NSE8/FCX Certification

Good morning, network nerds! Welcome to Routing Week 1!

We made a lot of good progress since my last post. I have a lot of good structure built out in my study plan and some great resources, at least to get started with. Something you’ll learn as you follow this series is that I have a pretty terrible recall memory. This leads me to writing down and documenting everything in my life that I actually want to remember. This is also why my girlfriend gets regularly peeved at the fact that I can’t remember what food we have in the fridge or pantry (I don’t write that down). At work I have upwards of a dozen small lists and sticky notes on my desk to accompany my ever expanding archive of what I’ve coined “network information documents” – or simply notes documenting anything from BGP ASs to known services to learned fixes. All of this to say: we’re going to reference the NSE8 Tracker spreadsheet a lot.

The Study Timeline

First off, for background here, I created this outline with Claude AI. I gave it the NSE8 Pre-Release PDF, and some context on my available time per week and network experience. It produced these two timelines for the NSE8 modules. I certainly won’t be sticking to these exactly, but they provide a basic structure to go off of.

The Lab (so far)

If you read my first blog post you’ll know that I have a small FortiGate/FortiSwitch/FortiAP stack at home. Unfortunately this simply isn’t going to cut it for the NSE8. It was great for the FCP and FCSS, but there’s simply too many additional products (FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiClient EMS, etc.) to keep things remotely physical. Virtualization is required. The ability to quickly spin up additional FortiGate instances to act as routing or IPSec peers is already enough of a QoL boost to justify learning the bit of cloud or hypervisor skills required.

To summarize the screenshot above, I stood up a couple of FortiGate VMs in Azure. I made an IPSec tunnel between them and started labbing out the BGP concepts I’ve been going deep on this past week. So far I’ve just been using the PAYG (pay as you go) licensing model for the FGT VMs, but I’m hoping to swap these with BYOL (bring your own license) versions once our Fortinet AM (Account Manager) finally responds to my email. Oh, that!

On Monday, I shot an email off to our company’s Fortinet AM and SE (Sales Engineer) with a list of about 4 questions (see blog 4 for the list – it’s mostly specifics about FortiOS versions and past certs) and a request for some additional resources such as Fortinet Developer Network access and hopefully some evaluation licenses for all of the products included in the NSE8 syllabus. To be fair it was quite a few specific questions and asks… I’m sure they’ll get back this week. Until then I’ll stick with the PAYG, which is a maximum of 10 or 15 dollars a week with the 2 FGT VMs. I always make sure to shut these down after each lab session.

Time Tracker

I’m not sure if I’ll include these in each weekly blog post, but I do feel it’s personally valuable to know roughly how many hours I’ve spend on each topic. Another thing I’ve noticed about myself is that I have a problem with either going too shallow or deep on subjects (an extension of a general personality of extremes that falls outside of this blog’s scope). Documenting my time will give me a general idea as to whether I’m within range of my Topic Schedule. I also noticed that it keeps me more accountable with myself, just like this blog!

Additional Resources

To conclude I just wanted to mention a few additional resources that I may or may not have mentioned and have found valuable this first week.

1. Claude AI – I’ve been using Claude Pro for about a year now for everything from gardening advice to career advice to vibe coding little dashboards for personal use. I used it extensively while studying for the FCS and FCSS, feeding it my typed notes to check for accuracy errors and knowledge gaps, as well as to create practice questions and practical scenarios. For the NSE8 I obviously used it for the Topic Schedule, but I’ve also been feeding it my BGP deep notes to check for accuracy and gaps and then asked it to provide me with different scenarios to lab out.
2. draw.io – I use this to create all of my network diagrams. It’s easy to use, nimble, and most importantly, free.
3. Google – This may be obvious, or not. The FortiOS administration guide isn’t enough, neither are the Fortinet Training site’s self-paced learning modules (like they were for FCS/FCSS). You have to reference Fortinet Community documents and Technical Tips. The best way to find these, I’ve found, is to simply search “fortigate [topic]”. For example, “fortigate bgp graceful restart”. Then I go through the first few pages and take notes on any and everything I haven’t learned yet. When I first start on a new subtopic I make sure to take notes but know that facts aren’t set in stone until I’ve either reviewed a couple corroborating sources or labbed it out myself. If you haven’t already, it’s also useful to quickly learn Google Dorking, which allows you to use Google better, simply put. Here are some quick tips on that:
   • Put double quotes around any term you want your search to match exactly. For example if you want to absolutely be sure that that your search includes the phrase “denied by forward policy check” (See first image below). This is extremely useful when searching for specific logs or error codes.
   • If you only want results from fortinet.com, include site:fortinet.com. (See second image).
     

Thanks for reading, see y’all next week!

After a couple of months of half-assed studying I finally sat and passed the AZ-104 exam this past week. With this as well as the start of the new year I can’t think of a better time to make the big push for the FCX/NSE8. As we get back into this topic I again cannot emphasize enough the help that the https://fcxstudy.group/ blog has provided in my short progress into this long journey thus far. My newfound enthusiasm can almost solely be attributed to this specific post: https://fcxstudy.group/2025/10/31/my-fcx-experience-kevin-guenay-nse8-003845/

In the post, an Austrian Systems Engineer explains his journey to passing the FCX. Maybe it was the parallels I saw with my level of experience, or pure dumb optimism after reading about Kevin passing the exam after close to a year of hard studying (contrary to the other FCX experience blogs that often mention 1.5-2 years). Either way, let’s talk shop.

I have recreated Andrew from fcxstudy.groups’s FCX Excel spreadsheet tracker. I started it from scratch but ended up in a similar format to what he created, and also borrowed his style of topic tracking – especially the “Teach Others” concept of learning. Let’s go through the tracker sheet by sheet and I’ll add any necessary color.

Sheet 1: Exam Requirements and General Tables

This is really just notes from reading through the NSE8_Pre-Release_Handbook_Public_Exam as well as lists of lab resources and a small table I can use to track total hours at my projected daily study rate (I still would like to get the yearly hour count up closer to 1000, but I started with a lower target in hope to not scare myself off).

Sheet 2: Questions

This is simply a list of questions I’d like to eventually have answered. Most answers will come from our Fortinet AM (Account Manager) and SE (Sales Engineer) at work. Kevin’s blog post also emphasized his use of the Fortinet Demo licenses and Hand-On-Learning labs, so one of my first tasks will be obtaining Fortinet Developer Network access from our AM.

Sheet 3: Core Module NSE8 High-Level

The two tables likely don’t need their own sheet, but I’m fine wasting e-paper. Both of these datasets are extremely important, in particular to my interest, the products covered. This sheet and the next are specific to the Core exam module, the first of two 4 hour practical exams making up the new NSE8 format. This tells me exactly what kind of lab VMs I need as well as what high level scope I can set in terms of studying resources. Personally, I love that products like FortiMail and FortiADC have been kicked off the syllabus. I personally do not have any experience with these and likely won’t in the near future so the more this exam version focuses on products I have experience with, the better.

Sheet 4: Core Module Topics

This is the meat and potatoes of the tracking spreadsheet. The list of topics was pulled directly from the NSE8_Pre-Release_Handbook_Public_Exam and will be updated accordingly if there are any changes once the production handbook is released. Let me explain the checkbox columns since I’ve labeled them for brevity:

• Learning Exp. (Experience): Do I have experience learning about this topic? This would likely come from studying for the FCP, FCSS, or the month or so I started studying for the FCX.
• Practical Exp. (Experience): Do I have practical experience working with this topic? This would likely come from work experience at my day job or from lab experience during FCSS or FCX studying.
• Deep Study: Have I spent days to weeks reading through written material, admin guides, handbooks, KBs, etc. about this topic?
• Deep Practical: Have I simulated this topic in the lab? Have I simulated troubleshooting scenarios?
• Make Guides: Have I made a guide teaching others about this topic? This is something I tweaked based on Andrews original “Teach Others” learning technique. I like making MOPs and KBs for generic troubleshooting of Fortinet equipment to be shared at work, and it’s probably the best way to passively teach others without becoming the office know-it-all. I used this method quite a bit when studying for the FCSS.
• Forum Q&As: Have I answered questions on Reddit, Fortinet Forums, Discords about this topic? Once I’ve checked this and Make Guides, I really know I’m confident on the topic.

Sheet 4: Secure Networking Module High-Level

Same as the Core high-level sheet, but for the Secure Networking module, my choice of the 3 specified exams one must pass to complete NSE8. I chose Secure Networking as it best aligns with my current experience as well as my personal interest in the pure networking domains. This is also the “logical continuation” of the core exam.

Sheet 5: Secure Networking Topics

Same as the Core module topics sheet, but for the Secure Networking topics.

I’ve set a recurring reminder in my phone reminding me to make a blog post/update every week. I highly doubt that will actually happen, but the idea is that it will remind me to stay true to my daily and weekly studying hours goals. I think it makes more sense to create these posts when I have enough material updates to warrant one. Hopefully the addition of FDN (Fortinet Developer Network, includes Demos and Hands-On Learning Labs), and some evaluation licenses from our AM will provide that content.

Monday – back to work. Yesterday I fit a good 3 or so hours of studying in between the coffee shop and common area on the first floor of our apartment building. Later in the day, after finishing the Study Guide for Fortinet Azure Cloud and beginning to pull up the newly released SD-WAN Core 7.6 guide, I realized I’m at the point where I’m going to begin reading material I’ve already studied. Time for my first pivot (there’s going to be a lot of these, it’s part of my personality).

I’ve decided to take a break from reading and taking notes on the study guides, and instead do the same for the FortiGate 7.2.11 Admin Guide. There’s a couple of reasons for this:

First, this better aligns with my current project at work, which is building out branch FortiGate configs from scratch while implementing Fortinet best practices. At the same time I plan on using this knowledge as a baseline for the MOPs (Method of Procedures) I will create a bit later in my process. I will create MOPs to both assist in my studying process (learning via teaching) and aid our help desk in support of the enterprise network at work.

Second, I don’t want to go and study the Study Guides for technologies such as FortiMail, FortiADC, FortiSandbox, or any of the software that I don’t currently have experience in, until I get closer to having a lab fully set up for these. The timing of the lab setup is going to be a big limiting factor in regard to progress in these, and many other, areas of study. I only expect to receive complimentary lab licenses for many of these products for a span of 3-8 months, so I want to make the absolute most of my time with them and time it right in terms of when I take both the written and practical exams.

This all leads to a more overarching point that I’ve realized. I should focus on what I’m using now at work (and what I have access to at in my homelab) before I move to the technologies I need trial licenses for. What does this mean practically? I will be spending at least the next 2-4 months focusing primarily on the FortiGate, FortiSwitch, FortiAP, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer platforms. Narrowing my focus will allow me to do deep learning on subjects such as best practices implementation, SD-WAN design, routing, and advanced troubleshooting. These are all skills that I can always get better at and will directly improve my quality of work. Once I’ve exhausted these base products, I will begin to shift in the direction of the products I haven’t, or don’t often, work with.

I’ll end with what’s been on my mind. Reading about peoples’ FCX/CCIE/JNCIE study experiences, I understand that it’s necessary to complete anywhere from 1000-3000 hours of studying. How does the math work out to completion in roughly 2 years, as many report? That averages to somewhere around 20 hours a week, or 3 hours a day. How will I rearrange my life to allow for 3 hours of studying a day? Will I do 90 minutes a day on weeknights and 6+ hours on both Saturday and Sunday? Or will I start doing an hour in the morning as well as the usual 90 minutes a weeknight? Lots to consider, but certainly the most important thing is keeping up with my current routine of studying every single day.

It’s a Saturday, which is usually a study day. I’d like to get all of the background information for this blog out of the way pretty quickly so I can focus on simply documenting my daily/weekly steps and progress.

Let’s start with what I have so far in terms of discovery of resources. Here’s the summary: there isn’t much. The best that I’ve found so far is actually another blog called fcxstudy.group. I will be using his tracking spreadsheet and a fair amount of his advice is being followed in terms of my lab structure, or what will eventually be my lab structure. The most important pieces are is his FCX Study Tracker, which can be found here: FCXStudy.group Study Tracker and his lab topology and resource chart, here: FCXStudy.group Lab Exam Part 2

I read through his whole blog (there’s only about 6 or so articles that pertain to the FCX exam). I then downloaded the study tracker and started marking off some of the topics, based on what I’ve studied either in preparation for the FCP and FCSS, or simply while do independent studying. Here’s what I have today:

As you can clearly see, I’m just about starting from zero. I was a bit strict with myself in terms of what I considered to be reviewed thus far, but we’re still I’d estimate somewhere in the low single digits in terms of percentage of confidence and readiness for the written exam (there’s a whole other spreadsheet page for the lab/practical exam).

If anything, I think being in this position is favorable. It means I have a lot of options in terms of what I can focus on first. I don’t have to start with topics that I have little practical interest in and can have some fun with these first few months. I’ve marked each of the topics in the chart above as 50%, rather than 100%. These are the topics that I’ve spent a fair amount of time covering in preparation for previous exam, or topics that I regularly work with in my day job.

Yes, my day job, I’ve yet to mention this. I currently work for an MSP (Managed Service Provider), wearing a network engineer’s shoes. I primarily work with a single customer, who has a medium-sized enterprise network, utilizing Fortinet equipment almost all the way up their stack, from Datacenter and Azure FortiGate firewalls, to site/branch FortiGate firewalls, edge and access FortiSwitches, and FortiAPs. We also utilize FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiClient EMS, and we’re now introducing FortiExtenders. The FortiGates are currently running in the 7.2 FortiOS series.

Back to exam prep. My current phase of studying is working through all of the Fortinet Training Institute’s Study Guides. At this time I’m just reading though them and taking notes, occasionally testing out new learnings either in my homelab stack or in the work stack. I plan on continuing this until I run out of Study Guides to take notes on. I’m really just trying to get a grasp of high level concepts and “laying eyes” on more detailed or advanced topics that I’ve yet to touch in a practical environment. Here is a full list of the lessons currently available within the Fortinet Training Portal, that I find applicable to the FCX:

FortiGate 7.4 – Completed during FCP study
FortiManager 7.4 – Completed during FCP study
FortiAnalyzer 7.4 – Completed between FCP and FCSS study
FortiSwitch 7.2 – Completed in preparation for a NAC implementation project at work
FortiClient EMS 7.2 – Completed in preparation for work tasks and troubleshooting
Enterprise Firewall 7.4 – Completed during FCSS study
Network Security Support Engineer – Completed during FCSS study
SD-WAN 7.2 – Completed
Secure Wireless LAN 7.4 – Completed
Secure LAN Edge 7.6 – Completed
Azure Cloud Security 7.4 – In progress
FortiAuthenticator 6.5
FortiNAC 7.2
FortiMail 7.4
FortiWeb 7.4
FortiSIEM 7.2
FortiSandbox 5.0
FortiSOAR 7.3
FortiEDR 5.0
SD-WAN Core Operations 7.6
SD-WAN Large Deployment 7.6
Public Cloud Security Architect 7.2/7.6
FortiSASE 25
Security Operations 7.4

Now that I’ve typed all of those out I’ve realized how much time I’ve spent writing this post, which is valuable time I could use for studying. I’m off to the coffee stop to keep pushing through the Study Guides.