NSE7 Advanced VPN and Zero Trust Practice Question
An administrator wants to use SAML SSO with FortiGate as the Service Provider (SP) to allow users to authenticate via an external IdP. What must be configured first on the FortiGate to establish the SAML trust?
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
✓
A certificate for SAML signing and encryption
SAML SSO requires the FortiGate to have a certificate that the IdP trusts for signing assertions. Option D is correct because the FortiGate needs to import a CA-signed certificate (or use a self-signed) to sign SAML requests and also to establish the trust relationship with the IdP.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A firewall policy to allow SAML traffic
Why it's wrong here
Firewall policy is needed later but not the first step.
- ✗
A RADIUS server for user authentication
Why it's wrong here
SAML does not require RADIUS; it uses the IdP for authentication.
- ✗
An LDAP server for group membership lookup
Why it's wrong here
Group info can be provided in SAML assertions; LDAP is not required first.
- ✓
A certificate for SAML signing and encryption
Why this is correct
The FortiGate must have a certificate to sign SAML messages; this certificate's public key is shared with the IdP to verify signatures.
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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.