FortiLink support

FortiGate-7000E supports managing FortiSwitch devices over FortiLink. You can manage up to 300 FortiSwitch devices from one FortiGate-7000E.

Use the following command to enable Fortilink support on the GUI and in the CLI:

config system global

set switch-controller enable

end

Managed FortiSwitch GUI pages appear under the WiFi & Switch Controller GUI menu on all VDOMs except mgmt-vdom.

A FortiGate-7000E manages one or more FortiSwitches through one active FortiLink. The FortiLink can consist of one physical interface or multiple physical interfaces in a LAG. To set up a FortiGate-7000E interface as a FortiLink, from the GUI go to Network > Interface, select an interface, and set the Addressing mode to Dedicated to FortiSwitch.

You can also use the following CLI command to set the 1-C1 interface to be the FortiLink:

config system interface

edit 1-C1

set auto-auth-extension-device enable

set fortilink enable

end

end

The FortiGate-7000E has the following FortiLink support limitations:

• The FIM in slot 1 (FIM-01) must be the primary FIM. FortiLink will not work if FIM-02 is the primary FIM.

  In an HA configuration, if the FIM in slot 1 of the primary FortiGate-7000E fails, the secondary FortiGate-7000E becomes the new primary FortiGate-7000E with a functioning FIM in slot 1 and FortiLink support continues after the failover.

• FortiGate-7000E does not support upgrading managed FortiSwitch firmware from the FortiOS Managed FortiSwitch GUI page. Instead you must use the FortiGate-7000E CLI or log into the managed FortiSwitch to upgrade managed FortiSwitch firmware.
• You can use any FortiGate-7000E interface as the FortiLink. However, using the M1, M2, and management interfaces is not recommended.

For more information about FortiLink support and managing FortiSwitches, see Switch Controller.