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rahul_p1
Staff
Staff
Jan 29, 2025 7:04 AM UTC

Technical Tip: Access Remote FortiGate CLI over IPsec tunnel

Description This article describes how to access remote FortiGate CLI over IPsec.
Scope FortiGate.
Solution

Diagram:

 

rahul_p1_0-1738124984884.png

 

Configure IPsec VPN on both sides to establish the VPN tunnel so that the remote side of FortiGate can be accessible.

(Reference link: Technical Tip: How to configure VPN Site to Site between FortiGates (Using VPN Setup Wizard))
An IPsec tunnel is established between site A and site B. Traffic for the remote network will flow via a VPN tunnel.

 

rahul_p1_1-1738124984886.png

 

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Configuration of FortiGate interface on site A for port 5 with IP address 172.16.10.10:

 

rahul_p1_3-1738124984891.png

 

Configure site B FortiGate for port 5 with IP address 172.16.20.10 and enable the following administrative access on the interface:

 

rahul_p1_4-1738124984894.png

 

Enable Telnet on port 5 interface for remote access. After enabling Telnet, check reachability via ping from Site A to Site B FortiGate for port 5 interface Ip 172.16.20.10:

 

rahul_p1_5-1738124984901.png

 

Reachability is there from Site A 172.16.10.10 to Site B 172.16.20.10. Do Telnet to access Site B FortiGate CLI on Site A FortiGate:

 

rahul_p1_6-1738124984903.png

 

Site B FortiGate CLI is now accessible on-site A FortiGate CLI.

Note:

The interesting subnet information has to be added in Phase2 IPsec selectors of the tunnel.
In the above scenario, the interesting networks are 'IP-172.16.10.10' and 'IP-172.16.20.10'.

 

In addition to this way to access, a remote site via the IPSec tunnel, another method can be used.

The IP addresses can be assigned on the IPSec tunnel interfaces as per the KB article: Configure-IP-address-on-an-IPSec-tunnel-interface 

 

Once the IP addresses and the access rights for SSH are configured on the IPSec tunnel, the IPSec tunnel can be reached from the remote end.

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