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tino_p
Staff
tino_p
Staff
March 11, 2026

Technical Tip: A topology issue between the FortiGate and the FortiSwitch when FortiSwitch's name is longer than 16 characters

  • March 11, 2026
  • 0 replies
  • 436 views
Description

This article describes a topology issue where the FortiLink connection between the FortiGate and the FortiSwitch units is not being displayed. The user is managing these FortiSwitches via FortiGate in a specific configuration, but the FortiLink connection is not shown.

 

For example, there is no link in the topology of Firewall FG201G_1 and Switches HXXO_CoreSwitch-01 and HXXO_CoreSwitch-02.

 

s1.png
Scope FortiGate, FortiSwitch, FortiLink.
Solution
  1. Collect the outputs of these commands:

 

diagnose sys process pidof fortilinkd                               
diagnose debug application fortilinkd 0x200
diagnose debug console time enable
diagnose debug enable
diagnose sys kill 10 [process-id_of_fortilinkd]                 

 

  1. It shows that the names of HXXO_CoreSwitch-01 and HXXO_CoreSwitch-02 exceeded 16 characters, causing the display issue in the network topology.

 

"...
HXXO_CoreSwitch-02 v7.6.6 (1137) Authorized/Up 2 10.X.X.252 Sun Jan 25 11:13:53 2026 S648...36
HXXO_CoreSwitch-01 v7.6.6 (1137) Authorized/Up 2 10.X.X.253 Sun Jan 25 11:13:45 2026 S648...77

2026-02-12 09:02:38 switch-id : [HXXO_CoreSwitch-]           --> Exceeded 16 characters.
2026-02-12 09:02:38 serial-num : [S648F...36]
2026-02-12 09:02:38 uplink : [Channel_LAN]
2026-02-12 09:02:38 switch-id : [HXXO_CoreSwitch-]           --> Exceeded 16 characters.
2026-02-12 09:02:38 serial-num : [S648...77]
..."

 

The increase from 16 to 35 characters was introduced as a new feature in FortiOS v7.6.4. Prior branches (v7.2 and v7.4) did not have this enhancement, so the effective limit stayed at 16 characters throughout those versions.

 

  1. The issue can be fixed by either:

  1. To rename the switch to fewer than 16 characters.
    Or:
  2. To upgrade the FortiOS to v7.6.4 or v8.0.0.
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