Technical Tip: How to enter '?' (Question mark character) in the FortiGate CLI

Description

This article describes how to enter a '?' question mark character in the FortiGate CLI.

Scope

FortiGate.

Solution

'?' is used in the FortiGate CLI for the following purposes:

1. To display brief help during command entry.
   
   
2. Press the question mark (?) key at the command prompt to display a list of the commands available and a description of each command.
    
   
3. Type a word or part of a word, then press the question mark (?) key to display a list of valid word completions or subsequent words, and to display each.

In some cases, where a '?' needs to be entered as part of a URL, for example static URL filter, proceed as follows:

1. Press Ctrl + V or Ctrl + Shift + - then ?.
2. Use the batch mode as described in this KB article: Technical Tip: How to paste question marks (?) in the CLI using batch mode

Note:

Question marks and tabs cannot be copied into the CLI Console or some SSH clients. They must be typed in.

Related document:

CLI basics - FortiGate 7.4.4 administration guide 

Technical Tip: Insert Question mark to regular expression from the CLI