Technical Tip: How to enable debug log in FortiClient

Description

Solution

1.  Launch FortiClient.
2. Go to File -> Settings.
3. Expand the 'Logging' section and enable relevant features for which debug is required.
   
4. Set 'Log level' as 'Debug'.
5.  Select 'OK'.
   
6. To collect the logs, go to File -> Settings, and select 'Export logs'.

 

For the latest versions of Forticlient v6.x and v7.x, it will appear like this:

 

 

For FortiClient free versions, in case the Log Level is greyed out, select the lock icon on the top right corner to unlock it. 

Note:

Proposals cannot be changed unless an EMS licence is acquired.

For FortiClient that are managed through EMS, the logs can be collected from the EMS portal by following these steps:

1. Configuring and collecting Endpoint Debug logs under EMS -> Endpoint Profile, select Edit -> System Settings, use Advanced instead of Basic settings -> Log Level -> Change 'info' to 'debug, select all features.
2. Reproduce the problem.
3. Go under FortiClient -> Section 'About' -> Diagnostic Tool, check everything, run Diagnostic Tool, and the output file should have *.cab or *.zip extension, usually present in %temp%\Diagnostic_Result.
4. Reverting configuration under EMS -> Endpoint Profile, select  Edit -> System Settings, use Advanced instead of Basic settings -> Log Level, change 'debug' to 'info' and deselect features not needed (or all of them).

Related article:

Technical Tip: How to collect diagnostic logs from EMS and FortiClient for troubleshooting