Technical Tip: FortiGuard scheduled updates

Description

This article describes how to schedule auto updates from the GUI and CLI.

Scope

FortiGuard, FortiGate.

 
Solution

To configure scheduling for FortiGuard updates, navigate to the following locations in the FortiOS GUI (depending on the version) and toggle on Scheduled updates:

• FortiOS v6.4.0 and below: System -> FortiGuard, then navigate to the AntiVirus & IPS Updates section.

• FortiOS v6.4.1 to v7.6.0: System -> FortiGuard, then navigate to the FortiGuard Updates section.

• FortiOS v7.6.1 and above: System -> FortiGuard, select the FortiGuard Settings tab, then navigate to the FortiGuard Updates section.

The scheduled updates allow for the selection of the following options:

1. 'Every' and 'Hours' allow the FortiGuard update check to occur every X hours, with a minimum interval of one hour.

CLI-equivalent settings:

config system autoupdate schedule
    set status enable
    set frequency every
    set time <hh:mm>
end

FortiGate (schedule) # set time ?
<hh:mm>    Hour and minute (hh: 1-23, mm: 0-59 (set mm to 60 for random within 1 hour)).

2. 'Daily' and 'AM or PM' set the update check to occur at a specific hour during the day (it is not possible to control the exact minute of occurrence within that hour).

CLI-equivalent settings:

config system autoupdate schedule
    set status enable
    set frequency daily
    set time <hh:mm>
end

FortiGate (schedule) # set time ?
<hh:mm>    Hour and minute (hh: 0-23, mm: 0-59 (set mm to 60 for random within 1 hour or 240 for random within 4 hours)).

3. 'Weekly', 'Sunday to Saturday' and 'AM or PM' set the update check to occur on a specific day of the week and at a specific hour (it is not possible to control the exact minute of occurrence within that hour).

CLI-equivalent settings:

config system autoupdate schedule
    set status enable
    set frequency weekly
    set time <hh:mm>
    set day <day of week>
end

FortiGate (schedule) # set time ?
<hh:mm>    Hour and minute (hh: 0-23, mm: 0-59 (set mm to 60 for random within 1 hour or 240 for random within 4 hours)).

FortiGate (schedule) # set day ?
Sunday       Update every Sunday.
Monday       Update every Monday.
Tuesday      Update every Tuesday.
Wednesday    Update every Wednesday.
Thursday     Update every Thursday.
Friday       Update every Friday.
Saturday     Update every Saturday.

4. 'Automatic': FortiGuard update checks occur automatically within every one-hour period.

CLI-equivalent settings:

config system autoupdate schedule
    set status enable
    set frequency automatic
end

Additional notes:

In FortiOS v7.0.0 and above, the option for scheduled updates was added, and the default option was 'Automatic'. However, starting from FortiOS v7.6.5, the default schedule has been changed from 'Automatic' to 'Daily' at 2:00 AM, and in FortiOS v8.0.0, the default daily update occurs within four hours of 1:00 AM.