FortiSASE and SD-WAN Core Administrator Exam

Certification

This exam is part of the following certification track:

Visit the Cybersecurity Certification page for information about certification requirements.

Exams available at Pearson VUE are listed below. Select an exam to view the details.

Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator

Status: Available until November 14,2026

The Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator exam evaluates your knowledge of deploying FortiSASE and Secure SD-WAN

This exam tests your applied knowledge of FortiSASE and SD-WAN configuration and daily operations. It covers operational scenarios, incident analysis, integration with FortiSASE and FortiGate, SD-WAN deployment, and troubleshooting scenarios.

Once you pass the exam, you will receive the following exam badge:

Audience

The Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator exam is intended for network and security professionals responsible for FortiSASE and Secure SD-WAN solution deployment and administration, including operational scenarios, integration with supported products, troubleshooting scenarios, and analyzing security logs.

Exam Details

Time allowed	65 minutes
Exam questions	30-35 questions
Scoring	Pass or fail. A score report is available from your Pearson VUE account.
Language	English
Product version	FortiSASE 25, FortiOS 7.6, FortiClient 7.0, FortiAuthenticator 6.5, FortiManager 7.6

Exam Topics

Successful candidates have applied knowledge and skills in the following areas and tasks:

Decentralized SD-WAN
- Implement a basic SD-WAN setup
- Configure SD-WAN members and zones
- Configure performance service-level agreements (SLA)
Rules and routing
- Configure SD-WAN rules
- Configure SD-WAN routing
SASE deployment
- Configure SASE administration settings
- Use available user onboarding methods
- Integrate FortiSASE with SD-WAN
Secure internet access (SIA) and secure SaaS access (SSA)
- Implement security profiles to perform content inspection
- Deploy compliance rules to managed endpoints
Analytics
- Analyze SD-WAN logs to monitor rule and session behavior
- Identify potential security threats using FortiSASE logs
- Analyze reports for user traffic and security issues

Training Resources

The following resources are recommended for attaining the knowledge and skills that are covered on the exam. The recommended training is available as a foundation for exam preparation. In addition to training, you are strongly encouraged to have hands-on experience with the exam topics and objectives.

FortiSASE 25 Core Administrator course and hands-on labs
SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator course and hands-on labs
FortiSASE—Administration Guide
FortiSASE—Reference Guide
FortiSASE—Architecture Guide
FortiSASE—Deployment Guide
FortiOS—Administration Guide
SD-WAN—Deployment Guide

Experience

2 years of experience with networking
2 years of experience with network security
2 years of experience with endpoint management
2 years of experience with FortiGate and FortiManager

Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 26 Core Administrator

Status: Available

The Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 26 Core Administrator exam evaluates your knowledge of deploying FortiSASE and Secure SD-WAN.

Once you pass the exam, you will receive the following exam badge:

Audience

The Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 26 Core Administrator exam is intended for network and security professionals responsible for FortiSASE and Secure SD-WAN solution deployment and administration, including operational scenarios, integration with supported products, troubleshooting scenarios, and analyzing security logs.

Exam Details

Exam name	Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 26 Core Administrator
Time allowed	60–70 minutes
Exam questions	30–35 questions
Scoring	Pass or fail. A score report is available from your Pearson VUE account.
Language	English
Product version	FortiSASE 26, FortiOS 7.6, FortiClient 7.0, FortiAuthenticator 6.5, and FortiManager 7.6

Exam Topics

Successful candidates have applied knowledge and skills in the following areas and tasks:

Decentralized SD-WAN (20–30% of the exam)

Tasks	Details
Implement a basic SD-WAN setup	Introduction to SD-WAN and use cases SD-WAN Architecture components Use case identification SD-WAN direct internet access (DIA) DIA topologies DIA best practices and recommended settings SD-WAN fundamentals SD-WAN basic components Basic SD-WAN DIA setup SD-WAN basic monitoring SD-WAN traffic distribution and member health SD-WAN widgets SD-WAN traffic logs and events
Configure SD-WAN members and zones	Underlay and overlay links Members and zones configuration Use cases
Configure performance service-level agreements (SLA)	SLA targets Active and passive monitoring SLA configuration SLA monitoring Member status and performance Advanced settings Member state change actions How ICMP probes pass SLA information Advanced performance SLA settings Use case

Rules and routing (15–25% of the exam)

Tasks

Details

Configure SD-WAN rules

User-defined SD-WAN rules
SD-WAN rule lookup process
SD-WAN for local-out traffic
Implicit SD-WAN rule
SD-WAN rule status monitoring
SD-WAN rule strategies
Uses case: SD-WAN rules with the FortiGate GUI
Use case: monitor SD-WAN rule status
Rule criteria
SD-WAN rule traffic matching criteria
Application steering and application learning phases
Internet services as destination criteria
Manual strategies
Preferred members election with the manual strategy
Load balancing with manual rules
Best quality strategy
Quality metrics
Higher priority member advantage
Lowest cost (SLA) strategy
Preferred member election with the lowest cost (SLA) strategy
SLA target maps
Impact of the minimum-SLA-meet-members parameter

Configure SD-WAN routing

Routing fundamentals
Key routing principles in SD-WAN
Policy routes
Route lookup process
Member static routes
Static routes for zones
Member probe routes
Sessions
Session table
Different protocol states
Common session flags
Session reevaluation and triggers
Routing changes in source network address translation (SNAT) sessions
Introduction to central management
FortiManager basics
FortiManager features for SD-WAN

SASE deployment (20–30% of the exam)

Tasks	Details
Configure SASE administration settings	Traditional architecture Current evolving market trends The challenges of work-from-anywhere SASE architecture and components SASE definition Fortinet SASE solution SASE architecture SASE components FortiSASE provisioning Data residency Data sovereignty Licensing: FortiSASE license types
Use available user onboarding methods	User onboarding: agent-based mode andFortiClient agent User onboarding: secure web gateway (SWG) mode and agentless proxy client Authentication server configuration Remote authentication with LDAP and RADIUS SAML single sign-on (SSO) Use cases: FCT installation and local user and user group on FortiSASE Use cases: local user to default VPN policy and FortiClient configuration to connect to FortiSASE Use cases: VPN SSO authentication on FortiSASE Use cases: User group to include the SSO server and test authentication Use cases: SSO authentication for agentless deployment
Describe how FortiSASE is integrated with SD-WAN	Use cases

SIA and SSA (15–25% of the exam)

Tasks

Details

Implement security profiles to perform content inspection

Geofencing
IP address management (IPAM) configuration
Secure internet access (SIA) for FortiClient agent-based remote users
SIA for agentless remote users
Secure SaaS access (SSA) using inline cloud access security broker (CASB) and SSA using FortiCASB
Security profiles
Security profile groups
Certificate inspection and SSL deep inspection
Web filter with inline CASB (SSA)
Application control with inline CASB (SSA)
Antivirus
Data loss prevention (DLP)
Video filter
Intrusion prevention system (IPS) sensor

Deploy compliance rules to managed endpoints

Endpoint profiles
Endpoint profile provisioning and maintenance
Use cases: custom security profile group and antivirus profiles
Use cases: FortiGuard categories for web filtering and inline-CASB for web filtering
Use cases: application control with inline-CASB and endpoint protection in the endpoint profile

Analytics (15–25% of the exam)

Tasks	Details
Analyze SD-WAN logs to monitor rules and sessions behavior	FortiView and dashboards FortiView and its purpose FortiView consoles Dashboards Logging and reports Log workflow Log types and subtypes Log forwarding Log anonymization Enabling and running reports Information contained in reports Use cases: FortiSASE dashboards, FortiView widgets for VPN policy events, and on-demand reports on FortiSASE
Describe the FortiSASE logs that are used to identify potential security threats	Feature monitor Security events and logs Dashboards External log servers Use cases: log analysis for identification of potentional security threats
Explain the reports used to identify user traffic and security issues	Report types Use cases: evaluation of the reports

Training Resources

FortiSASE 26 Core Administrator course and hands-on labs
SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator course and hands-on labs
FortiSASE—Administration Guide
FortiSASE—Reference Guide
FortiSASE—Architecture Guide
FortiSASE—Deployment Guide
FortiOS—Administration Guide
SD-WAN—Deployment Guide

Experience

2 years of experience with networking
2 years of experience with network security
2 years of experience with endpoint management
2 years of experience with FortiGate and FortiManager

Exam Sample Questions

A set of sample questions is available from the Fortinet Training Institute. These questions represent the exam content in question type and content scope. However, the questions do not necessarily represent all the exam content, nor are they intended to assess your readiness to take the certification exam.

See the Fortinet Training Institute for the course that includes the sample questions

Examination Policies and Procedures

The Fortinet Training Institute recommends that you review the exam policies and procedures before you register for the exam. Access important information on the Fortinet Training Institute Policies page, and find answers to common questions on the FAQ page.

Questions?

If you have more questions about the NSE Certification Program, contact us through the Fortinet Training Institute Helpdesk page.