Fortigate 500A HD & FortiOS

[LGPC]

Hey there!

I´m new in this forum because I have a real problem. I just got a used Fortigate 500A HD and I wanted to start it up but nothing happens. The CLI shows only the Serialnumber and the front LCD has only its background lightning on. My thought is that there is maybe no FortiOS on the Firewall. I looked on different websites and found 1 Year Warranty and Software Support and stuff like that. But 1000$ und upwards is too much for me as a student. So my question is if there is any other way to get the Firewall working or put a OS on it?

-sorry for that bad english (normally i speak german)

greets

[Dave_Hall]

Welcome to the Forums.

The 500A HD is EOL, but you could still put 4.0 MR3 patch18 firmware on it,  just not any of the newer 5.x.x firmwares though.  If you are a student (planning to study for the FortiOs exams), you may want to consider getting a fgt model that can handle the more current firmwares or a VM model with a trial evaluation license.

If you were not giving any documentation or passwords for the 500A, you can still get in, providing you have a RJ45 to Serial cable (aka console cable) that you can hook up to the console port.  Then follow these instructions for resetting the password.

Edit: if you are able to get into the CLI but see no login prompt, reboot the 500A and watch for the boot menu prompt.  You may need to format the boot device and use tftp to tranfer a new firmware image.

[LGPC]

Thanks a lot for your reply!

I´m not exactly planning to study on FortiOS, but I need the Fortigate device with OS itself for my experimental Network Setup.

You say that I can put the older 4.xx version on the device. This would be the solution of the problem but i don´t have access to an Image of this OS or something like that. I alredy have a console cable and de CLI only shows the System date, and the Serial Number of the device nothing else so I think there is no OS in it. Any ideas how to get an older OS version?

[Dave_Hall]

You should be getting more than just the serial number on the console screen, the normal boot process should look like this....

FG200A (19:06-02.28.2006)
Ver:04000003
Serial number:FG200A390750XXXX
RAM activation
Total RAM: 512MB
Enabling cache...Done.
Scanning PCI bus...Done.
Allocating PCI resources...Done.
Enabling PCI resources...Done.
Zeroing IRQ settings...Done.
Verifying PIRQ tables...Done.
Disabling local APIC...Done.
Boot up, boot device capacity: 61MB.
Press any key to display configuration menu...
......

If you were to at least get the press any key prompt, you might be able to do something.  If the 500A still has a valid subscription, you may be able to get an RMA replacement....catch is you need to be the registered owner of the device or at least have the former registered owner create an sub account for you on the support.fortinet.com site and assign the device over to your sub account.

Edit: To legally obtain firmware for the 500A, you need to have a registered Fortinet product (any hardware) and a valid support.fortinet login account.  (Your support.fortinet login ID needs access rights to the firmware download site and AFAIK having a valid registered fortinet product will grant this.)

[LGPC]

Hmm okay, there is no valid subscription for my device. The CLI output looks like your picture but mine stops after the first three rows :p this is very strange

#Edit: If anyone has the same problem: Mybe one of the RAM Modules doesnt work anymore! I replaced one and the Firewall works perfectly now :D Thanks a lot Dave  for your fast help!!