NSE7 Enterprise Firewall and VDOMs Practice Question
A FortiGate administrator is troubleshooting a scenario where traffic between two VDOMs is not working. The admin has configured inter-VDOM routing. Which TWO steps should the administrator verify? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume a single policy in the source VDOM is sufficient, overlooking that inter-VDOM routing requires explicit policies in both VDOMs to allow the forward and return traffic.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Check that there is a firewall policy in the destination VDOM allowing the return traffic
Inter-VDOM routing requires firewall policies in both the source and destination VDOMs to permit traffic. The destination VDOM must have a policy allowing the return traffic (from the destination to the source) for the session to be established. Without this, the FortiGate will drop the return packets, breaking the bidirectional flow.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Check that NAT is enabled on the policies
Why it's wrong here
NAT rewrites addresses and is unnecessary for inter-VDOM traffic, which routes between internal interfaces using the inter-VDOM link; enabling it can obscure the real fault. It is tempting because NAT appears on many FortiGate policies, and would be correct for internet-bound traffic needing source translation.
- ✓
Check that there is a firewall policy in the destination VDOM allowing the return traffic
Why this is correct
Because FortiGate evaluates policies in both directions, the destination VDOM requires a policy allowing the return traffic back toward the source VDOM across the inter-VDOM link. Missing it breaks the reply path, so the session fails despite correct forward routing.
- ✗
Check that the inter-VDOM link is configured as a physical interface
Why it's wrong here
An inter-VDOM link is its own virtual interface type, not a physical one, so configuring it as physical is impossible. It is tempting because physical interfaces commonly carry routed traffic, and would be correct when verifying the underlying physical ports that member interfaces or VLANs are bound to.
- ✓
Check that there is a firewall policy in the source VDOM allowing traffic to the destination VDOM
Why this is correct
Inter-VDOM routing moves traffic between VDOMs, but FortiGate still evaluates security policies, so the source VDOM needs a policy permitting traffic toward the destination VDOM's inter-VDOM link interface. Without it, sessions are dropped before reaching the destination VDOM.
- ✗
Check that both VDOMs are in the same administrative VDOM
Why it's wrong here
VDOMs are by definition separate administrative domains; there is no parent administrative VDOM containing them, so this check cannot exist. It is tempting because administrative scoping and multi-tenancy concepts are familiar, and would be relevant when verifying administrator profile access rather than inter-VDOM traffic flow.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NSE7 exam.