Connect to a vpn from an headless machine

[Destro52]

Hi, I have to connect to a server of a client that is behind a Forti VPN. However, I need to use it from a headless server. I have found that there is the possibility to install for Ubuntu a CLiclient and I have followed the instructions here https://repo.fortinet.com. I was able to install it correctly but now I can't use it. I have already used the GUI on Windows for connecting to several VPNs, like my university or other clients.

I tried to add the configuration with the command "forticlient vpn edit myvpn", but it says 

FortiClient SSLVPN is unavailable: FortiClient VPN trial has expired.
Please contact your administrator or connect to EMS for license activation.

I don't know what that means at all.

I tried to do "forticlient vpn connect the.ip.to.connect -u username -p -s -w -a" but the answer is always the same.

How can I connect to that VPN? The configuration is simple, I have user, password, IP to connect, port 443, no certificate and that's all. Maybe I using the wrong tool, it is not very simple to understand the documentation. Thank you

[anignan]

Hi @Destro52 

I think you installed the wrong package this seems to be the paid version which required EMS. What you can try is to download the rpm or deb packet for the free version "VPN Only" from this on a windows PC link: https://www.fortinet.com/support/product-downloads

From there you can connect to your linux box via filezila and then you transfer the file.After transfer you can install it with package manager command.  i tried with wget but was not getting the correct file

Abdel

[Destro52]

Hi Abdel, thank you for your answer. Ok, I installed the deb package via

apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl gnupg2 desktop-file-utils
curl -sL https://filestore.fortinet.com/forticlient/forticlient_vpn_7.0.7.0246_amd64.deb -o /tmp/forticlient.deb
apt-get install -y /tmp/forticlient.deb

And now what do I have to do? I have found this post https://community.fortinet.com/t5/FortiGate/Technical-Tip-Forticlient-Installation-Configuration-in-... but that edit says the same thing as before, that the trial is expired

[anignan]

Hi @Destro52 

Can you confirm that you completely uninstalled the previous package. I tried the same on a CentOS box and it is just working fine..

Abdel

[Destro52]

Yeah, I have completely uninstalled it and I also tried to install it in an Ubuntu VM with the same result. In the end I found openfortivpn and used it. It worked out of the box without any problem