also using the criteria shown below.

For many basic HA configurations primary unit selection simply selects the cluster unit with the highest serial number to become the primary unit. A basic HA configuration involves setting the HA mode to active-passive or active-active and configuring the cluster group name and password. Using this configuration, the cluster unit with the highest serial number becomes the primary unit because primary unit selection disregards connected monitored interfaces (because interface monitoring is not configured), the age of the cluster units would usually always be the same, and all units would have the same device priority.

Using the serial number is a convenient way to differentiate cluster units; so basing primary unit selection on the serial number is predictable and easy to understand and interpret. Also the cluster unit with the highest serial number would usually be the newest FortiGate unit with the most recent hardware version. In many cases you may not need active control over primary unit selection, so basic primary unit selection based on serial number is sufficient.

In some situations you may want have control over which cluster unit becomes the primary unit. You can control primary unit selection by setting the device priority of one cluster unit to be higher than the device priority of all other cluster units. If you change one or more device priorities, during negotiation, the cluster unit with the highest device priority becomes the primary unit. As shown above, the FGCP selects the primary unit based on device priority before serial number. For more information about how to use device priorities, see Primary unit selection and device priority on page 1326.

The only other way that you can influence primary unit selection is by configuring interface monitoring (also called port monitoring). Using interface monitoring you can make sure that cluster units with failed or disconnected monitored interfaces cannot become the primary unit. See Primary unit selection and monitored interfaces on page 1323.

Finally, the age of a cluster unit is determined by a number of operating factors. Normally the age of all cluster units is the same so normally age has no effect on primary unit selection. Age does affect primary unit selection after a monitored interface failure. For more information about age, see Primary unit selection and age on page 1323.

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