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EMS Administration Guide

SSL VPN

SSL VPN

This topic contains descriptions of SSL VPN settings:

Configuration

Description

SSL VPN

Enable SSL VPN.

DNS Cache Service Control

FortiClient disables Windows DNS cache when an SSL VPN tunnel is established. The DNS cache is restored after the SSL VPN tunnel disconnects. If you observe that FSSO clients function incorrectly when an SSL VPN tunnel is up, use Prefer SSL VPN DNS to control the DNS cache.

Prefer SSL VPN DNS

When disabled, EMS does not add the custom DNS server from SSL VPN to the physical interface. When enabled, EMS prepends the custom DNS server from SSL VPN to the physical interface.

Do Not Accept Invalid Server Certificate

FortiClient does not complete the requested VPN connection when an invalid SSL VPN server certificate is used.

Enable Invalid Server Certificate Warning

Display a warning to the user that the certificate is invalid before attempting VPN connection.

When you click the Add Tunnel button in the VPN Tunnels section, you can create an SSL VPN tunnel using manual configuration or XML. For details on configuring a VPN tunnel using XML, see VPN. The following options are available for manual SSL VPN tunnel creation:

Basic Settings

Name

Enter a VPN name. Use only standard alphanumeric characters. Do not use symbols or accented characters.

Type

Select SSL VPN.

Remote Gateway

Enter the remote gateway IP address/hostname. You can configure multiple remote gateways by clicking the + button. If one gateway is not available, the tunnel connects to the next configured gateway.

Port

Enter the access port. The default port is 443.

Require Certificate

Require a certificate.

Prompt for Username

Prompt for the username when accessing VPN.

Split Tunnel

Application Based

Enable application-based split tunnel. FortiClient (Windows) supports source application-based split tunnel, where you can specify which application traffic to exclude from or include in the VPN tunnel. You can exclude high bandwidth-consuming applications for improved performance. For example, you can exclude applications like the following from the VPN tunnel:

  • Microsoft Office 365
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Skype
  • GoToMeeting
  • Zoom
  • WebEx
  • YouTube

Once the VPN tunnel is up, FortiClient binds the specified excluded applications to the physical interface.

Type

Select Include or Exclude to configure whether to include or exclude certain application traffic from the VPN tunnel.

Local Applications

You can only exclude local applications from the VPN tunnel. Click Add. In the Add Application(s) field, specify which application traffic to exclude from the VPN tunnel and redirect to the endpoint physical interface. You can specify an application using its process name, full path, or the directory where it is installed. When entering the directory, you must end the value with \. You can enter file and directory paths using environment variables, such as %LOCALAPPDATA%, %programfiles%, and %appdata%. Do not use spaces in the tail or head, or add double quotes to full paths with spaces. You can add multiple entries by separating them with a semicolon.

For example, to exclude Microsoft Teams and Firefox from the VPN tunnel, you can enter any of the following combinations:

  • Application Name: teams.exe;firefox.exe
  • Full Path: C:\Users\<username>appData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe;C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
  • Directory: C:\Users\<username>appData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\;C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\

To find a running application's full path, on the Details tab in Task Manager, add the Image path name column.

Select the application checkbox, then click Remove to remove it from the list.

Cloud Applications

You can exclude or include cloud applications. Click Add. In the list, select the desired applications, then click Add.

Select the application checkbox, then click Remove to remove it from the list.

Domain

You can exclude or include domains. After you exclude a domain, any associated traffic does not go through the VPN tunnel when accessed through a popular browser such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Click Add. In the Add Domain(s) field, enter the desired domains, using ; to configure multiple entries.

For example, if you configure the VPN tunnel to exclude youtube.com, youtube.com and *.youtube.com are excluded from the tunnel.

Select the application checkbox, then click Remove to remove it from the list.

Advanced Settings

Enable Single User Mode

Enable single user mode.

Show Passcode

Display Passcode instead of Password in the VPN tab in FortiClient.

Save Username

Save your username.

Allow Non-Administrators to Use Machine Certificates

Allow non-administrator users to use local machine certificates.

Enforce Acceptance of Disclaimer Message

Enable and enter a disclaimer message that appears when the user attempts VPN connection. The user must accept the message to allow connection.

Failover SSL VPN Connection

If the IPsec VPN connection fails, FortiClient attempts to connect to the specified SSL VPN tunnel.

Enable SAML Login

Enable SAML SSO login for this VPN tunnel. See SAML SSO.

Redundant Sort Method

How FortiClient determines the order in which to try connection to the SSL VPN servers when more than one is defined. FortiClient calculates the order before each SSL VPN connection attempt.

When Server is selected, FortiClient tries the order explicitly defined in the server settings.

When Ping Speed is selected, FortiClient determines the order by the ping response speed.

When TCP Round Trip Time is selected, FortiClient determines the order by the TCP round trip time.

Host Tag

Select Allow or Prohibit, then select the desired Zero Trust tag from the Select a Tag dropdown list. Tags only display in the list if they are already configured. See Zero Trust Tags.

You can use this feature to prohibit endpoints from connecting to the VPN tunnel when they do not meet certain criteria. For example, if you want to prohibit endpoints without up-to-date antivirus signatures from connecting to the VPN tunnel, you would do the following:

  1. Configure a Zero Trust tagging rule that tags all endpoints without up-to-date AV signatures. See Adding a Zero Trust tagging rule set.
  2. For the VPN tunnel settings, select Prohibit, then select the configured tag from the Select a Tag dropdown list.

Endpoints without up-to-date AV signatures are prohibited from connecting to the VPN tunnel.

Customize Host Check Fail Warning

Enable and configure a custom message to display to the user when EMS prohibits the endpoint from connecting to the VPN tunnel due to its applied Zero Trust tag.

For the example configuration in the Host Tag field description, you could configure a custom message to direct the user to update their AV signature, so that they can connect to the VPN tunnel afterward.

Show "Remember Password" Option

Show option to have the VPN tunnel remember the password. You must also enable this option on the FortiGate.

Show "Always Up" Option

Show option to have the VPN tunnel always up. You must also enable this option on the FortiGate.

Show "Auto Connect" Option

Automatically connect the VPN tunnel. You must also enable this option on the FortiGate. Automatic connection to the VPN tunnel may fail if the endpoint boots up with a user profile set to automatic logon.

On Connect Script

Enable the on connect script. Enter your script.

On Disconnect Script

Enable the disconnect script. Enter your script.

SSL VPN

This topic contains descriptions of SSL VPN settings:

Configuration

Description

SSL VPN

Enable SSL VPN.

DNS Cache Service Control

FortiClient disables Windows DNS cache when an SSL VPN tunnel is established. The DNS cache is restored after the SSL VPN tunnel disconnects. If you observe that FSSO clients function incorrectly when an SSL VPN tunnel is up, use Prefer SSL VPN DNS to control the DNS cache.

Prefer SSL VPN DNS

When disabled, EMS does not add the custom DNS server from SSL VPN to the physical interface. When enabled, EMS prepends the custom DNS server from SSL VPN to the physical interface.

Do Not Accept Invalid Server Certificate

FortiClient does not complete the requested VPN connection when an invalid SSL VPN server certificate is used.

Enable Invalid Server Certificate Warning

Display a warning to the user that the certificate is invalid before attempting VPN connection.

When you click the Add Tunnel button in the VPN Tunnels section, you can create an SSL VPN tunnel using manual configuration or XML. For details on configuring a VPN tunnel using XML, see VPN. The following options are available for manual SSL VPN tunnel creation:

Basic Settings

Name

Enter a VPN name. Use only standard alphanumeric characters. Do not use symbols or accented characters.

Type

Select SSL VPN.

Remote Gateway

Enter the remote gateway IP address/hostname. You can configure multiple remote gateways by clicking the + button. If one gateway is not available, the tunnel connects to the next configured gateway.

Port

Enter the access port. The default port is 443.

Require Certificate

Require a certificate.

Prompt for Username

Prompt for the username when accessing VPN.

Split Tunnel

Application Based

Enable application-based split tunnel. FortiClient (Windows) supports source application-based split tunnel, where you can specify which application traffic to exclude from or include in the VPN tunnel. You can exclude high bandwidth-consuming applications for improved performance. For example, you can exclude applications like the following from the VPN tunnel:

  • Microsoft Office 365
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Skype
  • GoToMeeting
  • Zoom
  • WebEx
  • YouTube

Once the VPN tunnel is up, FortiClient binds the specified excluded applications to the physical interface.

Type

Select Include or Exclude to configure whether to include or exclude certain application traffic from the VPN tunnel.

Local Applications

You can only exclude local applications from the VPN tunnel. Click Add. In the Add Application(s) field, specify which application traffic to exclude from the VPN tunnel and redirect to the endpoint physical interface. You can specify an application using its process name, full path, or the directory where it is installed. When entering the directory, you must end the value with \. You can enter file and directory paths using environment variables, such as %LOCALAPPDATA%, %programfiles%, and %appdata%. Do not use spaces in the tail or head, or add double quotes to full paths with spaces. You can add multiple entries by separating them with a semicolon.

For example, to exclude Microsoft Teams and Firefox from the VPN tunnel, you can enter any of the following combinations:

  • Application Name: teams.exe;firefox.exe
  • Full Path: C:\Users\<username>appData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe;C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
  • Directory: C:\Users\<username>appData\Local\Microsoft\Teams\current\;C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\

To find a running application's full path, on the Details tab in Task Manager, add the Image path name column.

Select the application checkbox, then click Remove to remove it from the list.

Cloud Applications

You can exclude or include cloud applications. Click Add. In the list, select the desired applications, then click Add.

Select the application checkbox, then click Remove to remove it from the list.

Domain

You can exclude or include domains. After you exclude a domain, any associated traffic does not go through the VPN tunnel when accessed through a popular browser such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Click Add. In the Add Domain(s) field, enter the desired domains, using ; to configure multiple entries.

For example, if you configure the VPN tunnel to exclude youtube.com, youtube.com and *.youtube.com are excluded from the tunnel.

Select the application checkbox, then click Remove to remove it from the list.

Advanced Settings

Enable Single User Mode

Enable single user mode.

Show Passcode

Display Passcode instead of Password in the VPN tab in FortiClient.

Save Username

Save your username.

Allow Non-Administrators to Use Machine Certificates

Allow non-administrator users to use local machine certificates.

Enforce Acceptance of Disclaimer Message

Enable and enter a disclaimer message that appears when the user attempts VPN connection. The user must accept the message to allow connection.

Failover SSL VPN Connection

If the IPsec VPN connection fails, FortiClient attempts to connect to the specified SSL VPN tunnel.

Enable SAML Login

Enable SAML SSO login for this VPN tunnel. See SAML SSO.

Redundant Sort Method

How FortiClient determines the order in which to try connection to the SSL VPN servers when more than one is defined. FortiClient calculates the order before each SSL VPN connection attempt.

When Server is selected, FortiClient tries the order explicitly defined in the server settings.

When Ping Speed is selected, FortiClient determines the order by the ping response speed.

When TCP Round Trip Time is selected, FortiClient determines the order by the TCP round trip time.

Host Tag

Select Allow or Prohibit, then select the desired Zero Trust tag from the Select a Tag dropdown list. Tags only display in the list if they are already configured. See Zero Trust Tags.

You can use this feature to prohibit endpoints from connecting to the VPN tunnel when they do not meet certain criteria. For example, if you want to prohibit endpoints without up-to-date antivirus signatures from connecting to the VPN tunnel, you would do the following:

  1. Configure a Zero Trust tagging rule that tags all endpoints without up-to-date AV signatures. See Adding a Zero Trust tagging rule set.
  2. For the VPN tunnel settings, select Prohibit, then select the configured tag from the Select a Tag dropdown list.

Endpoints without up-to-date AV signatures are prohibited from connecting to the VPN tunnel.

Customize Host Check Fail Warning

Enable and configure a custom message to display to the user when EMS prohibits the endpoint from connecting to the VPN tunnel due to its applied Zero Trust tag.

For the example configuration in the Host Tag field description, you could configure a custom message to direct the user to update their AV signature, so that they can connect to the VPN tunnel afterward.

Show "Remember Password" Option

Show option to have the VPN tunnel remember the password. You must also enable this option on the FortiGate.

Show "Always Up" Option

Show option to have the VPN tunnel always up. You must also enable this option on the FortiGate.

Show "Auto Connect" Option

Automatically connect the VPN tunnel. You must also enable this option on the FortiGate. Automatic connection to the VPN tunnel may fail if the endpoint boots up with a user profile set to automatic logon.

On Connect Script

Enable the on connect script. Enter your script.

On Disconnect Script

Enable the disconnect script. Enter your script.