FortiClient (macOS) CLI commands

The following summarizes the CLI commands available for FortiClient (macOS) 7.2.4:

Endpoint control

FortiClient 7.2.4 must establish a Telemetry connection to EMS to receive license information. FortiClient features are only enabled after connecting to EMS.

Usage

You can access endpoint control features through the epctrl CLI command. This command offers the end user the ability to connect or disconnect from EMS and check the connection status. You can access usage information by using the following commands:

➜  ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -h
FortiClient Endpoint Control

Usage:

  /Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -r|--register <address/invitation> [-p|--port <port>] [-s|--site <site>] [-k|--key <key>] [-m|--remember]
  /Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -u|--unregister [-k|--key <key>]
  /Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -d|--details
  /Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -t|--trust accept|deny
  /Library/Application Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -a|--auth

Options:
  -h --help        Show the help screen
  -r --register    Register using an EMS address or an invitation code
  -p --port        EMS port, ignored if registering by invitation code (Optional, 8013 by default)
  -s --site        EMS site, ignored if registering by invitation code (Optional, "Default" by default)
  -u --deregister  Deregister from the current EMS
  -k --key         Key for registering/deregistering from EMS if required. Will prompt for user input if key verification fails or no key is given
  -m --remember    Remember the given connection key specified by -k|--key when registering to EMS (Optional, will not remember the key by default)
  -t --trust       Trust or deny a pending invalid EMS certificate
  -a --auth        Initializes the authentication process if user authentication is enabled on EMS
  -d --details     Show telemetry details and status

Connecting to on-premise EMS

FortiClient can connect to on-premise EMS using the following commands. If EMS is listening on the default port, 8013, you do not need to specify the port number. If EMS is listening on another port, such as 8444, you must specify the port number with the EMS IP address. The example illustrates both use cases.

Connecting to on-premise EMS using an invitation code (SAML configured)

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -r <invitation_code>

SAML URL: {SAML_url}

Username: Connected!

Connecting to on-premise EMS using IP address and default port

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -r 172.18.60.251

Registering to EMS 172.17.60.251:8013.

Connecting to on-premise EMS using IP address and non-default port

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -r 172.18.60.251 -p 8444

Registering to EMS 172.17.60.251:8444.

Connecting to on-premise EMS with multitenancy enabled

If EMS multitenancy is enabled, you can also specify the site name. If connecting to the default site, you do not need to provide a site name. The example illustrates connecting to a site named "headquarters".

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -r 172.18.60.251 -s headquarters

Disconnecting from EMS

➜  ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -u     
Deregistered

Specifying and remembering required connection key

EMS may require a connection key for FortiClient to connect.

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -r 172.18.60.251 -k <connection_key> -m

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -u -k <connection_key>

Trusting or denying pending invalid EMS certificate

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -t accept|deny

Initializing authentication process if EMS has enabled user authentication

➜ ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -a

Showing telemetry details and status

The following example shows output when FortiClient is not connected to EMS:

➜  ~ /Library/Application\ Support/Fortinet/FortiClient/bin/epctrl -d       

=====================================
 FortiClient License Details
=====================================
Last EMS Access Time:  Never Accessed
License Expiry:       Unlicensed
VPN Expiry:           Wed Feb 14 11:14:58 2024 PST

=====================================
 FortiClient EMS Details
=====================================
No telemetry data available.