Technical Tip: Install FortiClient on Linux

Use these instructions to install 'FortiClient' on a Linux system. These instructions are meant for an Ubuntu-like system running on Debian. The instructions may be slightly different if using a different Linux distribution.

Step 1: Download 'FortiClient'.

• Go to the Fortinet Support site and log in with the Fortinet account.
• Navigate to the Download section.
• Choose 'FortiClient', then select Linux and download the appropriate package for the system (usually a .deb file for Debian-based systems or .rpm for Red Hat-based systems).

Step 2: Install Dependencies.

Open a terminal and run the following commands to ensure that all dependencies are installed:

For Debian-based systems:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install libappindicator1

For Red Hat-based systems:

sudo yum update

sudo yum install libappindicator-gtk3

Step 3: Install 'FortiClient'.

For Debian-based systems:

sudo dpkg -i forticlient_vpn_*.deb

sudo apt-get install -f  <- To fix any dependency issues.

For Red Hat-based systems:

sudo rpm -ivh forticlient_vpn_*.rpm

Step 4: Launch 'FortiClient'

Once installed, launch 'FortiClient' from the terminal by running:

forticlient

Alternatively, it can be found in the system's application menu.

Step 5: Configure 'FortiClient'.

• Open 'FortiClient'.
• Go to the Remote Access tab.
• Select Configure VPN.
• Enter the required VPN details (Server, Port, Username, Password, etc.).
• Save the configuration and connect.

Note:

FortiClient Linux does not support IPsec Dialup connection at the moment; only SSL VPN is supported. To connect VPN from Ubuntu using the IPsec Protocol, a native VPN package 'strongswan' can be installed. For information about how to establish found in this article:  Technical Tip: IPsec connection between FortiGate and Ubuntu via Dialup 

Related articles:

Technical Tip: IPsec connection between FortiGate and Ubuntu via Dialup 

Technical Tip: FortiClient – Installation/Configuration in Ubuntu/Debian OS using CLI 

Technical Tip: How to install FortiClient on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS