Technical Tip: How to disable Switch-Controller

Description

This article describes how to disable FortiGate Switch-Controller.

Scope

FortiGate

Solution

Perform the following before disabling switch-controller.

*** Disable 'auto-auth-extension-device' on all FortiLink interfaces.

*** Delete all managed switches.

*** Disable FortiLink on interfaces.

*** Delete all managed switches again in case any are discovered.

When attempting to disable switch-controller on FortiGate the below-shown error might be encountered.

To disable the FortiLink follow these steps:

# config system interface

  show

After the configuration is printed look for references as depicted below.

Once the interfaces referencing FortiLink are located,  unset this option would be needed.

In this scenario:

# config system interface

edit fortilink

set fortilink disable

end

Lastly, remove the switch-controller:

# config system global

set switch-controller disable

end

Disabling FortiLink and switch-controller will remove the capability to manage switches by FortiGate.