Log settings and targets

Log settings determine what information is recorded in logs, where the logs are stored, and how often storage occurs. Log settings can be configured in the GUI and CLI. In the GUI, Log & Report > Log Settings provides the settings for local and remote logging.

Log & Report > Log Settings is organized into tabs:

• Global Settings

• Local Logs

• Threat Weight

Global Settings

Settings available in the Global Settings tab include:

UUIDs in Traffic Log
	Policy	Define the use of policy UUIDs in traffic logs: Enable: Policy UUIDs are stored in traffic logs. UUIDs can be matched for each source and destination that match a policy in the traffic log. See Source and destination UUID logging for more information. Disable: Policy UUIDs are excluded from the traffic logs.
	Address	Define the use of address UUIDs in traffic logs: Enable: Address UUIDs are stored in traffic logs. When viewing Forward Traffic logs, a filter is automatically set based on UUID. Disable: Address UUIDs are excluded from traffic logs.
Log Settings
	Event Logging	Define the allowed set of event logs to be recorded: All: All event logs will be recorded. Customize: Select specific event log types to be recorded. Deselect all options to disable event logging.
	Local Traffic Log	Define the allowed set of traffic logs to be recorded: All: All traffic logs to and from the FortiGate will be recorded. Customize: Select specific traffic logs to be recorded. Deselect all options to disable traffic logging. Local traffic logging is disabled by default due to the high volume of logs generated.
GUI Preferences
	Resolve Hostnames	Define the translation of IP addresses to host names: Enable: IP addresses are translated to host names using reverse DNS lookup. If the DNS server is not available or is slow to reply, requests may time out. Disable: IP addresses are not translated to host names.
	Resolve Unknown Applications	Define the resolution of unknown applications: Enable: Unknown applications are resolved using the Internet Service Database. Disable: Unknown applications are not resolved.

Local Logs

Settings available in the Local Logs tab include:

Local Logs
	Disk logging	Define local log storage on the FortiGate: Enable: Logs will be stored on a local disk. Local disk logging is not available in the GUI if the Security Fabric is enabled. When the Security Fabric is enabled, disk logging can still be configured on the root FortiGate in the CLI but is not available for downstream FortiGates. Disable: Logs will be stored remotely to FortiAnalyzer/FortiManager or to a Cloud logging device.
	Local Reports	Define log reporting on the FortiGate: Enable: Local reports will be available on the FortiGate. Reports can be reviewed in Log & Report > Reports in the Local tab. Disable: Local reports will not be available on the FortiGate.
	Historical FortiView	Define the presentation of log information on FortiView: Enable: Historical log data will be available on a FortiView monitor. By default, logs older than seven days are deleted. Disk logging must be enabled. Disable: Historical log data will not be available on FortiView.
	Disk Usage	Presents the disk space used and the total disk space available on the disk.

Threat Weight

Threat weight helps aggregate and score threats based on user-defined severity levels. It adds several fields such as threat level (crlevel), threat score (crscore), and threat type (craction) to traffic logs. Threat weight logging is enabled by default and the settings can be customized. Threats can be viewed from the Top Threats FortiView dashboard.

To configure threat weight settings:

1. Go to Log & Report > Log Settings and select the Threat Weight tab.
2. Adjust the settings as needed, such as individual weights per threat type and risk level values.
3. Click Apply.

To add the Top Threats monitor to the dashboard:

1. In the tree menu, click Dashboard and in the FortiView section, click the + sign (Add Monitor).
2. In the Security section, enable Show More and click Top Threats.
3. Configure the settings as needed.
4. Click Add Monitor.
5. Go to Dashboard > Top Threats. The Top Threats monitor displays threats based on the scores in the traffic logs.

   

6. Double-click a threat to view the summary.
7. Click Sources, Destinations, Countries/Regions, or Sessions to view more information. Double-click an entry to view the log details.

   

Configuring logs in the CLI

The FortiGate can store logs locally to its system memory or a local disk. Logs can also be stored externally on a storage device, such as FortiAnalyzer, FortiAnalyzer Cloud, FortiGate Cloud, or a syslog server.

Disk logging

Disk logging must be enabled for logs to be stored locally on the FortiGate. By default, logs older than seven days are deleted from the disk. Log age can be configured in the CLI. Approximately 75% of disk space is available for log storage. Log storage space can be determined using the diagnose sys logdisk usage command.

To configure local disk logging:

config log disk setting
    set status enable
    set maximum-log-age <integer>
    set max-log-file-size <integer>
end

Remote logging

The process to configure FortiGate to send logs to FortiAnalyzer or FortiManager is identical. Remote logging to FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager can be configured using both the GUI and CLI. When using the CLI, use the config log fortianalyzer setting command for both FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager.

If VDOMs are configured on the FortiGate, multiple FortiAnalyzers and syslog servers can be added globally. See Configuring multiple FortiAnalyzers (or syslog servers) per VDOM and Configuring multiple FortiAnalyzers on a FortiGate in multi-VDOM mode for more information.

To configure remote logging to FortiAnalyzer:

config log fortianalyzer setting
    set status enable
    set server <server_IP>
    set upload option {store-and-upload | realtime | 1-minute | 5-minute}
end

Remote logging can also be configured to FortiCloud, FortiSIEM, and syslog servers. Up to four syslog servers or FortiSIEM devices can be configured using the config log syslogd command and can send logs to syslog in CSV and CEF formats.

To configure remote logging to FortiCloud:

config log fortiguard setting
    set status enable
    set source-ip <source IP used to connect FortiCloud>
end

To configure remote logging to a syslog server:

config log syslogd setting
    set status enable
    set server <syslog_IP>
    set format {default | cev | cef}
end

Log filters

Log filter settings can be configured to determine which logs are recorded to the FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, and syslog servers. This allows certain logging levels and types of logs to be directed to specific log devices.

To configure log filters for FortiAnalyzer:

config log fortianalyzer filter
    set severity <level>
    set forward-traffic {enable | disable}
    set local-traffic {enable | disable}
    set multicast-traffic {enable | disable}
    set sniffer-traffic {enable | disable}
end

To configure log filters for a syslog server:

config log syslogd filter
    set severity <level>
    set forward-traffic {enable | disable}
    set local-traffic {enable | disable}
    set multicast-traffic {enable | disable}
    set sniffer-traffic {enable | disable}
end

Email alerts

FortiGate events can be monitored at all times using email alerts. Email alerts send notifications to up to three recipients and can be triggered based on log event and severity level. Email alerts will be sent every five minutes by default but this can be configured in the CLI.

To configure email alerts:

config alertemail setting
    set username <name>
    set mailto1 <email>
    set filter-mode {category | threshold}
    set email-interval <integer>
    set IPS-logs {enable | disable}
    set HA-logs {enable | disable}
    set antivirus-logs {enable | disable}
    set webfilter-logs {enable | disable}
    set log-disk-usage-warning {enable | disable}
end