All devices on your home network share the IP given to you by your Internet Service Provider. This IP is usually configured on your router. By giving other devices access to your router through port forwarding, the firewall, which is the security feature in your router, seizes to block these incoming connections. Thus, your router will take instructions and forward specific requests from the internet to the specified destinations comprising the devices connected on your IP. Port Forwarding your FortiGate comprises the creation of a virtual IP address and firewall policy. We give you a step by step guide on howto set up FortiGate port forwarding.
Add a Firewall Policy With a Virtual IP
Once you have set the virtual IP, you need to define a firewall policy that accepts traffic from the internet and forwards it to your internal Windows PC server as follows:
- In FortiOS 5.0, select Policy; in 5.2, choose Policy and Objects, Policy then IPv4 and 5.4, select Policy and Objects then IPv4 policy.
- Select the Create New tab
- Set Source Interface to your Internet interface
- Now, set the Destination Interface to Internal
- Set the Source Address to All
- Now, rename the Destination name to the name of the virtual IP.
- Select the appropriate protocol in the Service Field that is HTTP or HTTPS.
- Now, select Accept in the Action field.
- Select OK to apply the above settings.
Port Forwarding Hub 