I am a big proponent of Fortinet Fortigate Firewalls, and once in a while a little alliteration. To clarify the term firewall, Linksys, NetGear, etc are really NAT devices that perform some firewall functions – not true firewalls. But that is discussed in greater length here.
Today I had a problem with the firmware on a Fortinet Fortigate FGT-60, which is a great unit. Naturally, (and thankfully), I had done a backup of the configuration; it saved me today. That’s why I am always harping about backup.
The firmware failed to load after reboot and left the firewall hanging. At that point, the only way to communicate with the firewall is with the console cable. The console cable is a serial device and naturally my laptop doesn’t have a serial port. So I have to carry a USB to serial converter cable.
The fix requires connecting with hyperterminal via the console cable, power cycling the firewall and pressing the spacebar when prompted. This will give you an opportunity to reload the firmware from a TFTP server; I use SolarWinds Free TFTP.
Manually set the network adapter on the PC to something like 192.168.1.201 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. Then connect the PC (and nothing else) to one of the internal ports on the Fortinet.
Copy the firmware image to the TFTP server’s root directory. Configure the TFTP server to transmit and receive files.
When prompted, enter the IP address of the TFTP server (your PC), 192.168.1.201. The address for the firewall comes next, the default is usually 192.168.1.188 (which is why I chose the address I did for the PC). Just press enter to accept that.
Next enter the firmware image name and press enter. You will see the MAC address of the TFTP server and then you should see a progress bar made of “#” characters. When finished, it will load the image and start the firewall.
At that point, you are probably back to an address of 192.168.1.99 on the firewall, username “admin” in lowercase and no password. Jump back to your browser and enter
https://192.168.1.99 (the default ip address of the Fortinet internal interface)
enter the username of admin and click Ok.
Now you can restore your backup, if you have one, or set up the box from scratch.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
You know I’m in a dilemma right now..My new admin accidentally formatted our old reliable Fortigate 60 without backing up its OS. Would you mind if you can give us a a clean of its firmware. I would really appreciate it if if i can get a reply.
I mean a clean copy of its firmware.
to the poster of ”Fortinet Fortigate Firewall Firmware Failure Fiasco”
thx, you do the trix man really thx
i got this box ”fortigate-60” for 15$ on ebay with no console cable (RJ-45F to DB9M) and also i think the box was brick but …
i first try to get this cable from fortinet but they told me to renew my support contract (200$ a year) pfffffff just to buy a cable maybe 80$…..
everyone know that FORTINET product are very powerful but pretty much expensive for studdent and home user like me with only a fourth year old p4 and a ten years old p3…..
then i homemade my own console cable like this:
http://kb.fortinet.com/kb/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=11344&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_KCARTICLE_1_1&dialogID=6908746&stateId=0%200%206910267
(whit an Ethernet RJ45 cross cable)
and that really work ok hahahahaha
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i install ”solarwind FREE TFTP server v.10.4.0.13
http://solarwinds.s3.amazonaws.com/solarwinds/Release/FreeTool/SolarWinds-TFTP-Server.zip
and (i put link cuz both are freeware)
putty-0.60
http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/putty-0.60-installer.exe
(better than windows hypertherminal and HyperTerminal Private Edition made by Hilgraeve)
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i plug the fortigate-60(must be power cable off) on console port to the pc serial port (com1) and start putty and into it i set it to ”serial” (leave com1 by default) and under tab ”Connection—>serial” set the flow control to ”NONE” thats all and push ”open”
i put my firmware image into C:TFTP-Root ”FGT_60-v300-build0726-FORTINET.out” (FortiOS-v3.00-MR7) and i set the ip pc all like the ”Fortinet Fortigate Firewall Firmware Failure Fiasco” in this POST
i plug the pc network card to the ”internal 1” of the forti whit a normal RJ-45 and power on the forti.
into putty console i see:
Ver:04000006
Serial number: FWF60xxxxxxxxxxxx (x is my or your Serial Number)
RAM activation
Total RAM: 256MB
Enabling cache…Done.
Scanning PCI bus…Done.
Allocating PCI resources…Done.
Enabling PCI resources…Done.
Zeroing IRQ settings…Done.
Verifying PIRQ tables…Done.
Boot up, boot device capacity: 64MB.
Press any key to display configuration menu…
……
:) u just don’t
Reading boot image 1983899 bytes.
Initializing firewall…
System is started.
login:
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to login into fortinet-60 the default login name is: admin but if like me you
bought that box somewhere or u find it on a corner-street
have the login password but i got 2 trick:
You will not find this information in fortinets knowledge base.
u can (Works only on console port!!!!)
1. Power off the Fortigate unit by unplugging the power cable.
2. Connect to the console port with a serial cable. Launch Putty or winterm and connect to the port with default com settings.
3. Power on the fortigate firewall.
4. At the login: prompt enter maintainer
5. At the password: prompt enter bcpb The serial number is on the bottom of the unit and you will see it during boot. The userid and password need to be entered within 30-60 seconds or you will get “The hashed password length is invalid”
ex.:
login: maintainer (Enter within 30-60 seconds)
Password: bcpbFWF6039086179866 (Enter within 30-60 seconds)
or
to format the box install a fresh firmware set by factory default and whitout login password and not configurate:
1-when during the forti boot up on console port ”spam” the keyboard key to get into the ”configuration menu”
2- u see :
Press any key to display configuration menu…
[G]: Get firmware image from TFTP server.
[F]: Format boot device.
[Q]: Quit menu and continue to boot with default firmware.
[H]: Display this list of options.
press the F key
All data will be erased,continue:[Y/N]? (select y)
Formatting boot device…
……
and reboot
yep!!
now the box is clean whitout buggy firmware or unknonw configuration 
3- install a fresh firmware like ”FGT_60-v300-build0726-FORTINET.out” (FortiOS-v3.00-MR7)
Press any key to display configuration menu…
[G]: Get firmware image from TFTP server.
[F]: Format boot device.
[Q]: Quit menu and continue to boot with default firmware.
[H]: Display this list of options.
press the G key
Enter TFTP server address [192.168.1.168]: 192.168.1.201
Enter local address [192.168.1.188]: 192.168.1.188
Enter firmware image file name [image.out]: FGT_60-v300-build0726-FORTINET.out <——-set it depending to your own firmware
press enter
u see:
MAC:00:09:0f:16:6d:74
########### <——————————is the progress bar
Total 12230048 bytes data downloaded.
Verifying the integrity of the firmware image.
Total 28000kB unzipped.
Save as Default firmware/Run image without saving:[D/R]? (choose D to
save the firmware)
Programming the boot device now.
………………..
Reading boot image 1221110 bytes.
Initializing firewall…
and now you're ready to join the box using your favorite web-interface by
entering : https://192.168.1.99 (the default ip address of the Fortinet internal interface)
enter the username of admin and click Ok.
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REALLY GREAT THANK TO THE POSTER OF :
''fortinet-fortigate-firewall-firmware-failure-fiasco''
whitout u i'll not be able to make the forti communicate whit the pc
i only use this part of your tutorial but it's make my day!!!! :
''''''Manually set the network adapter on the PC to something like 192.168.1.201 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.'''''
i was always wrong trying to put the pc ip in 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.199
for the rest i learn to use TFTP and Putty and to homemade a RJ-45F to DB9F cable hihihihiihhi
range.
best regard freecomputerconsultant.com
I have a question!!
i tried to do the same thing step by step as you’ve described as maintainer and the proper password. but on the terminal i’ve got a message that the password doesn’t match with the hash or the length doesn’t match with it!! Then i tried to conect again via Hyperterminal and i didn’t get the boot information , nothing. Does the fortigate locked for a while after a couple fail logging?please let me know i don’t know what to do!!
regards
Cristian
Ok!!! Problem solved
Hi
I have an old Fortigate-50B that have been used in our company. Unfortunately I don’t have the password for the device and I have tried login in with Console cable and username maintainer and password bcpbFGT50Bxxxxxxxxxx. Even if I do this directly after reebot I get an error message:
FGT50Bxxxxxxxxxx login: maintainer
Password: ********************
Login incorrect
FGT50Bxxxxxxxxxx login: maintainer
Password: ********************
The hashed password length is invalid
Login incorrect
I would like to try to reinstall default FW fromt TFTP, but with no active support contract it seems like I can’t download the basic FW (not even the one I have on my Fortigate). If I format the Flash memory I guess I will have a dumb device until i upload a new fresh FW. Do you know of any other way to recover the device when the password is lost?
That’s the only method I have used and I think I have only used it twice.
If it doesn’t work, it could be there is a physical problem with the unit.
I suppose you could always buy the lowest grade support contract that would cover hardware support and replacement only.
Any idea where you can get the firmware image for the fortinet 60? I just got my fortinet 60 from ebay and i have no firmware / os on it.
Thanks
You mean it’s wiped out?
Should have something on it; did you contact the eBay seller?
If you register the unit at Fortinet, you should be able to download. To do that, they will contact the previous owner – I think – but you can eventually get around that if you need to (cs @ fortinet.com – no spaces)
where can i download the firmware? I lost mine and and i dont have a backup. I dont have support from fortinet aswell.
any help will grately appreciated
Thanks in advance
Hi Buds!
Try googling “fgt_60-v300″ for Fortigate60 or “fwf_60-v300″ for ForftiWifi60. The first few links will point to what you’re looking for. I used the same files for a FortiWifi60.