FPC failover in a standalone FortiGate-6000

A FortiGate-6000 will continue to operate even if one or more FPCs fail. If an FPC stops operating, sessions being processed by that FPC also fail. All new sessions are load balanced to the remaining FPCs. The FortiGate-6000 will continue to operate but with reduced performance because fewer FPCs are operating.

An FPC can fail because of a hardware malfunction, a software problem, or a power supply unit (PSU) failure. The FortiGate-6000 includes three hot-swappable PSUs in a 2+1 redundant configuration. At least two of the PSUs must be operating to provide power to the FortiGate-6000. If only one PSU is operating, only four of the FPCs will continue operating (usually the FPCs in slots 1 to 4). For more information about FPC failure with power loss, see AC power supply units (PSUs).

From the management board GUI dashboard, the Sensor Information dashboard widget displays information about the status of the power supplies. If all power supplies are operating, the widget displays their Status as Normal.

From the management board CLI, you can use the execute sensor list command to verify if the power supplies are operating. The command displays the current status of all FortiGate-6000 sensors including the power supply sensors. Power supply sensor entries should be similar to the following (shown for a FortiGate-6301E). The power supply sensor lines start with PS{1|2|3}:

65 PS1 VIN           alarm=0  value=122  threshold_status=0
66 PS1 VOUT_12V      alarm=0  value=12.032  threshold_status=0
67 PS1 Temp 1        alarm=0  value=24  threshold_status=0
68 PS1 Temp 2        alarm=0  value=36  threshold_status=0
69 PS1 Fan 1         alarm=0  value=8832  threshold_status=0
70 PS1 Status        alarm=0
71 PS2 VIN           alarm=0  value=122  threshold_status=0
72 PS2 VOUT_12V      alarm=0  value=12.032  threshold_status=0
73 PS2 Temp 1        alarm=0  value=24  threshold_status=0
74 PS2 Temp 2        alarm=0  value=37  threshold_status=0
75 PS2 Fan 1         alarm=0  value=9088  threshold_status=0
76 PS2 Status        alarm=0
77 PS3 VIN           alarm=0  value=122  threshold_status=0
78 PS3 VOUT_12V      alarm=0  value=12.032  threshold_status=0
79 PS3 Temp 1        alarm=0  value=23  threshold_status=0
80 PS3 Temp 2        alarm=0  value=37  threshold_status=0
81 PS3 Fan 1         alarm=0  value=9088  threshold_status=0
82 PS3 Status        alarm=0

Any non zero alarm or threshold_status values indicate a possible problem with that power supply.

If failed FPCs recover, the FortiGate-6000 will attempt to synchronize the configuration of the FPCs with the management board. If there have been few configuration changes, the failed FPCs may be able to become synchronized and operate normally. If there have been many configuration changes or a firmware upgrade, the FortiGate-6000 may not be able to re-synchronize the FPCs without administrator intervention. For example, see Synchronizing the FPCs with the management board.

You can't replace an FPC that fails because of a hardware failure. Instead, you should RMA the FortiGate-6000.

To show the status of the FPCs, use the diagnose load-balance status command. In the command output, if Status Message is Running the FPC is operating normally. The following example shows the status of FPCs, for a FortiGate-6301F:

diagnose load-balance status
==========================================================================
MBD SN: F6KF313E17900032
  Primary FPC Blade: slot-2

      Slot  1: FPC6KF3E17900200
       Status:Working   Function:Active 
       Link:      Base: Up          Fabric: Up  
       Heartbeat: Management: Good   Data: Good  
       Status Message:"Running"
     Slot  2: FPC6KF3E17900201
       Status:Working   Function:Active 
       Link:      Base: Up          Fabric: Up  
       Heartbeat: Management: Good   Data: Good  
       Status Message:"Running"
     Slot  3: FPC6KF3E17900207
       Status:Working   Function:Active 
       Link:      Base: Up          Fabric: Up  
       Heartbeat: Management: Good   Data: Good  
       Status Message:"Running"
     Slot  4: FPC6KF3E17900219
       Status:Working   Function:Active 
       Link:      Base: Up          Fabric: Up  
       Heartbeat: Management: Good   Data: Good  
       Status Message:"Running"
     Slot  5: FPC6KF3E17900235
       Status:Working   Function:Active 
       Link:      Base: Up          Fabric: Up  
       Heartbeat: Management: Good   Data: Good  
       Status Message:"Running"
     Slot  6: FPC6KF3E17900169
       Status:Working   Function:Active 
       Link:      Base: Up          Fabric: Up  
       Heartbeat: Management: Good   Data: Good  
       Status Message:"Running"