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FortiGate lab 1 of 25

First boot, CLI and administrative access

Take a factory-default FortiGate from its first console login to a working office firewall: addressed interfaces, safe administrative access, the GUI, DNS, a default route, a DHCP server and a first internet policy with source NAT.

Run this lab

It needs Lite: its 4 nodes are set to 4 vCPU and 5,632 MB in total. That fits the free demo too.

In your workspace: Shared, then FortiGate NSE 4 guided labs, then 01 - First boot CLI and administrative access

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Level
Beginner
Time
About 60 minutes
Nodes need
4 vCPU, 5,632 MB
Smallest plan
Lite

The scenario

Harbourside Logistics has bought a FortiGate for its Bristol head office. It is racked and cabled but still at factory defaults, and staff are waiting for internet access. You are the network engineer. Get the firewall onto the network, keep its management safe, give the office DHCP and DNS, and let the LAN reach the internet.

DeviceInterfaceAddressConnects to
FGT1port1 (WAN, "ISP-A")203.0.113.1/24ISP gateway 203.0.113.254 (INET)
FGT1port2 (LAN)10.1.10.1/24LAN switch: PC1, H1
PC1eth010.1.10.10/24, gateway 10.1.10.1LAN (admin workstation with Firefox)
H1eth0DHCP from FGT1 (10.1.10.100–199)LAN (Linux client)
INETeth0203.0.113.254/24ISP gateway, public DNS 198.51.100.53, web sites 198.51.100.10–14

Topology: FGT1 sits between the ISP (INET, above) and the office LAN (PC1 and H1, below).

Evaluation licence. FGT1 runs FortiOS 7.0.17 under its built-in 15-day evaluation licence: 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, no FortiGuard services, and low-strength encryption only. The 15 days start at the node's first boot. If License Status ever shows Expired, right-click FGT1, Wipe it and start again.

What you’ll practise

  • Log in to a factory-default FortiGate, set the admin password and read the system status and licence
  • Move around the FortiOS CLI with config, edit, set, show, get, next, end and abort
  • Address the WAN and LAN interfaces with roles, aliases and per-interface administrative access
  • Reach the GUI from a workstation and explain why an evaluation VM offers HTTP but not HTTPS
  • Set DNS servers and a default route, and test them from the FortiGate itself
  • Run a DHCP server on the LAN and read its leases
  • Write a first firewall policy with source NAT and prove internet access from a client

The tasks

  1. First login and system status
  2. Find your way around the CLI and set the hostname
  3. Address the interfaces and control administrative access
  4. Use the GUI
  5. DNS and a default route
  6. DHCP server for the LAN
  7. A first firewall policy with source NAT

The Lab Tasks pane has the scenario, these tasks, the checks to run, hints and the full solution.

Topology and devices

The network as it opens in EVE-NG, drawn from the lab’s own canvas, and the image each node runs.

Topology of First boot CLI and administrative access4 nodes and 1 network, 4 links. Every link is listed as text below the diagram.FGT1INETPC1H1LANport2eth0eth0port1eth0
4 nodes and 1 network, with the interface names each link uses.
Every link, as text
  • FGT1 port1 to INET eth0
  • FGT1 port2 to LAN (network)
  • PC1 eth0 to LAN (network)
  • H1 eth0 to LAN (network)
Nodes in First boot, CLI and administrative access, with the image each runs and the vCPU and RAM it’s set to
NodeDeviceImage in Add NodeSet to
FGT1Fortinet FortiGatefortinet-FGT-v7.0.17.M-build06821 vCPU, 2,048 MB
INETEVE-NG GUI server (Docker)eve-gui-server:latest1 vCPU, 1,024 MB
PC1EVE-NG GUI server (Docker)eve-gui-server:latest1 vCPU, 2,048 MB
H1Alpine Linuxclbalpinebase-alpine-base-3-20-31 vCPU, 512 MB

How to open this lab

  1. Sign in to your workspace at lab.cloudlabbox.com.

  2. In File Manager, open Shared, then the folder FortiGate NSE 4 guided labs.

  3. Open 01 - First boot CLI and administrative access and start its nodes, then open Lab Tasks for the scenario and the steps.

The lab is read-only. You can start the nodes and configure the devices, but changes to the topology can’t be saved. To change it, rebuild it in your own folder.

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CloudLabBox is independent of Fortinet. The lab follows exam topics and isn’t vendor training material; vendor names identify the exams and the images in the workspace.