Managing a FortiGate HA Cluster (Active-Active) Without FortiManager

[Ispa-Li]

We are planning to set up a High Availability (HA) cluster in Active-Active mode using two FortiGate 901 firewalls.

Our question is straightforward: is it possible to create and manage an HA Active-Active cluster without using FortiManager?

As far as I understand, the creation of the HA cluster does not require FortiManager. After the cluster is established, all settings configured on the primary unit can be automatically synchronized to the secondary unit through FGCP. Additionally, the primary unit can be accessed and managed directly via its web interface.

I would appreciate an official response to this query so that I can share it with my manager.

Thank you for your assistance.

[dingjerry_FTNT]

Hi @Ispa-Li ,

Quick answer:  Yes, you are correct.

[AEK]

As mentioned by Jerry, you don't need FortiManager for HA setup.

And here is an official response from admin guide.

https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortigate/7.6.1/administration-guide/357558/ha-active-active-clus...

[Renante_Era]

You can manage each FortiGate via CLI using # exec ha manage <id> <username>. For instance, # exec ha manage 1 admin  <-- use 0 if 1 didn't work

Alternatively, you can manage each device separately through the GUI:

Out-of-band management with reserved management interfaces | FortiGate / FortiOS 7.4.0 | Fortinet Do...

HA reserved management interfaces | FortiGate / FortiOS 7.4.3 | Fortinet Document Library