---
title: "How to view active sessions"
slug: "fortigate-debugging-packet-flow"
updated: 2026-07-01T04:20:39Z
published: 2026-07-01T04:20:39Z
canonical: "docs.serversaustralia.com.au/fortigate-debugging-packet-flow"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.serversaustralia.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to view active sessions

FortiOS has built in tools for debugging your firewall rules by tracking packets as they travel through your Firewall, seeing what drops them, and every detail.

## Active Sessions

1. Log Into your Fortigate.
2. Go to the **DASHBOARD** tab on the left hand side and down to **FORTIVIEW SESSIONS** ![Navigation menu displaying FortiView Sessions and related options for network management.](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-06-18 at 1.42.28 PM.png)
3. From here you should see a listing of the current sessions, their ports information and traffic data.

## Logging

You can set rules to log their transactions to be viewed later. By default these are in the on, but only set to log security events.

> [!CAUTION]
> Note
> 
> Full logging should only be enabled to test and view transactions, having these on and for many rules could lead to performance issues or limited logging.

## Editing a Rule

If you have an existing rule, you can enable with this info.

1. Go to **POLICY & OBJECTS** then **FIREWALL POLICY** and find your rule.
2. From the line, go across to the **LOG** column and click the edit icon next to the current setting (in this case its UTM). ![User interface showing various network security options and settings for configuration.](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-06-18 at 2.34.33 PM.png)

3. From the Dropdown, select **ALL**. (if UTM or DISABLED) ![Dropdown menu showing options with 'All' selected and 'Apply' button highlighted.](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-06-18 at 2.44.21 PM.png)

1. Then click **APPLY**.

> [!WARNING]
> To Disable the logging, set back to UTM (security events only) or Disabled.

## Viewing the Logs

1. Go to **LOG & REPORT** and then **FORWARD TRAFFIC** ![Navigation menu displaying various network and security options, highlighting Forward Traffic.](https://cdn.document360.io/d809f158-d4f4-47ff-83d4-18d9c9f7a04d/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2026-06-18 at 2.55.19 PM(1).png)
2. From here you can view the logged information.