Delete a firewall

Delete a firewall when you no longer need it. Billing stops, its licence is released, and the firewall is deleted permanently, with every setting on its FortiGate.

The reserved IP the firewall used as its public IP stays reserved in your account. It shows Available in Manage Reserved IP, and it is billed monthly until you delete it there.

Each VPC the firewall was in stays as it is, and the firewall’s address in it is freed.

Before you begin

• You have a backup of the FortiGate’s configuration, saved from the FortiGate’s screen, if you want any of it again. Policies, VPN tunnels, and every other setting are deleted with the firewall.
• You have moved anything you still need off the firewall: VPN tunnels, NAT, or routes from your nodes. Traffic through it stops once you delete it.
• On a committed firewall, you have already paid for the whole term, and deleting before it ends gives no refund.
• The firewall is Running, Powered off, or Failed, and unlocked. Delete Firewall is greyed out while the firewall is locked or changing state. See Lock a firewall.
• Accidental protection is off. While it is on, Delete Firewall reads This action cannot be performed while the accidental protection mode is enabled. See Turn on accidental protection for a firewall.
• Your role in the project can delete firewalls.

Delete the firewall

Back up anything you want to keep first. Once you click Delete, the firewall and every setting on its FortiGate are deleted permanently.

1. In MyAccount, under Network, click Firewall.
2. On Manage Firewall, in the firewall’s row, click Actions, then Delete Firewall.
3. In Delete Firewall, turn on I understand and I want to delete my Firewall: ? The firewall’s data is lost, and licensed software may need new licences. The public IP stays with you: This firewall’s public IP is already reserved and will remain with you until you release it.
4. Click Delete.

Firewall deletion in progress shows. The firewall can keep reading Running for two to three minutes. Then it reads Terminating, and Firewall deleted successfully shows when it leaves the list.

If it stays Terminating for much longer than that, contact support with the firewall’s name. Until E2E finishes deleting the firewall, the public IP stays Attached in Manage Reserved IP.

To delete a firewall from a script, see Delete Firewall by Node ID in the API reference.

Check the firewall is gone

The firewall leaves Manage Firewall. In MyAccount, under Network, click Reserve IP. The firewall’s public IP shows Available on Manage Reserved IP.

Delete the reserved IP

(Optional) To stop paying for the public IP, delete it on Manage Reserved IP. To use it for a new firewall instead, keep it, and pick it under Select IP when you create the firewall. See Delete a reserved IP.

When you need a firewall again, see Create a firewall. For help with a delete that does not finish, see I cannot delete my firewall.