NSE7 Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Practice Question
An administrator wants to see the current number of active sessions on a FortiGate. Which command should the admin use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse 'diagnose sys session list' (which shows individual sessions) with 'diagnose sys session stat' (which shows the count), because both commands start with the same prefix and deal with sessions, but only 'stat' gives the aggregate number without flooding the console.
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
✓
diagnose sys session stat
The command 'diagnose sys session stat' displays a summary of session statistics, including the total number of active sessions currently tracked by the FortiGate's session table. This is the correct way to quickly see the current active session count without listing every individual session, which would be overwhelming and resource-intensive.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
diagnose sys session list
Why it's wrong here
Lists individual session entries with source, destination and protocol, so it enumerates sessions rather than returning a count; the administrator would have to tally them manually. It is tempting because it is the definitive command for inspecting session detail, and would be correct when troubleshooting a specific flow.
- ✓
diagnose sys session stat
Why this is correct
diagnose sys session stat returns session table statistics, including the current count of active sessions, directly answering the administrator's query. It reads the session table counters rather than listing individual sessions, so it gives the aggregate figure without dumping every entry.
- ✗
get system performance status
Why it's wrong here
This command reports CPU, memory and uptime counters, not session counts. It is tempting because it is the standard health-check command for gauging device load, but the session table total is returned by 'get system session status' or the session statistics output instead.
- ✗
get system ha status
Why it's wrong here
HA status shows cluster membership, synchronisation state and failover roles, not the session table. Administrators reach for it when verifying which unit is primary, which is a legitimate HA troubleshooting task, but it never reports the number of active sessions.
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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.