Connecting to individual FPC consoles

From the management board CLI, you can use the execute system console-server command to access individual FPC consoles. Console access can be useful for troubleshooting. For example, if an FPC does not boot properly, you can use console access to view the state of the FPC and enter commands to fix the problem or restart the FPC.

From the console, you can also perform BIOS-related operations, such as rebooting the FPC, interrupting the boot process, and installing new firmware.

For example, from the management board CLI, use the following command to log in to the console of the FPC in slot 3:

execute system console-server connect 3

Authenticate to log in to the console and use CLI commands to view information, make changes, or restart the FPC. When you are done, use Ctrl-X to exit from the console back to the management board CLI. Using Ctrl-X may not work if you are accessing the CLI console from the GUI. Instead you may need to log out of the GUI and then log in again.

Also, from the management board CLI you can use the execute system console-server showline command to list any active console server sessions. Only one console session can be active for each FPC, so before you connect to an FPC console, you can use the following command to verify whether or not there is an active console session. The following command output shows an active console session with the FPC in slot 4:

execute system console-server showline

MB console line connected - 1

Telnet-to-console line connected - 4

To clear an active console session, use the execute system console-server clearline command. For example, to clear an active console session with the FPC in slot 4, enter:

execute system console-server clearline 4

In an HA configuration, the execute system console-server commands only allow access to FPCs in the FortiGate-7000 that you are logged into. You can't use this command to access FPCs in the other FortiGate-7000 in an HA cluster