Connecting to the primary FortiGate-VM

To connect to the primary FortiGate-VM instance, you will need a login URL, a username, and a password.

1. Construct a login URL in this way: https://<IPAddress>:<Port>/, where:
   • Port refers to the Admin port specified in the section FortiGate configuration.
   • IPAddress refers to the Public IPv4 address of the FortiGate-VM and is listed on the Details tab for the instance. In the EC2 Management console, locate the primary instance as described in the section To verify the primary election:. Click the Instance ID for the primary instance.

   

   Make note of the InstanceID as you will need it to log in.
2. Open an HTTPS session in your browser and go to the login URL. Your browser will display a certificate error message. This is normal because the default FortiGate certificate is self-signed and not recognized by browsers. Proceed past this error. At a later time, you can upload a publicly signed certificate to avoid this error.
3. Log in with the username admin and the Instance ID of the primary FortiGate-VM instance.

   As the primary FortiGate-VM propagates the password to all secondary FortiGate instances, this is the initial password for all FortiGate-VM instances. You will need this initial password if failover occurs prior to the password being changed, as the newly elected primary FortiGate-VM will still have the initial password of the previous primary .

4. You will be prompted to change the password at the first-time login. It is recommended that you do so at this time.

   

   You should only change the password on the primary FortiGate-VM. The primary FortiGate-VM will propagate the password to all secondary FortiGate-VMs. Any password changed on a secondary FortiGate-VM will be overwritten.

5. You will now see the FortiGate-VM dashboard. The information displayed in the license widget of the dashboard depends on your license type.