Fortinet FortiConverter
Multi-vendor Configuration Conversion for FortiOS

Overview:

Managing Migration

With all of today’s emerging technologies, a challenge that often arises is that of migration. As we all know, the state of the art in technology is ever moving forward, bringing with it new issues and challenges. One of these issues is transitioning old, complex configurations to new and next-generation solutions. From a high level, this can look relatively simple; however, any manager of security solutions knows that this is one of the biggest headaches that they can face. With FortiConverter, Fortinet offers customers a simple, supported migration process. Historically, solution migration is a manually intensive process that makes extensive use of consulting services, and there are a number of reasons for this. The primary reason is complexity. Device configurations grow organically with the needs of the organization. While individual configuration changes are easily made, transferring the entire configuration to a new platform is substantially more difficult. An additional challenge is that legacy configurations accumulate old and redundant information. FortiConverter simplifies and automates the migration process. Errors and redundant information are highlighted quickly, enabling a smooth transition process to next-generation platforms.

Configuration Validation

Fortinet believes that transitioning to next-generation security platforms should be as seamless as possible. For this reason, we have developed the FortiConverter software solution. Configuration changes can introduce errors, which accumulate over time. But because these errors have not caused problems, they are often missed or overlooked in a large, complex configuration deployed across an organization. With FortiConverter, validation of these configurations is a simple process. Manually inspecting for errors can take hundreds of hours of expert analysis, which is cost-prohibitive, even if available. With FortiConverter, the software identifies and then removes incorrect or redundant configuration elements during the conversion process.

Major Features

• Allows migration to FortiOS solutions.
• Eases the pain of vendor transition.
• Translation of complex policy sets.
• Removal of historical configuration errors.
• Automatic validation of new configurations

Standardization

With all transition projects, there is pressure to standardize on particular platforms; however, as the legacy systems have grown organically over time, this task seems daunting and cost prohibitive. With FortiConverter and its ability to automate conversion from multiple vendors, managers and operators have a viable method for moving to consolidated, standardized platforms. In turn, this functionality massively reduces configuration management overhead, allowing personnel to focus on the more pressing challenges of understanding and neutralizing emerging threats. Once this conversion and standardization of platforms is performed, the cost savings of simplified management can be realized.

Professional Services

A technology transition project can be a complex and timeconsuming process; by utilizing the automated features of FortiConverter, Fortinet partners and customers gain the ability to accurately predict and manage these projects. One particular advantage is the reduction in human errors that occur in manual processes. Using FortiConverter to implement conversion rules makes the transition process more reliable and predictable, with corresponding benefits to timelines and, therefore, costs. Whether in timelines, costs, or manpower, FortiConverter provides substantial advantages.

Key Features & Benefits
Multi-vendor Support	Conversion from Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Juniper, Check Point, Palo Alto Networks, and SonicWall. A single tool for converting from all the supported vendors.
Automated Conversion	Configuration conversion is performed according to conversion rules automatically, with a small amount of fine tuning to complete the process. Human error in the conversion process is minimized.
Error Correction	With many complex configurations, errors creep in over time. FortiConverter identifies these errors so that the new platform can operate at maximum efficiency at the required level of security. Also avoids copying unneeded objects into the new configuration.
Full Support	The FortiConverter standard license gives access to all vendors and supports configuration conversion of any size and complexity.
FortiGate to FortiGate	Can migrate configurations between FortiGate devices to minimize the risk associated with network upgrades. Provides the ability to split VDOMs into individual config files. Facilitates migration when the source platform is not supported in 5.x and the target platform is not supported in 4.x. This feature is available with the trial license.