What happens during the initial HA sync process?

During the initial HA (High Availability) sync process, it is crucial for the system to establish a consistent state across all devices in the cluster. The primary device takes the lead in this synchronization process, where it syncs its logs and configuration parameters with any newly added devices. This ensures that all units have a coherent understanding of the traffic and events logged, which is essential for maintaining operational integrity and seamless failover capabilities. The primary device essentially serves as the source of truth, distributing its log data to ensure that the backup devices are up to date and can assume their roles effectively in case of a failure.

The other scenarios do not correctly represent the behavior of devices during the initial sync process. For example, while establishing real-time log forwarding is important for ongoing operations, it typically happens after the initial sync, not during it. Similarly, the idea that the backup device permanently stores primary logs or that the log database is deleted on all devices does not reflect the actual functioning of HA in Fortinet systems, as these actions would compromise the availability and integrity of log data across devices.