System management introduction

This topic contains information about FortiGate administration that you can do after installing the FortiGate in your network.

Basic system settings

Administrator

By default, FortiGate has an administrator account with the username admin and no password. To prevent unauthorized access to the FortiGate, we highly recommended that you protect this account with a password.

Administrator profile

An administrator profile defines what the administrator can do on the FortiGate. You can set up different administrator profiles depending on the nature of the administrator’s work, access level, or seniority. When you set up an administrator account, assign the administrator profile for what that administrator can do.

Interface

Both the physical and virtual interface allow traffic to flow between internal networks, and between the Internet and internal networks. FortiGate has options for setting up interfaces and groups of sub-networks that can scale as your organization grows. You can create and edit VLAN, EMAC-VLAN, switch interface, zone, and so on.

Advanced system settings

Password policy

Set up a password policy for administrators and IPsec pre-shared keys. A password policy can enforce password criteria and change frequency.

SNMP

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) allows you to monitor hardware on your network. You can configure hardware such as the FortiGate SNMP agent to report system information and traps. SNMP traps alert you to events that happen such as when a log disk is full or a virus is detected.

DHCP server

You can configure one or more DHCP servers on any FortiGate interface. A DHCP server dynamically assigns IP addresses to hosts on the network connected to the interface. Host computers must be configured to obtain their IP addresses using DHCP.

VDOM

You can use virtual domains (VDOMs) to divide a FortiGate into multiple virtual devices that function independently. For each separate VDOM, you can create different configurations including firewall policies, routing, VPNs, and security profiles.