Staging a switch stack before deployment

[Nuckols]

I have a customer with an 80F firewall deployed with a Cisco switch stack. We are getting ready to replace the Cisco switches with 4-Fortinet FPOE switches. I would like to stage the equipment and redo the configuration in the office using a 80F which is not registered to anyone yet. This firewall will be returned to inventory after the staging.

I am wondering what obstacles I might encounter when performing this staging of equipment.

I have upgraded the 80F so that the firmware matches my customers FW. The plan is to provide basic access to the Internet to the staging FW and then register and authorize the switches. The disconnect the FW from the Internet and 

rebuild the customers rules after assigning the VLANS to the FW. Any help advice would be appreciated.

[Anthony_E]

Hello Nukols,

Happy New Year!

Thank you for using the Community Forum. I will seek to get you an answer or help. We will reply to this thread with an update as soon as possible.

Thanks,

[anudhs]

When I was doing access closets I would even leave 1U between the patch panel and the switch which would allow the next refresh to just slid the switch into the gap. It was the only way to keep the closets from becoming a rats nest of spaghetti.

[ebilcari]

Since most of the configuration (practically all) will be saved on the FGT config file, I don't see a real benefit of preconfiguring the FSW before moving it to the new location. If you want to save a bit of time just do the pre authorization in FGT as shown in the guide.