NSE7 Advanced VPN and Zero Trust Practice Question
A network administrator is troubleshooting an ADVPN deployment. Spoke FortiGates can communicate with the hub, but shortcut tunnels between spokes are not being established. The administrator verifies that IKE and IPsec settings are correct on all devices. What is the MOST likely cause?
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
✓
The hub's phase2 configuration has 'auto-negotiate' disabled
In ADVPN, shortcut tunnels require IKEv2 with the 'add-route' option and auto-negotiate. If the hub's phase2 configuration does not have 'auto-negotiate' enabled, it will not initiate shortcut tunnels.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Dead Peer Detection (DPD) is disabled on the hub
Why it's wrong here
DPD is for detecting dead peers, not for initiating shortcut tunnels.
- ✓
The hub's phase2 configuration has 'auto-negotiate' disabled
Why this is correct
Without auto-negotiate, the hub will not propose shortcut tunnels to spokes.
- ✗
The hub's phase1 configuration has 'auto-negotiate' disabled
Why it's wrong here
Auto-negotiate is a phase2 setting, not phase1.
- ✗
The spokes have different IKE versions configured
Why it's wrong here
ADVPN requires IKEv2 consistently, but this would cause tunnel establishment failure, not just shortcut issues.
Quick reference
VPN Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Port | Encryption | Authentication | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IKEv2 / IPsec | UDP 500 / 4500 | AES-256 | Certificates / PSK | Site-to-site & remote access |
| SSL / TLS VPN | TCP 443 | TLS 1.3 | Certificates / MFA | Clientless remote access |
| L2TP / IPsec | UDP 1701 | AES (IPsec) | PSK / Certificates | Legacy remote access |
| WireGuard | UDP 51820 | ChaCha20 | Public keys | Modern high-performance VPN |
| PPTP | TCP 1723 | MPPE (weak) | MS-CHAPv2 | Legacy — avoid in production |
PPTP is considered insecure. IKEv2/IPsec and SSL VPN are the current recommended options.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 940 original NSE7 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.