Selecting the primary worker

There are two types of primary worker: the ELBC master and the config master.

• The config master is the worker that you log into using the cluster External Management IP. All configuration changes made to this worker are synchronized to other workers in the cluster. The configuration of this working is compared to the configurations of the other workers in the cluster by comparing their configuration file checksums. If the checksums are different the configuration of the config master is copied to the worker or workers that are out of synch.
• The ELBC master is the worker that is considered the master by the FortiControllers in the cluster.

You can determine which worker is the ELBC master and which is the config master from the FortiController Load Balance > Status GUI page. Usually the same worker will have both primary roles. But not always. The ELBC master is the worker in the lowest slot number that is active. The config master is the in-sync worker with the lowest slot number. If the workers are not in-synch, then the worker with the highest uptime becomes the config master.