Before upgrading, place FortiDDoS into Bypass mode using CLI:

Fortiddos #execute bypass-traffic enable

This operation will enable traffic bypass!

Do you want to continue? (y/n) y

There is a known issue during reboot where traffic is bypassed but the bypass is removed for 5-15 seconds before the processors are ready to process traffic as the system returns to normal.

It is recommended to perform upgrades in a maintenance window to avoid disrupting other network settings such as OSPF, RSTP and BGP that affect traffic when the physical ports are changed from inline to bypass and back to inline.

After upgrade is complete (GUI and all Dashboard panels are displaying):

Fortiddos #get system bypass status

Normal (system is inline and processing)

Bypass (system remains in bypass and requires manual return to inline below)

execute bypass-traffic disable

This operation will disable traffic bypass!

Do you want to continue? (y/n) y

Ensure to clear your browser cache (or operate in incognito mode) after a firmware upgrade. The GUI is coded in JSON in the browser and code changes in the system do not automatically signal the browser to rebuild the GUI. Changes to the GUI will not appear until the cache is cleared. If the cache is not cleared, you may see misaligned tables or entire Dashboard panels missing or appearing in the wrong place.

After upgrading from 6.1.x or 6.2.x to FortiDDoS-F 6.3.x, please check the integrity of the system Service Protection Policies (SPPs) and repair if necessary. See After upgrade for checks to be completed post upgrade.

In early FortiDDoS-F-Series releases, the Round-Robin Databases (RRDs) were created automatically for each SPP whenever the user created a new SPP via the GUI or CLI. However, if the user makes a configuration change to the SPP while the RRD creation was in progress, then the process could be interrupted in the background. This will result in incomplete RRDs with missing information for logging and graphing of traffic and drops.

In later FortiDDoS-F-Series releases, the SPPs and RRDs for all possible SPPs are created during the upgrade process. However, existing incomplete RRDs will not be repaired. Checks of RRDs and SPPs are required if you are upgrading from 6.1.0, 6.1.4 or 6.2.0.