Fortinet NSE 7 - Secure Networking Architect
Fortinet secure networking architect (NSE 7)
Specialist-level course
Preparation for the NSE 7 certification in Secure Networking - the enterprise-scale deployment of FortiGate, FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer platforms, along the five sections of the published exam. Participants leave able to design and run a multi-site Fortinet estate: SD-WAN with zero-touch branches, central management, dynamic routing and advanced IPsec.
- Registration
- Waiting list
- Duration
- 52 academic hours
- Format
- In personHybrid
- Level
- Specialist
- Certification
- Fortinet NSE 7 - Secure Networking Architect
- Language
- Hebrew, course materials in English
- For organisations
- 5 intensive days - at the academy or hybrid
What you will be able to do
- Configure FortiGate 7.6 firewalls for the enterprise and set up SD-WAN across sites.
- Provision SD-WAN branches with zero-touch provisioning.
- Orchestrate the overlays from a FortiManager platform with SD-WAN Manager and IPsec templates.
- Apply security profiles at enterprise scale.
- Run OSPF and BGP between sites and build the rules on top of them.
- Build advanced IPsec topologies, including ADVPN.
The syllabus
6 modules over 52 academic hours. Open a module for its topics.
- FortiGate 7.6 system configuration in an enterprise design
- Enterprise SD-WAN setup
- Zero-touch provisioning of SD-WAN branches
- The FortiManager 7.6 platform as the central manager of the estate
- SD-WAN Manager and overlay orchestration on the FortiManager platform
- IPsec templates
- The FortiAnalyzer 7.6 platform - the logs of the whole estate in one place
- Security profiles at enterprise scale
- Managing the profiles centrally from the FortiManager platform
- Verifying what is inspected on the FortiGate firewall
- Firewall rules across a multi-site estate
- OSPF between the sites
- BGP between the sites
- IPsec overlays in the enterprise - hub and spoke, and mesh
- ADVPN
- Troubleshooting the tunnels
- Fortinet notes that the exam may include content from more than one course, and material not covered in its courses
- Prerequisites: an active NSE 4 and NSE 5 or NSE 6 in Secure Networking, all within two years of the NSE 7 exam
- Test centre only from September 21, 2026, and a 15-day wait before a retake
Who it is for
Who takes this course, and what you need before the first session.
FortiGate administrators holding NSE 4 and NSE 5 or NSE 6 who design the next estate
Network engineers running multi-site Fortinet deployments
Integrator and MSP teams that build SD-WAN for customers
Prerequisites
For the certification Fortinet requires an active NSE 4 and NSE 5 or NSE 6 in Secure Networking; for the course, working experience with FortiGate, FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer platforms - Fortinet recommends two years hands-on with each.
The exam and the certification
The exam is Fortinet NSE 7 - Secure Networking 7.6 Architect, written on FortiGate 7.6, FortiManager 7.6 and FortiAnalyzer 7.6: 40-50 questions in 60-70 minutes, in English, and from September 21, 2026 at a Pearson VUE test centre only. Fortinet requires an active NSE 4 and NSE 5 or NSE 6 in Secure Networking, all passed within two years of the NSE 7 exam, and notes that the exam may include content from more than one course as well as material not covered in its courses. A failed exam can be retaken after 15 days. The certification is valid for two years from the NSE 7 exam or the last prerequisite exam, whichever is later, and passing it renews the active NSE 4 and NSE 5 or NSE 6 in the same track.
The certification
Fortinet NSE 7 - Secure Networking Architect
How it is sat
Through Pearson VUE, in English - at a test centre, or online with OnVUE for the NSE 4, 5 and 6 exams. NSE 7 exams are test-centre only from September 21, 2026.
Validity
Two years, like every Fortinet certification. NSE 5 and NSE 6 need an active NSE 4; passing NSE 7 renews NSE 1-4 and the NSE 5 or NSE 6 in the same track.
Retakes
A failed exam can be retaken after 15 days.
Where this course sits on the Fortinet ladder. The lit rung is the one it prepares for; the whole path, with what each level requires, is on the Fortinet track page.
- NSE 1-3 Cybersecurity fundamentals - free self-paced courses
- NSE 4 FortiOS Administrator
- NSE 5 Specialisation in a range of subjects, at Professional level
- NSE 6 Specialisation in a range of subjects, at Professional level
- NSE 7 Specialisation in a range of subjects, at an advanced level Preparation at the academy
- NSE 8 Cybersecurity Expert
The labs
A multi-site estate built from the rack and the virtual lab: FortiGate firewalls from the academy's rack as the hubs, FortiGate VMs as the branches, and the FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer lab environments of the course over all of them. You bring a branch up with zero-touch provisioning, orchestrate the SD-WAN overlays from the FortiManager platform, run OSPF and BGP between the sites and build ADVPN on top of the IPsec overlays - and then troubleshoot each topology after it has been broken on purpose.
Two ways to take the course
The waiting list for the next open cohort, or an intensive format for a team - which a team can have on its own dates, whatever the open cohorts are doing.
The next cohort
The next cohort is in planning - 52 academic hours at the academy in Shoham. A hybrid option is available, with part of the sessions remote. Join the waiting list and you hear the dates first; the list is also what decides which course opens next.
For your team
5 intensive days - at the academy in Shoham, or hybrid with part of the sessions remote. Small groups, and a syllabus adjusted to your equipment and environment.
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