What’s new in FortiOS 7.6.1

The following list contains new managed FortiSwitch features added in FortiOS 7.6.1:

• The FortiOS switch controller now supports QinQ. With QinQ, each client of a managed security service provider (MSSP) can have a unique customer VLAN with a self-managed 4k VLAN range in its own virtual domain. QinQ allows better segregation and control over network traffic.

• The FortiOS switch controller now supports VLAN pruning. VLAN pruning prevents unnecessary traffic from unused VLANs by only allowing traffic from the VLANs required for the inter-switch link (ISL) trunks. This process makes networks more efficient and preserves bandwidth. In addition, VLAN pruning eliminates the time spent on manual VLAN pruning and reduces the chance of errors.

• The command for enabling VLAN optimization has changed from set vlan-optimization enable to set vlan-optimization configured; the command is still located under config switch-controller global.

• The following FortiGate models now support more FortiSwitch units:

  FortiGate model	Number of FortiSwitch Units Supported in FortiOS 7.6.1
  FG-400F and FG-401F	96
  FG-600F	128
  FG-900G	196

• The default neighbor-detection method has been updated. Previously, the default method was “FortiLink” (set fortilink-neighbor-detect fortilink). With this release, the default neighbor-detection method is now “LLDP” (set fortilink-neighbor-detect lldp). You can configure the neighbor-detection method under the config system interface command.

• The password security for managed switches has been improved. Empty passwords for the FortiSwitch admin account are no longer allowed. If a switch has no admin password set when it is authorized, the FortiGate device will generate an admin password for the FortiSwitch unit. FortiSwitch units that already have an admin password configured will remain unaffected.

  To log in to the FortiSwitch CLI or GUI, you can configure the switch profile (under the config switch-controller switch-profile command) with an admin password on the FortiGate device, which is the Fortinet-recommended FortiLink setup.

  A new command has been introduced to retain the password of the managed switch during deauthorization or to reset the managed switch to factory default settings during deauthorization. This command helps to clear the previously FortiGate-set random password on the managed switch when it is deauthorized.