Design considerations

You can edit the FortiClient configuration file. The file uses XML format for easy parsing and validation. The configuration file includes all client configurations and references the client certificates.

Input validation

The import function performs basic validation and writes to log when it finds errors or warnings. The function defines default values for omitted items for VPN connections. For other settings, the function ignores omitted values.

Handling password fields

When exporting, FortiClient encrypts password and username fields (prefixed with Enc). However, the import function can take the clear text or encrypted format.

Importing configuration file segments

Importing a segment of a configuration file is valid. However, the segment should follow the syntax and level that this document defines. For example, the following is a valid segment:

<?xml version=”1.0” encoding=”utf-8”?>

<forticlient_configuration>

<VPN>

<SSLVPN>

<connections>

<connection>

// connection 1

</connection>

</connections>

</SSLVPN>

</VPN>

</forticlient_configuration>

This is an invalid segment:

<?xml version=”1.0” encoding=”utf-8”?>

<connections>

<connection>

// connection 1

</connection>

</connections>

Client certificate

The configuration file includes the client certificate(s) when exported in an encrypted format.