Configure WiFi Controller for High Availability

Configuring the FortiGate WiFi controller in HA A-P mode allows redundancy and failover in case one member of the cluster fails. HA configurations can be very complex and contain many granular settings to fine-tune the behavior of your HA cluster. For more information, refer to the HA chapter of the FortiOS Admin Guide.

To configure the basic HA settings

Go to System > HA.
In Mode, select Active-Passive.
In Device priority, enter 128, the default.
1. When configuring the secondary WiFi controller, use 64 for the priority.
Enter a Group name.
1. The Group name should match on the secondary controller.
Choose the Heartbeat Interfaces, these fields are often preconfigured.
For Heartbeat Interface Priority, this example uses 50, 50 for equal priority.
When you are finished, click OK.

Repeat the above setup for the Secondary WiFi Controller

See Power on and the first login.
1. Move the setup laptop Ethernet cable to the secondary FortiGate.
2. The admin password should match the Primary.
3. Use a different hostname for the secondary controller, such as "SecondaryWLANcontoller".
See To configure the basic HA settings.
1. Set the device priority of the secondary controller to 64.
2. The group name should be identical on both units.

Synchronize the HA Controller Pair

Connect the HA1 and HA2 ports of the controller pair using Ethernet cables.
Add a (possibly temporary) MGMT switch, and connect each management port and the administrative laptop to the switch (or same untagged VLAN, or other equivalent).
Open a browser to https://192.168.1.99 and log in to the controller(s). The primary will respond.
Go to System > HA and verify that both controllers are synchronized. If not, give it a few minutes.

Now any changes on the primary will be mirrored on the secondary.
In this scenario, the Secondary Controller acts as a backup and only becomes active in the case of a Primary Controller failure where heartbeats cannot be detected over both HA ports within the configured threshold.

Configure WiFi Controller for High Availability

To configure the basic HA settings

Go to System > HA.

In Mode, select Active-Passive.

In Device priority, enter 128, the default.

When configuring the secondary WiFi controller, use 64 for the priority.

Enter a Group name.

The Group name should match on the secondary controller.

Choose the Heartbeat Interfaces, these fields are often preconfigured.

For Heartbeat Interface Priority, this example uses 50, 50 for equal priority.

When you are finished, click OK.

Repeat the above setup for the Secondary WiFi Controller

See Power on and the first login.

Move the setup laptop Ethernet cable to the secondary FortiGate.
The admin password should match the Primary.
Use a different hostname for the secondary controller, such as "SecondaryWLANcontoller".

See To configure the basic HA settings.

Set the device priority of the secondary controller to 64.
The group name should be identical on both units.

Synchronize the HA Controller Pair

Connect the HA1 and HA2 ports of the controller pair using Ethernet cables.

Add a (possibly temporary) MGMT switch, and connect each management port and the administrative laptop to the switch (or same untagged VLAN, or other equivalent).

Open a browser to https://192.168.1.99 and log in to the controller(s). The primary will respond.

Go to System > HA and verify that both controllers are synchronized. If not, give it a few minutes.

Now any changes on the primary will be mirrored on the secondary.

In this scenario, the Secondary Controller acts as a backup and only becomes active in the case of a Primary Controller failure where heartbeats cannot be detected over both HA ports within the configured threshold.

Campus WLAN Deployment Guide

Configure WiFi Controller for High Availability