According to theFortiSwitchOS 7.6 Administration Guideregarding the " Discovery and Management " lifecycle, a FortiSwitch is designed with a specific boot-up and discovery sequence to determine its management mode. By default, a factory-reset FortiSwitch or a new unit out of the box is configured to search for a management entity. This process typically involves looking for aFortiGateviaFortiLink(using DHCP options or LLDP) or attempting to connect toFortiEdge Cloud(formerly FortiLAN Cloud) if cloud management is enabled.

The documentation states that if the FortiSwitch is unable to establish a connection with a FortiGate (FortiLink mode) or successfully register and authenticate with the FortiEdge Cloud, the device does not enter a " failed " state requiring hardware intervention. Instead, itremains in local management mode. In this state, the switch operates as a standalone Layer 2/3 switch. The administrator can access the device ' s local Graphical User Interface (GUI) or Command Line Interface (CLI) directly using the default credentials.

While in local management mode, the switch retains its ability to be manually configured for all standard switching features, such as VLAN tagging, Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), and link aggregation. If a management controller (FortiGate or Cloud) becomes available later, the switch can be transitioned into managed mode, which typically involves the controller pushing a new configuration and potentially overwriting local settings. Therefore, the failure to discover a controller simply results in the switch defaulting to its standalone, locally managed operational state.