General authentication settings

General authentication settings

Go to User & Device > Authentication > Settings to configure authentication timeout, protocol support, and authentication certificates.

When user authentication is enabled within a security policy, the authentication challenge is normally issued for any of the four protocols (depending on the connection protocol):

• HTTP (can also be set to redirect to HTTPS)
• HTTPS
• FTP
• Telnet

The selections made in the Protocol Support list of Authentication Settings control which protocols support the authentication challenge. Users must connect with a supported protocol first so they can subsequently connect with other protocols. If HTTPS is selected as a method of protocol support, it allows the user to authenticate with a customized Local certificate.

When you enable user authentication within a security policy, the security policy user will be challenged to authenticate. For user ID and password authentication, users must provide their user names and passwords. For certificate authentication (HTTPS or HTTP redirected to HTTPS only), you can install customized certificates on the unit and the users can also have customized certificates installed on their browsers. Otherwise, users will see a warning message and have to accept a default Fortinet certificate.

Authentication Timeout           Enter a length of time in minutes, from 1 to 1440 (24 hours). Authentication timeout controls how long an authenticated firewall connection can be idle before the user must authenticate again. The default value is 5.

Protocol Support                      Select the protocols to challenge during firewall user authentication.

Certificate                                   If using HTTPS protocol support, select the local certificate to use for authentication. Available only if HTTPS protocol support is selected.

Apply                                          Select to apply the selections for user authentication settings.