Troubleshoot an HA formation

The following are requirements for setting up an HA cluster or FGSP peers.

Cluster members must have:

• The same model.
• The same hardware configuration.
• The same connections.
• The same generation.

The requirement to have the same generation is done as a best practice as it avoids issues that can occur later on. If you are unsure if the FortiGates are from the same generation, please contact customer service.

Troubleshooting common HA formation errors

One member keeps shutting down during HA setup (hard drive failure):

If one member has a hard drive failure but the other does not, the one with the hard drive failure will be shut down during HA setup. In this case, RMA the member to resolve the issue.

All members are Masters and members can't see other members:

Typically, this is a heartbeat issue. It is recommended that for a two-member cluster, you use a back-to-back connection for heartbeat communication. If there are more than three members in the cluster, a separate switch should be used to connect all heartbeat interfaces.