Is it just that Im kinda lost here or is Fortinet using tricks to nudge ppl over to the paid tiers of Forticlient?
Until a couple years ago Forticlient autoupdate worked, not perfect but better than nothing. Last couple years , the update logs on the client just says “No updates available” even if client is several versions behind.
So for updating, if I’m using the online installer , the user settings are preserved. However , slow install process, both download and the install itself.
Then, was able to pull the MSI file and distribute with e.g SCCM. Installs smoothly - but wipes all VPN settings when upgrading.
Now, the latest version, I upgraded forticlient on 2 pcs yesterday - now they try to force me to register name+email before I can download the online installer.
well, sorry for my whining, if there are tips/tricks I’ve missed re: keeping FC updated I’m all ears
EMS/FCT is cheap enough that anyone should be able to purchase it, especially the VPN/ztna sku. Use this along with your favourite app distribution tool. Done.
Forticlient has given us so much uphill on mac and Linux we ended up just using openfortivpn
well, those prices was nowhere as bad as I thought, should be doable to sell in as an improvement in security posture also.
(… but I still can’t help being a little peeved when vendors intentionally cripples their software over time…)
Don’t want to run a server though
Openfortivpn is great and works better than their version.
I’ve also worked a lot with certificates and using ike2 ipsec VPN with native Windows and Apple clients to avoid the vulnerabilities and poor performance.
Semi-agreed with you. Fortinet have provided info through the channel and partners over the last 5 years about changes in FCT. Their view is that it is or will be an all-in-one endpoint client covering security, remote access, idm and endpoint management. There was even an idea at one point of folding edr into FCT.
It’s up to the user then to choose the sku, enabled modules and features.
Then use their cloud hosted version, less cheap but still not too bad
I use the cloud hosted version for ~170 clients, vpn and ZTNA. Works well.
