High availability installation Configuring FortiGate units for HA using the CLI
FortiGate-500A Installation Guide 01-28005-0101-20041015 51
2Power on all the FortiGate units in the cluster.
As the units start, they negotiate to choose the primary cluster unit and the
subordinate units. This negotiation occurs with no user intervention and normally just
takes a few seconds.
Installing and configuring the cluster
When negotiation is complete the you can configure the cluster as if it was a single
FortiGate unit.
• If you are installing a NAT/Route mode cluster, use the information in “NAT/Route
mode installation” on page25 to install the cluster on your network
• If you are installing a Transparent mode cluster, use the information in
“Transparent mode installation” on page37 to install the cluster on your network.
The configurations of all of the FortiGate units in the cluster are synchronized so that
the FortiGate units can function as a cluster. Because of this synchronization, you
configure and manage the HA cluster instead of managing the individual FortiGate
units in the cluster. You can configure and manage the cluster by connecting to the
cluster web-based manager using any cluster interface configured for HTTPS
administrative access. You can also configure and manage the cluster by connecting
to the CLI using any cluster interface configured for SSH administrative access.
When you connect to the cluster, you are actually connecting to the primary cluster
unit. The cluster automatically synchronizes all configuration changes to the
subordinate units in the cluster as the changes are made.
The only configuration settings that are not synchronized are the HA configuration
(except for the interface heartbeat device and monitoring configuration) and the
FortiGate host name.
For more information about configuring a cluster, see the FortiGate Administration
Guide.