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BreakerBoy
BreakerBoy
New Member
October 10, 2023
Solved

FortiGate won't let standalone switch be a standalone

  • October 10, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 10548 views

New to Fortinet, so please bear with me.

 

I have a new Forti network environment managed by a FortiGate (7.0.12) and have trouble setting up a standalone switch (7.4). I do not want this switch managed by the FG at all. When I initially set up this switch, I set it up as managed, but when I realized that configuration wouldn't work I set it up as a standalone. This switch does appear in in FG managed Fortiswitches.

 

Each time I connect this switch to its uplink, that port goes from displaying my native vlan to displaying the name of the switch. (The native vlan is not set to data.fortilink.) When I hover over the name it shows "Dedicated to connect to peer FortiSwitch." I can't ping the switch once connected to the network. After disconnecting the uplink and waiting for a few minutes, the native vlan changes from switch name back to my original native vlan.

 

I've tried resetting via the recessed button several times, all to no avail. When I configure as standalone, the switch is not uplinked. Only afterward do I uplink and then the port change happens.

 

I assume this happens because I originally set up this switch as managed, and for some reason it won't let go. I ran across this:

https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortiswitch/7.4.1/fortilink-guide/173266/discovering-authorizing-and-deauthorizing-fortiswitch-units#Converti

I tried the suggested command: execute switch-controller switch-action set-standalone <switch-id>

The problem is, switch-action is not available. Nor is execute switch switch-action available.

 

All I need is a basic, standalone switch.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

    3 replies

    dbu
    Staff
    dbu
    Staff
    October 10, 2023

    Hi Josh, 

    Have you deauthorized the switch and remove from the security fabric ? 

    BreakerBoy
    BreakerBoyAuthor
    New Member
    October 10, 2023

    I thought you might ask that. Yes, I tried but was not successful. I can deauthorize the switch but cannot remove. I get an error stating that the "Entry is used. * The entry is used by other 1 entries."

     

    I've googled that as well as searched here, but couldn't find anything that helped. I assume that switch is associated with something, I just don't know what or where. Remember, new Forti guy, here.

     

    Under Security Fabric > Fabric Connectors, it tells me to authorize the highlighted devices. This is the screen where I tried to delete.

    Toshi_Esumi
    SuperUser
    Toshi_Esumi
    SuperUser
    October 10, 2023

    Did you disable switch-controller feature at your FGT?

    config system global

      set switch-controller disable

    end

     

    Toshi

    BreakerBoy
    BreakerBoyAuthor
    New Member
    October 10, 2023

    (Clicked the accept as solution button accidentally. Sorry)

     

    No, I didn't. I have 8 other managed switches that need to stay that way.

    dbu
    Staff
    dbu
    Staff
    October 10, 2023

    Then look for any reference, usually you should have a column called Ref. 
    You need to make sure it shows value (0) . If it shows different number than click on it and it will show where it is referred in configuration.

    BreakerBoy
    BreakerBoyAuthor
    New Member
    October 10, 2023

    Ok, duh! I've done that many other places but didn't think of it here. Alright, it's deleted now. What is the appropriate next step? Wipe the switch and configure again? Does it matter when I uplink?

    dbu
    Staff
    dbuAnswer
    Staff
    October 10, 2023

    Have a look here :

    Converting to FortiSwitch Standalone

    https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortiswitch/6.4.2/devices-managed-by-fortios/64268/optional-setup-tasks#Converti

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