Shutdown the Fabric devices from downstream device/Desktop

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
May 22, 2026
9 replies
191 views

Fabric contains a FortiGate cluster and managed FortiSwitches for internal and external purpose. Is there any solution to shut down all the devices from the downstream connected device such as a desktop. As per my understanding, the challenge is the FortiGate is the brain here. so I am facing a chicken and egg problem. Please let us know if there is a good solution for this. Thank you

kaman

Staff

Hi midlajkp888,

There is no built‑in FortiOS command that lets a downstream host (e.g. a desktop) power‑off a FortiGate HA cluster and all managed FortiSwitches in one shot. The only “shutdown” command that exists in the KB is the local execute shutdown on the FortiGate itself.

https://community.fortinet.com/fortigate-3/technical-tip-how-to-properly-shut-down-or-reboot-a-fortigate-95718
https://community.fortinet.com/fortigate-3/technical-tip-automation-stitch-to-reboot-managed-fortiswitch-from-fortigate-212732

FortiSwitches can be rebooted via the switch‑controller CLI. The practical way to achieve a full power‑down is to use an out‑of‑band power‑control device (PDU, IPMI, etc.) or to script a series of local shutdowns from a maintenance window.

If you have found a solution, please like and accept it to make it easily accessible to others.

sjoshi

Staff

Hi @midlajkp888 ,

I believe you are looking for solution to shut down Fortiswitches from the desktop?

to automate the sequence use FortiManager scripts or the FortiGate REST API

Thanks, Salon

midlajkp888Author

Explorer II

Hey Salon,

The requirement is to shutdown from downstream devices or any remote devices which have reachability to this. But the think is the downstream devices is connected to the managed fortiSwitch, thus if I power off the switch first, I won’t have the reachability to FortiGate and if I power off FortiGate, there won’t be access to FortiSwitches. So I suppose I have to find a solution to execute to the action after a set of time once the command is given.
Other than pushing the command to the device via scripts or REST API, is there any way to schedule shutdown device within the devices ?

sjoshi

Staff

There is automation stitch you can configure on the FGT to shutdown FGT at specific interval. Even though FortiGate is shutdown your FSW will still be up and will have the IP address. From the desktop you can still take ssh access of the FortiSwitch and shut it down

Thanks, Salon

J

jason533

Visitor

Yes this can be done, but you need an out-of-band or independent management method because once the Fortinet FortiGate cluster goes down, it can no longer control the FortiSwitches. The best practice is to use a centralized automation/orchestration system (such as scripts via SSH/API, FortiManager, or NAC tools) running from a downstream desktop or management server that sends shutdown commands to all devices sequentially. Another reliable option is using managed PDUs or smart power controllers to power off devices independently of the FortiGate. In short, avoid relying solely on the FortiGate as the “brain” for shutdown operations, otherwise you create the chicken-and-egg dependency you described.

midlajkp888Author

Explorer II

Yes, that is the issue. There is no out-of-band management available at this location. Since this is a remote SD-WAN site, our only access is through in-band management.

The goal is to gracefully shut down the devices when needed. If we use only a PDU, it would simply cut power to the devices without allowing a graceful shutdown, correct?

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