Technical Tip: FortiGate HA Displays “Unknown” Status After Changing the HA Group ID

After changing the HA Group ID, the FortiGate HA status may display 'Unknown' under System -> HA.

To change the Group ID via GUI:
Go to System -> HA, choose the Primary unit -> Edit -> High Availability -> Cluster Settings -> Group ID.

To change the Group ID via CLI:

config system ha

set group-id 156

end

Packet captures on the primary device may show it sending SYN packets while the peer responds with RST, indicating a connection reset.

diagnose sniffer packet any 'host 169.254.0.1 or host 169.254.0.2' 4 100 l
interfaces=[any]
filters=[host 169.254.0.1 or host 169.254.0.2]
2025-06-16 17:53:58.223731 port_ha out 169.254.0.1.11728 -> 169.254.0.2.703: syn 671146948
2025-06-16 17:53:58.223738 ha1 out 169.254.0.1.11728 -> 169.254.0.2.703: syn 671146948
2025-06-16 17:53:58.223797 port_ha in 169.254.0.2.703 -> 169.254.0.1.11728: rst 0 ack 671146949
2025-06-16 17:53:58.223881 port_ha out 169.254.0.1.20994 -> 169.254.0.2.703: udp 360

The following errors are seen in the hatalk/hasync debugs on the Primary unit.

diagnose debug application hatalk -1
diagnose debug application hasync -1
diagnose debug enable
2025-06-16 16:12:07 <hasync:WARN> conn=0xc5d8700 connect(169.254.0.2) failed: 111(Connection refused)
2025-06-16 16:12:07 <hasync:WARN> conn=0xc5d8700 abort: rt=-1, dst=169.254.0.2, sync_type=3(fib)
2025-06-16 16:12:07 <hasync:WARN> conn=0xc5d8700 connect(169.254.0.2) failed: 111(Connection refused)

This issue has been resolved in:
v7.4.9+ (Available to download from the Fortinet support portal).
v7.6.5+ (Available to download from the Fortinet support portal).
v8.0.0+ (Estimated for release in April 2026).
Timelines for firmware release are estimates and may be subject to change.

Workaround:

1. Restart the hasync daemon on the secondary device using the command 'fnsysctl killall hasync'.
2. Alternatively , reboot the secondary device using the command 'execute reboot'.

Related articles and documents:
Technical Tip: How to access secondary unit of HA cluster via CLI 
Resolved issues | FortiGate / FortiOS 7.4.9 (Bug ID #1170958)

Resolved issues | FortiGate / FortiOS 7.6.5 (Bug ID #1170958)