Forticlient v7 for Linux - how to connect without GUI?

[vasilylebedev]

Hello,

Our university is using FortiClient, and recently switched to version 7.* with a mandatory 2FA for VPN.

As a user, I tried to install different versions of the client from here https://repo.fortinet.com/repo/7.0/ubuntu/pool/multiverse/forticlient/ , but I did not manage to see anything except just a blank window within GUI.

After a long search on the topic and discussions with colleagues suffering from the same issues, I do not think that it is really possible to run this GUI on Linux reliably, but any advice on diagnostic there will be much appreciated since I do not see much documentation available, and logs do not seem informative, as well.

However, since there is no problem for me to deal with the console interface, and the only thing I need is just to connect to VPN, I tried to run forticlient_cli, but surprisingly it is requesting a license for that.

Therefore, I am writing to ask if is it possible to connect a VPN without GUI using a free version of FortiClient?

One may say, that openfortivpn might be a suitable option, but unfortunately, it is not handling 2FA properly at the moment.

Best wishes,

Vasily

[AEK]

Hi Vasily

If you have Linux then you can try "fortisslvpn" connctor on your NetworkManager. I use it since years and it works like a charm. You can use it via GUI and CLI as well.

Hope this helps.

[torel]

The same is seen on Fedora Core 35 with forticlient-7.0.7.0246-1.el7.x86_64.  However the Debian version works fine on Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS.   

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[rosiebown]

Hello Vasily,

If you're looking to connect to the VPN using FortiClient without the GUI on Linux, you can try using the command-line interface (CLI) version of FortiClient. However, please note that the CLI version may require a license.

Here are a few steps you can take to connect to the VPN without the GUI using FortiClient:

Make sure you have the CLI version of FortiClient installed. You mentioned that it requests a license, so you may need to obtain a license for the CLI version from Fortinet or your university's IT department.

By the way, besides all this I recommend you to try this source https://samploon.com/free-essays/police-brutality/ because I find it quite good and I personally have been using it for a long time. There you can find a lot of writings on various popular topics like police brutality, I think this one will be quite useful.

Open a terminal window on your Linux system.

Navigate to the directory where FortiClient CLI is installed. The exact location may vary depending on your installation.

Run the command to initiate the VPN connection. The command will likely have the following format:

css

forticlientsslvpn_cli --server <server_address> --vpnuser <username> --keepalive

You may be prompted to enter your VPN password and any additional authentication information required by the 2FA setup.

Once connected, you should be able to use the VPN services.