FortiOS 5.2 Getting Started: FortiGuard DDNS

1. Limited administrative access to trusted hosts

Go to System > Admin > Administrators and edit the default admin account.

Enable Restrict this Administrator Login from Trusted Hosts Only. Add the required internal or remote devices as Trusted Hosts. You can also set an entire subnet as the trusted host, using /24 as the netmask.

2. Enabling HTTP/HTTPS access on the Internet-facing interface

Go to System > Network > Interfaces and edit the Internet-facing interface (typically wan1).

Make sure that Administrative Access is allowed for HTTPS.

2. Setting up FortiGuard DDNS

Go to System > Network > DNS and enable FortiGuard DDNS.

Set Interface to your Internet-facing interface, select a Server, and select a Unique Location that will be used in the domain name.

The FortiGuard DDNS service will verify that the resulting domain name is unique and valid. If it is valid, select Apply. The domain name is now displayed, with the current IP address of the interface.

In this example, the domain float-zone.com is used. This domain is owned by Fortinet, as are the domains fortiddns.com and fortidyndns.com.

You can also configure FortiGuard DDNS by using the following CLI commands:

config system ddns
  edit 0
    set ddns-server FortiGuardDDNS
    set ddns-domain “branch.float-zone.com”
    set monitor-interface wan1
  end
end

3. Results

Browse to the domain name assigned to the interface, using HTTPS (in the example, https://branch.float-zone.com).

The FortiGate login screen will appear.

Go to System > Network > Interfaces and edit the Internet-facing interface.

Change the interface’s IP Address/Netmask.

You will still be able to access the interface using the domain name. 

4. Deregistering a FortiGuard DDNS service

A FortiGuard DDNS service can be deregistered in one of two ways:

Go to System > Network > DNS and disable FortiGuard DDNS. This will release the domain name.

If you no longer have access to the device that is registered to the domain name, contact Fortinet Support to have the name deregistered.