FCP study guide
FCP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Fortinet Certified Professional (FCP) is a vendor credential for network and security practitioners who design, deploy, and operate FortiGate-based environments. Candidates typically include firewall administrators, network engineers, SOC analysts, and managed-service staff who need to prove practical skill with FortiOS rather than recall of marketing material. The FCP study guide has 9 sections and about 3,948 words.
01Security Fabric and Network Security Fundamentals
The Security Fabric and Network Security Fundamentals domain tests how FortiGate fits into the FortiOS fabric architecture and how packets traverse a FortiGate. Questions often ask about fabric roles, VDOMs, interface modes, and the order of operations.
439 words, about 2 min02Firewall Policies and Traffic Shaping
Firewall Policies and Traffic Shaping tests policy evaluation, NAT behavior, and how FortiOS enforces bandwidth. Expect scenario questions where a policy is bypassed, a shaper does not apply, or NAT changes the match criteria.
452 words, about 2 min03Authentication and Access Control
Authentication and Access Control covers how FortiGate identifies users and administrators and how identity changes policy matching. Questions target authentication methods, group types, and the line between firewall authentication and admin authentication.
443 words, about 2 min04SSL VPN and IPsec VPN Configuration
SSL VPN and IPsec VPN Configuration tests how to build remote-access and site-to-site tunnels and how to troubleshoot why a tunnel is up but traffic does not flow. Expect questions on portal settings, phase 2 selectors, routing, and authentication.
443 words, about 2 min05Web Filtering and Application Control
Web Filtering and Application Control covers FortiGuard category enforcement, application signatures, and the inspection requirements that make both work. Many questions hinge on why a block did not happen: TLS encryption, missing certificate inspection, or the wrong profile attachment.
458 words, about 2 min06Intrusion Prevention and Anti-Malware
Intrusion Prevention and Anti-Malware tests signature-based detection, inspection modes, and the profile settings that determine whether malicious content is blocked or only logged. Expect questions on IPS sensors, antivirus scanning, sandbox integration, and SSL inspection.
417 words, about 2 min07Routing and SD-WAN
Routing and SD-WAN tests how FortiGate selects paths and how SD-WAN rules override normal routing. Questions often ask why traffic uses a specific member, why an SLA failed, or why a policy route did not apply.
449 words, about 2 min08Logging, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting
Logging, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting covers where FortiOS records events, how to read them, and which diagnostic tools answer why a packet passed or dropped. Expect questions on log destinations, debug flow, packet capture, and session inspection.
443 words, about 2 min09High Availability and System Maintenance
High Availability and System Maintenance tests FortiGate clustering behavior and the routines that keep a device healthy. Questions often target failover triggers, session pickup, configuration synchronization, and upgrade practice.
404 words, about 2 min