🔥 FortiGate Firewall: Resetting a Lost Admin Password 🔥

Forgot your FortiGate admin password? Don’t worry! You can regain access using the maintainer account, but there are strict conditions. Here’s how:

🔑 Steps to Reset the Admin Password:

1️⃣ Use the special maintainer account:

• Username: maintainer

• Password: bcp<SERIAL-NUMBER> (e.g., bcpFGT60)

• All letters in the serial number must be UPPERCASE

2️⃣ Reboot the firewall with a hard power cycle

• The maintainer login is only available within the first 60 seconds after boot (time varies by model).

3️⃣ Connect via the hardware console port

• This method requires physical access for security reasons.

• Copy the serial number into the terminal buffer, then paste it to avoid typos.

🛑 Disable the Maintainer Account (If Required)

If compliance policies require restricting physical access recovery, you can disable the maintainer account:

config system global
    set admin-maintainer disable
end

🚨 Caution: Disabling this option means you must have other recovery methods in place!

📌 Pro Tip: Always maintain secure access policies and regularly update administrator credentials to prevent lockouts.