Fortinet FortiManager discovery requirements

reference australia Updated Sep 10, 2026 8 min read fortinet-fortimanager-discovery-requirements.md
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Technical requirements and configuration details for discovering Fortinet FortiManager firewalls using the Firewall Audits and Reporting application.

Prerequisites

Before discovering Fortinet FortiManager firewalls, verify that the Firewall Audits and Reporting application is downloaded from ServiceNow Store and installed.

Credentials and permissions

Discovery authenticates to FortiManager using an API key. Create a dedicated read-only user account on the FortiManager appliance and generate an API key for that user.

The read-only user account requires the following minimum permissions:

Permission area Required access
System status Read
ADOM management Read
Device manager Read
Policy & Objects Read
Policy Package Read
Global objects Read

Configure the FortiManager API key in ServiceNow as follows:

  1. Navigate to Discovery > Credentials and create a new API Key credential record with the FortiManager API key value.
  2. Create a Credential Alias and associate it with the credential record.
  3. In the FortiManager serverless discovery schedule configuration, input the credential alias.

MID Server configuration

The MID Server must have HTTPS (TCP 443) network access to the FortiManager management IP address. No agent is installed on FortiManager. All discovery is API-driven from the MID Server over HTTPS using the FortiManager JSON-RPC API.

MID Server sizing

FortiManager environments can be large, with thousands of firewall objects and policies. The following sizing is recommended:

  • JVM heap size: Minimum 4 GB RAM per MID Server. Set wrapper.java.maxmemory to 4096 in the MID Server configuration.
  • MID Server cluster: Deploy a cluster of 3–4 MID Servers each configured with 4 GB JVM heap to distribute the discovery load across concurrent pattern executions. You can increase this allocation if you encounter memory issues even after following the above sizing recommendations.

Warning: Running FortiManager discovery on an undersized MID Server (less than 4 GB JVM heap) may result in out-of-memory errors or incomplete discovery, particularly for large deployments with many ADOMs and policy packages.

API endpoints

All requests use POST to https://<fortimanager-host>/jsonrpc with a JSON body. Authentication uses the API key credential alias configured in ServiceNow Discovery.

Key API endpoints used during discovery:

Resource API URL (in params.url)
FortiManager system status /sys/status
Firewall policies /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/pkg/{{policy-package}}/firewall/policy
Global address objects /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/address
Global address groups /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/addrgrp
Global service objects /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/service/custom
Global service groups /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/service/group
Global VIP objects /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/vip
Global VIP groups /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/vipgrp
Global curated ISDB objects /pm/config/global/obj/_fdsdb/internet-service
Global custom ISDB objects /pm/config/global/obj/firewall/internet-service-custom
ADOM list /dvmdb/adom
Devices in ADOM /dvmdb/adom/{{adom}}/device
Policy packages in ADOM /pm/pkg/adom/{{adom}}
ADOM address objects /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/address
ADOM address groups /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/addrgrp
ADOM service objects /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/service/custom
ADOM service groups /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/service/group
ADOM VIP objects /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/vip
ADOM VIP groups /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/vipgrp
ADOM custom ISDB objects /pm/config/adom/{{adom}}/obj/firewall/internet-service-custom

CMDB CI attributes populated

The FortiManager discovery pattern populates comprehensive attributes for all discovered CMDB Configuration Items. The following tables detail all attributes populated for each CI type.

Attribute Description
Name Display name of the FortiManager appliance
Serial Number Hardware serial number used as the primary identifier
IP Address Management IP address
Is Virtual Whether the appliance is a virtual deployment
Platform Type Hardware platform model type
Time Zone Configured time zone of the appliance
High Availability Mode HA mode: standalone, active-passive, or active-active
Hostname Configured system hostname
ADOM Count Number of Administrative Domains managed
Managed Device Count Total number of managed FortiGate devices
ADOM Enabled Whether the ADOM feature is enabled on this appliance
BIOS Version BIOS firmware version
Build Number Firmware build number
FIPS Mode Enabled Whether FIPS compliance mode is active
Max ADOM Maximum number of ADOMs supported by the license
Offline Mode Enabled Whether the appliance is operating in offline mode
System Part Number Hardware part number

Note: Discovery populates firmware version information in the Firmware Installation [cmdb_firmware_install_list] table instead of directly on the FortiManager CI.

Attribute Description
Name Display name of the Administrative Domain
UUID Globally unique identifier
Device Count Number of managed devices in this ADOM
Object ID Unique path to this resource: /dvmdb/adom/{name}
ADOM Type Product type restriction (for example, fos for FortiOS/FortiGate)
Target OS Version FortiOS version that devices in this ADOM are expected to run
Policy Package Count Number of policy packages within this ADOM
FortiManager Reference to the parent FortiManager CI
Description Administrator-assigned description
Attribute Description
Name Device display name in FortiManager
Serial Number Hardware serial number used as primary identifier
IP Address Device management IP address
Manufacturer Device manufacturer
Model ID Reference to hardware model record [cmdb_model]
Platform Family Operating system type (for example, fos)
High Availability Role HA cluster role: standalone, primary, or secondary
FortiManager Reference to the managing FortiManager CI
VDOM Enabled Whether virtual domains are enabled (derived from maxvdom > 1)
Operational Status Device operational state integer

Note: Discovery populates firmware version information in the Firmware Installation [cmdb_firmware_install_list] table instead of directly on the device CI.

Attribute Description
Name Policy package name
Object ID Unique path: /pm/pkg/adom/{adom}/{name}
Policy Count Number of policies in this package
Parent ADOM Reference to the owning ADOM CI
FortiManager Reference to the root FortiManager CI
Package Type pkg (active package) or folder (organizational container)
Attribute Description
Name Policy display name. Fallback: "Policy {policyid}" when name is empty
UUID Primary identifier auto-generated by FortiOS
Policy ID Integer policy ID within the package
Policy Enabled Whether the policy is active
Last Hit Timestamp of last traffic match
Object ID Unique path: /pm/config/adom/{adom}/pkg/{pkg}/firewall/policy/{policyid}
Sequence Number Rule evaluation order within the package
Policy Package Reference to the parent Policy Package CI
Parent ADOM Reference to the ADOM CI this policy belongs to
FortiManager Reference to the root FortiManager CI
Action Policy action: accept, deny, or ipsec
Source Interface Ingress interface name(s), comma-joined
Destination Interface Egress interface name(s), comma-joined
Source Address Source address/group object names, comma-joined
Destination Address Destination address/group/VIP object names, comma-joined
Source Services Service/service-group object names, comma-joined
Policy Schedule Schedule object name (for example, always)
ISDB Src Enabled Whether Internet Service is used at the source
ISDB Dest Enabled Whether Internet Service is used at the destination
NAT Enabled Whether source NAT is applied
NAT IP NAT IP pool name when ippool is enabled
Traffic Logging Mode Log level: disable, utm, or all
Traffic Session Logging Enabled Whether session start events are logged
UTM/Security Profile Enabled True when any UTM profile (AV, IPS, SSL) is applied
AV Profile Antivirus profile name applied to this rule
IPS Sensor IPS sensor profile name applied to this rule
SSL/SSH Profile Deep inspection profile name
Description Free-text description and change audit trail

Non-CMDB firewall object attributes populated

The following tables detail attributes populated for non-CMDB firewall object tables. All tables inherit common base attributes: Object ID, UUID, Name, Description, Discovery Source, Parent ADOM, and FortiManager reference.

Attribute Description
Address Type Type of address: ipmask, iprange, fqdn, wildcard, geography, or dynamic
Subnet IP address and mask (present when type = ipmask)
Start IP Start of IP range (present when type = iprange)
End IP End of IP range (present when type = iprange)
Fully Qualified Domain Name FQDN string (present when type = fqdn)
Geography ISO country code(s) (present when type = geography)
Associated Interface Interface this address is bound to. "any" indicates all interfaces
Attribute Description
Member Names Comma-joined list of member address/group names
Member Count Number of members in the group
Exclude Members Comma-joined exclude-member list when exclusion mode is active
Attribute Description
Protocol Layer-4 protocol type: ICMP, IP, TCP/UDP/SCTP, or ICMP6
TCP Port Range Space-separated TCP ports/ranges (present when protocol includes TCP)
UDP Port Range Space-separated UDP ports/ranges
SCTP Port Range Space-separated SCTP ports/ranges
ICMP Type ICMP type number (present when protocol = ICMP)
Service Category Comma-separated category names this service belongs to
Attribute Description
Member Names Comma-joined list of service member names
Member Count Number of service members in the group
Proxy Enabled Whether this is a proxy-mode service group
Attribute Description
VIP Type Type of VIP: static-nat, server-load-balance, fqdn, or dns-translation
External IP Public-facing IP that clients connect to (before NAT)
External Interface Interface where inbound traffic arrives (for example, wan1, any)
Mapped Address Internal real server IP or FQDN that traffic is forwarded to after DNAT
Port Forward Enabled Whether port translation is applied in addition to IP translation
Active Whether this VIP is active and processing traffic
NAT44 Enabled Whether IPv4-to-IPv4 NAT is enabled
Attribute Description
External Interface External interface all member VIPs are associated with
Member Names Comma-joined list of member VIP object names
Member Count Number of VIP members in the group
Attribute Description
Reputation Score Threat reputation score for this internet service entry
Attribute Description
Firewall Policy Reference to the Firewall Policy CI [cmdb_ci_firewall_sec_policy]. Cascade delete enabled.
Firewall Object Reference to the base firewall object record [sn_disco_firewall_object]. Cascade delete enabled.
Reference Type Which policy field referenced this object: srcaddr, dstaddr, or service
Discovery Source Source system that populated this record

Relationships created

Discovery establishes the following CMDB relationships between discovered Configuration Items:

Parent CI Relationship Type Child CI
FortiManager Network Manager Manages::Managed By Fortinet Firewall ADOM
Fortinet Firewall ADOM Members::Member Of Fortinet Firewall Device
Fortinet Firewall ADOM Contains::Contained By Fortinet Firewall Policy Package
Fortinet Firewall Policy Package Used By::Uses Fortinet Firewall Device
Fortinet Firewall Policy Package Contains::Contained By Fortinet Firewall Policy

Discovery pattern

The FortiManager discovery uses a serverless Large Payload Pattern (LP). The pattern name is Fortinet FortiManager (LP).

Discovery consists of one serverless root pattern that triggers multiple independent Large Payload Patterns for global objects, ADOMs, devices, policy packages, and firewall policies.

Parent Topic:Firewall Audits and Reporting reference

Keywords FortiManagerdiscoveryMID serverfirewall
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