Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) for Fortinet Fortigate VPN

Fortinet Fortigate managed FortiClient can be used as a VPN Client (IPSec and SSL), an AV client and a host vulnerability scanner. Forticlient is used as the corporate AV solution and for VPN remote access. It works on Windows and Mac but there's no Linux version. If your user wants remote access to their office then FortiClient would be a good solution.

Enabling Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for your Fortinet Fortigate managed active directory increases security and ensures users only have access to the systems and resources they need access to. When you enable 2FA, your users enter their username and password (first factor) as usual, and they have to enter an authentication code (the second factor) which will be shared on their virtual or hardware 2FA solution to get access to Forticlient VPN.

Types of 2FA Authentication with RADIUS

The 2-factor authentication can be of two types depending on the VPN clients.

VPN Clients that support RADIUS Challenge.
VPN Clients that do not support RADIUS Challenge.

miniOrange 2FA authentication for Fortinet Fortigate Login

miniOrange accomplishes this by acting as a RADIUS server that accepts the username/password of the user entered as a RADIUS request and validates the user against the user store as Active Directory (AD). After the first level of authentication, miniOrange prompts the user with 2-factor authentication and either grants/revokes access based on the input by the user.

MFA 2FA Two-Factor authentication for Fortinet

Primary authentication initiates with the user submitting his Username and Password for Fortinet Fortigate.
User request acts as an authentication request to RADIUS Server(miniOrange).
miniOrange RADIUS server passes user credentials to validate against the credentials stored in AD (Active Directory) / Database.
Once the user's first level of authentication gets validated AD sends the confirmation to RADIUS Server.
Now miniOrange RADIUS Server asks for a 2-factor authentication challenge to the user.
Here user submits the response/code which he receives on his hardware/phone.
User response is checked at miniOrange’s RADIUS Server side.
On successful 2nd factor authentication the user is granted access to login.

What are different 2FA/MFA methods for Fortinet Fortigate supported by miniOrange?

miniOrange supports multiple 2FA/MFA authentication methods for Fortinet Fortigate secure access such as, Push Notification, Soft Token, Microssoft / Google Authenticator etc.

Authentication Type	Method	Supported
miniOrange Authenticator	Soft Token
miniOrange Authenticator	miniOrange Push Notification
Mobile Token	Google Authenticator
	Microsoft Authenticator
	Authy Authenticator
SMS	OTP Over SMS
SMS	SMS with Link
Email	OTP Over Email
Email	Email with Link
Call Verification	OTP Over Call
Hardware Token	Yubikey Hardware Token
Hardware Token	Display Hardware Token

You can opt for any of the 2FA methods to secure your Fortinet Fortigate. To integrate 2FA, you can enable RADIUS authentication in Fortinet Fortigate and configure policies in miniOrange to enable or disable 2FA for users.

Connect with any External Directories

miniOrange provides user authentication from various external directories such as miniOrange Directory, Microsoft AD, Azure Active Directory/LDAP, AWS Cognito and many more.

Can't find your Directory? Contact us on idpsupport@xecurify.com

Video Setup Guide

Get Free Installation Help - Book a Slot

miniOrange offers free help through a consultation call with our System Engineers to Install or Setup Two-Factor Authentication for Fortinet Fortigate solution in your environment with 30-day trial.

For this, you need to just send us an email at idpsupport@xecurify.com to book a slot and we'll help you setting it up in no time.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)/MFA for Fortinet Fortigate Client to extend security level.

1. Add the Radius Client in miniOrange

Login into miniOrange Admin Console.
Click on Customization in the left menu of the dashboard.
In Basic Settings, set the Organization Name as the custom_domain name.
Click Save. Once that is set, the branded login URL would be of the format https://<custom_domain>.xecurify.com/moas/login

2FA Two-Factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : setting up branding

Go to Apps Click on Add Application button.

Add Fortinet Fortigate Radius Application

Choose RADIUS as Application type and click on Create App button.

2FA Two-Factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Create Radius Application

Click on Fortinet Fortigate application tab. If you don't find your application click on Radius Client application tab.

2FA Two-Factor radauthentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Select your Radius Client

Configure the below details to add Radius Client.

Client Name:	Any name for your reference.
Client IP:	IP address of VPN server which will send Radius authentication request.
Shared Secret:	Security key. For Eg. "sharedsecret" (Keep this with you, you will need to configure same on VPN Server).
Include Password & OTP in same Request	Check this option for clients which takes password and the OTP in same request. Otherwise keep it unchecked.
Send Groups in Response	Enable this to send user groups as Vendor-Specific Group Attributes.

You can refer the table below for Vendor group attributes id.

Vendor Name	Group Attribute	Vendor ID	Vendor Attribute ID
Cisco ASA VPN	26 Vendor-Specific	3076	25
Fortinet VPN	26 Vendor-Specific	12356	1
Palo Alto VPN	26 Vendor-Specific	25461	5
SonicWall VPN	26 Vendor-Specific	8741	3
Citrix VPN	26 Vendor-Specific	66	16
Others	11 Filter-ID

Configure the following Policy details for the Radius Client.

Group Name:	Group for which the policy will apply.
Policy Name:	Any Identifier that specifies policy name.
Login Method	Login Method for the users associated with this policy.
Enable 2-Factor Authentication	Enables Second Factor during Login for users associated with this policy.
Enable Adaptive Authentication	Enables Adaptive Authentication for Login of users associated with this policy.

After configuring the given above details, Click on Save button.

Configure Fortinet Fortigate App for 2FA Two-Factor Authentication

Copy and save the Radius server IPs which will be required to configure your Radius client.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate: RADIUS Server IPs

NOTE:

On-Premise

Only For On-Premise Version

Open Firewall Ports.

In order to receive the RADIUS request, it is necessary to open UDP traffic on ports 1812 and 1813 for the machine where On-Premise IdP is deployed.
If the hosting machine is a Windows Machine then you can follow this document.
If the hosting machine is a Linux Machine then you can follow this document.

NOTE:

2. Add miniOrange as RADIUS Server in Fortinet FortiGate

Login to Fortinet FortiGate Admin console for the VPN application.
Go to User & Device >>RADIUS Servers in left navigation bar and click on Create New.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Switch to Radius Server

Here you need to configure the RADIUS Server.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate VPN App Radius server configuration

Configure details below to add Radius Server.

Name:	Appropriate name.Eg: mo-radius-server
Authentication Method:	Click on Specify and then select PAP in the Dropdown.
Primary Server IP / Name:	For on-premise version: IP of server where IDP(miniOrange) is installed For cloud version: Use the Radius Server IPs which you got from Step1.
Primary Server Secret	Secret Key for the Fortinet (RADIUS) App defined in step 1
Secondary Server IP / Name:	Optional
Secondary Server Secret	Optional

To Save these settings click OK.

3. Test Fortinet Fortigate Connectivity

You can now verify the connectivity by clicking on Test Connectivity.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Test Fortigate Server Connectivity

4. Create a User Group in Fortinet Fortigate

NOTE: If you have a existing User Group then just add miniOrange Radius Server as the Remote Server. If not, then follow the below steps.
Select User & Device >> User >> User Groups.
To Create New group, Click on Create New.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Create User Group

Select Firewall in Type. Click on Add in the Remote Group Section and select miniOrange Radius Server as the Remote Server.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : User Group Configuration

Click on Ok.

5. Set Up VPN in Fortigate Admin Console.

IPSec VPN
SSL VPN

Create a IPSec Tunnel using IPSec Wizard if you have no Tunnel Configured. Click Here to learn more.
Select VPN >> IPSec Tunnels and select the IPSec Tunnel you have configured.

MFA 2FA two factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Select IPSec Tunnel

Click on Convert To Custom Tunnel if the tunnel is not Custom Tunnel.

MFA 2FA two factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Convert to Custom Tunnel

Click on Edit button for XAuth section.
Select PAP Server in the Type Dropdown.

MFA 2FA two factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Select PAP Server

Select the User Group configured in Step 4 in User Group Dropdown.

MFA 2FA two factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Select Configured User Group

Click on Ok.

Firstly setup a SSL-VPN . Click here for more information.
Navigate to Policy & Objects >> IPV4 Policy.
NOTE: In some cases, there will only Firewall Policy option instead of IPV4 Policy
Create/Edit the policy related to your SSL-VPN interface.
Edit the Source, add the required address space and the Group that we configured in Step 4.

MFA 2FA two factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Firewall Policy

Click OK to apply and save the settings.
Next, we will define Authentication/Portal Mapping.
Navigate to VPN >> SSL-VPN Settings, and then go to the Authentication/Portal Mapping section
Create a new or edit an existing mapping to grant access to the Firewall User Group that we created in Step 4.

MFA 2FA two factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Authentication/Portal Mapping

Click Apply and save the settings.

6: Configure the Fortinet Timeout with miniOrange RADIUS server

Fortinet Fortigate default timeout is 5 Seconds, which is insufficient while setting up MFA. We have to reconfigure the timeout to 30 Seconds.
So connect to the appliance CLI.
And execute below commands in command line: #config system global #set remoteauthtimeout 30 #end

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Command Line Interface

7. Configure Your User Directory (Optional)

miniOrange provides user authentication from various external sources, which can be Directories (like ADFS, Microsoft Active Directory, Azure AD, OpenLDAP, Google, AWS Cognito etc), Identity Providers (like Okta, Shibboleth, Ping, OneLogin, KeyCloak), Databases (like MySQL, Maria DB, PostgreSQL) and many more. You can configure your existing directory/user store or add users in miniOrange.

Setup AD/LDAP as User Directory
Setup miniOrange as User Directory

Configure your existing directories such as Microsoft Active Directory, Azure, OpenLDAP, etc.

Click on User Stores >> Add User Store in the left menu of the dashboard.

Select User Store type as AD/LDAP.

STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION IN MINIORANGE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in miniOrange. If active directory is behind a firewall, you will need to open the firewall to allow incoming requests to your AD.
STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION ON PREMISE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in your premise and only allow access to AD inside premises. You will have to download and install miniOrange gateway in your premise.

Two-Factor Authentication : Select ad/ldap user store type

Enter LDAP Display Name and LDAP Identifier name.
Select Directory Type as Active Directory.
Enter the LDAP Server URL or IP Address against LDAP Server URL field.
Click on Test Connection button to verify if you have made a successful connection with your LDAP server.

MFA/2FA: Configure LDAP server URL Connection

In Active Directory, go to the properties of user containers/OU's and search for Distinguished Name attribute.

MFA: Configure user bind account domain name

Enter the valid Bind account Password.
Click on Test Bind Account Credentials button to verify your LDAP Bind credentials for LDAP connection.

Search Base is the location in the directory where the search for a user begins. You will get this from the same place you got your Distinguished name.

Select a suitable Search filter from the drop down menu. To use custom Search Filter select "Custom Search Filter" option and customize it accordingly.

You can also configure following options while setting up AD. Enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP. Click on the Save button to add user store.

Here's the list of the attributes and what it does when we enable it. You can enable/disable accordingly.

Attribute	Description
Activate LDAP	All user authentications will be done with LDAP credentials if you Activate it
Sync users in miniOrange	Users will be created in miniOrange after authentication with LDAP
Backup Authentication	If LDAP credentials fail then user will be authenticated through miniOrange
Allow users to change password	This allows your users to change their password. It updates the new credentials in your LDAP server
Enable administrator login	On enabling this, your miniOrange Administrator login authenticates using your LDAP server
Show IdP to users	If you enable this option, this IdP will be visible to users
Send Configured Attributes	If you enable this option, then only the attributes configured below will be sent in attributes at the time of login

Click on Save. After this, it will show you the list of User stores. Click on Test Configuration to check whether you have enter valid details. For that, it will ask for username and password.

On Successful connection with LDAP Server, a success message is shown.
Click on Test Attribute Mapping.

Enter a valid Username. Then, click on Test. Mapped Attributes corresponding to the user are fetched.

After successful Attribute Mapping Configuration, go back to the ldap configuration and enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP.

Refer our guide to setup LDAPS on windows server.

User Import and Provisioning from AD

Go to Settings in the Customer Admin Account.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate miniOrange dashboard

Enable the "Enable User Auto Registration" option and click Save.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Enable User Auto Registration

(Optional) To send a welcome email to all the end users that will be imported, enable the "Enable sending Welcome Emails after user registration" option and click Save.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Enable sending Welcome Emails after user registration

From the Left-Side menu of the dashboard select Provisioning.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate User Sync/Provisioning

In Setup Provisioning tab select Active Directory in the Select Application Drop Down.
Toggle the Import Users tab, click on Save button.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate User Sync Active Directory Configuration

On the same section, switch to Import Users section.
Select Active Directory from the dropdown and click on the Import Users tab, to import all the users from Active Directory to miniOrange.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate User Sync Import Operation

You can view all the Users you have imports by selecting Users >> User List from Left Panel.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate User List

All the imported users will be auto registered.
These groups will be helpful in adding multiple 2FA policies on the applications.

To add your users in miniOrange there are 2 ways:

1. Create User in miniOrange

2. Bulk Upload Users

1. Create User in miniOrange

Click on Users >> Add User.

Here, fill the user details without the password and then click on the Create User button.

After successful user creation a notification message "An end user is added successfully" will be displayed at the top of the dashboard.

Two-Factor Authentication: Add user details

Click on On Boarding Status tab. Check the email, with the registered e-mail id and select action Send Activation Mail with Password Reset Link from Select Action dropdown list and then click on Apply button.

Now, Open your email id. Open the mail you get from miniOrange and then click on the link to set your account password.
On the next screen, enter the password and confirm password and then click on the Single Sign-On (SSO) reset password button.

Multi-Factor Authentication: Reset user password

Now, you can log in into miniOrange account by entering your credentials.

2. Bulk Upload Users in miniOrange via Uploading CSV File.

Navigate to Users >> User List. Click on Add User button.

In Bulk User Registration Download sample csv format from our console and edit this csv file according to the instructions.

Two-Factor authentication: Download sample csv file

To bulk upload users, choose the file make sure it is in comma separated .csv file format then click on Upload.

After uploading the csv file successfully, you will see a success message with a link.
Click on that link you will see list of users to send activation mail. Select users to send activation mail and click on Send Activation Mail. An activation mail will be sent to the selected users.

Not able to find your IdP or Need help setting it up?

Contact us or email us at idpsupport@xecurify.com and we'll help you setting it up in no time.

This step involves Importing the user group from the Active Directory and Provisioning them.
Go to Provisioning. Switch to Setup Provisioning tab and select Active Directory from Dropdown menu.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate : Select Active Directory (AD)

Select Group Provisioning/Deprovisioning tab, and toggle on Import Group option.
If you want to dynamically allocate users to the groups present in the miniOrange, then enable "Assign Users to groups"
Enter the Base DN for group sync and click Save.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate : Switch on import Group

Now switch to Import Groups option and select Active Directory from which you want to import your users.
Finally, click on Import button. Your group will be imported.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate : User group imported successfully

(The Active Directory Group Provisioning (Sync) setup is done. Now, whenever a user is created or modified in LDAP server and if the Assign Users to groups is enabled, then user group attribute from the LDAP server will be automatically synced and the user group will be assigned or changed accordingly in miniOrange.)

Select Groups >> Manage Groups from left panel.
Click on the Create Group button on the top.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Manage Groups

Enter an appropriate Group Name and click on Create Group.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Create Groups

In this guide we have created a Group by name VPN_Group.
Assign various members to the group using the Assign User option associated with the group in the groups list.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate User Assign

Select the Users that are required to be assigned to this group. Then Select Assign to Group in Select Action Dropdown and click on Apply button.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Assignment to Group

These groups will be helpful in adding multiple 2FA policies on the applications.

9. Configure 2FA/MFA for End-Users

To enable 2FA/MFA for Fortinet Fortigate endusers, go to 2-Factor Authentication >> 2FA for end users.
Select default Two-Factor authentication method for end users. You can select particular 2FA methods, which you want to show on the end users dashboard.
Once Done with the settings, click on Save to configure your 2FA settings.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Configure 2FA Panel

Login into your End-User Dashboard using end user login URL.
For Cloud Version: The Login URL for end users will be available after setting up Organisation name.

(You can follow these steps and use the login URL present in the Branding section.)

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Cloud and On-Premise end-users Login URL

For On-Premise version: The Login URL will be the same as of Admin Login URL.
Select Configure 2FA from left panel.
Browse through the Second factor options and choose an appropriate method to be used by the particular End-User during login.
For now, we have selected the "OTP OVER SMS"as our 2FA method. You can explore the guide to setup other 2FA methods here.
Click on Configure/Reconfigure "OTP OVER SMS".

Enter you Phone Number along with the necessary country code and click on the SAVE below.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate Configure Second Factor-SMS(Enter Mobile Number)

After the Phone details are saved successfully, click on the Save button on the top bar to set this as your 2FA method.
Currently used method is represented by green color.

To use a particular method of 2FA, we configure that method first and then select the method and click on SAVE.
Admin can change the second factor of the End user from the User List.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate: User list in miniOrange

Under Action Click on Select and then select Reset Second Factor.

MFA/2FA Two-Factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate: User list(Reset second factor)

10. Add Another Policy (Optional)

Here, we will configure a policy for the User Group that we created in the Step 8 and associate it with the Fortinet Fortigate VPN Application.
Click on Policies tab >> App Login Policy.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate App Authentication Policy

Click on Add Policy tab.
In Application section, select the RADIUS App that we configured earlier in Step 1.
Select the required User Group in Group Name and enter the Policy name.
In this guide, we will configure a Password Only policy for "VPN_Group", so that only the VPN_Group members can access VPN Services without a Second Factor.
Once done with the policy settings, click on Save to Add Policy.

MFA/Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for Fortinet Fortigate App Add Policy

11. Test miniOrange 2FA setup for Fortinet VPN Login

Download FortiClient from www.forticlient.com.
Open the FortiClient Console and go to Remote Access > Configure VPN.
Add a new connection:

Set the connection name.
Set Remote Gateway to <vpn_server_ip>.
Select Customize Port and set it to 10443.

Save your settings.
Login to Forticlient and enter Username and Password.

MFA 2FA Two-Factor Authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Login to FortiClient

It will prompt for a Second Factor Code if you have Enabled 2-Factor Authentication in miniOrange Policy.

MFA 2FA Two-Factor Authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Submit 2FA Code

Enter your 2-Factor Code and you should be connected to the VPN.
NOTE: While configuring IPSec VPN connection in FortiClient make sure to use the Pre-Shared key of the IPSec Tunnel that was created LAST. Fortinet has issues if multiple IPSec Tunnels are present at FortiGate Server.
On passing the valid credentials you can see the screen below:

MFA 2FA Two-Factor Authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Forticlient VPN Login Success

If you enter an incorrect value you will be redirected to the below screen.

MFA 2FA Two-Factor Authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Message if Login fails

12. Troubleshooting

MFA 2FA Two-Factor Authentication for Fortinet Fortigate CLI Troubleshooting

Error Message - Can't connect to Radius Server?

Cause: Either the firewall has multiple outgoing IPs or Fortinet UI is not working.

Solution: Check for the configuration and use static ip for firewall and try test authentication using CLI.

Enter the following command in CLI to test connection:

#diagnose test authserver radius <server_name> <chap | pap | mschap | mschap2> <username> <password>

Steps to setup admin 2FA:


 #config user radius
    edit "<server_name>"
      set server "<vpn_server_ip>"
      set secret SUPERSECRETPASSWORD
    set auth-type <chap | pap | mschap | mschap2>
      next
  end

User group configuration with the Radius server user group:


 #config user group
    edit "radiusgroup"
      set member "<server_name>"
      config match
        edit 1
          set server-name "<server_name>"
          set group-name "radiusgroup"
        next
      end
    next
  end

Local admin account configuration with the remote authentication and local backup password:


  #config system admin
    edit "radiusadmin"
        set remote-auth enable
        set accprofile "super_admin"
        set vdom "root"
        set remote-group "radiusgroup"
        set password fortinetlocal
    next
  end

How can I check RADIUS User audit logs in miniOrange admin dashboard?

Login to miniOrange Admin Dashboard.
Click on Reports >> Radius User Authentication Report.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Authentication Reports

Enter Enduser Identifier and Date range.
Click on Search.

MFA 2FA two-factor authentication for Fortinet Fortigate : Enduser Authentication Logs

Fortinet firewall admin CLI log in asking for reset password when logging with 2FA enabled

Cause: This is because the server(from putty) does not read our 2FA challenge message.

Solution: Put received OTP in both New Password and Confirm Password.

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