FCP-FGT-AD - Routing (20% of the exam) - Section 4.1

Configure and route packets using static routes including default routes, blackhole routes, and policy routes.

Configure static routes including a default gateway and blackhole routes, and use policy routes to forward traffic based on criteria beyond the destination address. Understand administrative distance to control which route takes precedence when multiple paths to the same destination exist.

static routedefault gatewayadministrative distancepolicy route

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleRoutingeasy

Two static routes to the same destination subnet exist on a FortiGate. Route 1 uses gateway A with administrative distance 10, and Route 2 uses gateway B with administrative distance 20. Both gateways are reachable. Which route is installed in the FortiGate routing table?

ARoute 2, because a higher administrative distance reserves more bandwidth and is preferred for primary forwarding
BBoth routes, because routes to the same destination with different distances are installed and load balanced together
CNeither route, because conflicting administrative distances to one destination cause FortiGate to discard both entries
DRoute 1, because the route with the lower administrative distance is considered more trustworthy and is preferred Correct

When two static routes reach the same destination, FortiGate installs the one with the lower administrative distance because a lower distance is preferred. Administrative distance measures how trustworthy a route source is, and FortiGate installs the route with the lowest distance to a given destination. With distances 10 and 20, the distance-10 route wins and the other becomes a standby that activates only if the preferred route is removed.

Why A is wrong: Administrative distance has nothing to do with bandwidth, and higher is not better. This reverses the rule, which is a common mistake, so it is wrong.

Why B is wrong: Routes with different administrative distances are not equal-cost, so only the lower-distance route enters the table. Installing both would require equal distances, so this is incorrect.

Why C is wrong: FortiGate resolves the conflict by selecting the better route rather than discarding both. The idea that a conflict drops all routes is plausible but does not match how distance selection works.

Why D is correct: Administrative distance ranks the believability of routes, and a lower value is preferred. Route 1 at distance 10 is chosen over Route 2 at distance 20, so it is installed in the routing table.

See more FCP-FGT-AD practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Routing

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the FCP-FGT-AD bank for this domain.

The administrative distance of the competing routes, so the policy route picks whichever installed route has the lowest distance.
Why it is wrong: Administrative distance is a route-selection attribute, not a packet field a policy route matches on; this confuses match criteria with best-route ranking.
Give the backup route a lower priority value than the primary so the FortiGate keeps both active but prefers the backup in the routing table.
Why it is wrong: A lower priority would actually make the backup preferred among equal-distance routes and both could stay active; this does not hold the backup out of the routing table until the primary fails, so it is not a floating route.
Only the route whose gateway has the lower IP address is installed, and all default traffic uses that single link
Why it is wrong: FortiGate does not select between equal routes by comparing gateway IP addresses. This sounds like a deterministic tie-breaker but no such rule exists, so it is incorrect.

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