Manual Chapter : BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows

Applies To:

Show Versions

BIG-IP APM

17.1.2, 17.1.1, 17.1.0, 17.0.0, 16.1.5, 16.1.4, 16.1.3, 16.1.2, 16.1.1, 16.1.0, 16.0.1, 16.0.0, 15.1.9, 15.1.8, 15.1.7, 15.1.6, 15.1.5, 15.1.4, 15.1.3, 15.1.2, 15.1.1, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.5, 14.1.4, 14.1.3, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0, 13.1.5, 13.1.4, 13.1.3, 13.1.1, 13.1.0

BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows

About Component Installer

The Component Installer service enables you to install and upgrade client-side Access Policy Manager (APM) components on Windows-based clients for all kinds of user accounts, regardless of the rights under which the user is working. This component is especially useful for installing and upgrading client-side components when the user has insufficient rights to install or upgrade the components directly.

After you install the Component Installer, it automatically installs and upgrades client-side APM components. It can also update itself. The Component Installer requires that installation or upgrade packages be signed using the F5 Networks certificate or another trusted certificate. By default, F5 Networks signs all components using the F5 Networks certificate.

Downloading and installing the Component Installer

You can pre-install client components for your users who do not have administrative privileges on Windows-based systems.

On the Main screen, click the F5 logo to display the Welcome page.

Scroll to the Downloads area.

In the links for BIG-IP Edge Client Components, click

Component Installer Package for Windows

The MSI installer downloads to your local folder.

On Windows-based clients, install the Component Installer with elevated privileges so that it can install, upgrade, and run APM components that require elevated privileges.

For information about configuring the MSI installer to run with elevated privileges, see the documentation for your operating system.

Overview: Configuring and installing Edge Client for Windows

Users of BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows can connect securely and automatically to your network while roaming using the automatic reconnect, password caching, and location awareness features of Edge Client. You can also enforce Always Connected mode, and configure the list of trusted sites to which to allow access. You can customize the client package and you must download it and make it available to users as hosted content on the BIG-IP system or through another delivery mechanism. Users must install the package, or Component Installer, if available on the client, can install it for them.

About Machine Cert Auth and user privilege

A Machine Cert Auth check requires administrative privilege. The Windows client package associated with a connectivity profile can be configured to include a Machine Certificate Checker Service component. The service can check the machine certificate on a client endpoint even when the user does not have admin privilege. The option to include this component in the package is disabled by default.

About Edge Client location awareness

The BIG-IP Edge Client provides a location-awareness feature. Using location awareness, the client connects automatically only when it is not on a specified network. The administrator specifies the networks that are considered in-network, by adding DNS suffixes to the connectivity profile. With a location-aware client enabled, a user with a corporate laptop can go from a corporate office, with a secured wireless or wired network connection, to an offsite location with a public wireless network connection, and maintain a seamless connection to allowed corporate resources. Network location-awareness can be triggered to run because of various reasons, such as IP changes and network interfaces starting up or shutting down. In reconnect mode, Edge Client might briefly establish a VPN tunnel before the network location-awareness feature can disconnect it. The Edge Client matches DNS suffixes reported by the system API to detect network location.

During a network switch, such as changing Wifi connections, Edge Client with network location-awareness must detect whether the new connection is local or remote. During this detection timeframe, there is a brief amount of time that Edge Client does not block certain external websites and can be reachable during the network switch.

About Edge Client automatic reconnection

BIG-IP Edge Client provides an automatic reconnection feature. This feature attempts to automatically reconnect the client system to corporate network resources whenever the client connection drops or ends prematurely.

About Always Connected mode

BIG-IP Edge Client® provides Always Connected mode. This feature allows you to specify that the client is always connected to the VPN, and allows you to configure the behavior when the client is not connected. You can specify whether the client is connected automatically after Windows logon, and configure exclusion addresses.

Configuring a connectivity profile for Edge Client for Windows

Update the connectivity profile in your Network Access configuration to configure security settings, servers, OAuth settings, and location-awareness for BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Connectivity / VPN

Connectivity

Profiles

A list of connectivity profiles displays.

Select the connectivity profile that you want to update and click

Edit Profile

The Edit Connectivity Profile popup screen opens and displays General Settings.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

Win/Mac Edge Client

Edge Client settings for Mac and Windows-based systems display in the right pane.

Set Edge Client action settings:

Retain the default (selected) or clear the

Save Servers Upon Exit

check box.

Specifies whether Edge Client maintains a list of recently used user-entered APM servers. Edge Client always lists the servers that are defined in the connectivity profile, and sorts them by most recent access, whether this option is selected or not.

To enable the client to try to use the Windows logon session for an APM session also, select the

Reuse Windows Logon Session

check box.

This is cleared by default.

To enable the client to try to use the credentials that they typed for Windows logon in an APM session also, select the

Reuse Windows Logon Credentials

check box.

This is cleared by default.

To support this option, you must also include the

User Logon Credentials Access Service

in the Windows client package for this connectivity profile and you must ensure that the access policy includes an uncustomized

Logon Page

action.

To enable the client to launch an administrator-defined script on session termination, select the

Run session log off script

check box. The administrator specifies parameters which are passed by Edge Client to the script file. These parameters are defined by the session variable

session.edgeclient.scripting.logoff.params

. The client retrieves parameters from BIG-IP after session establishment. The administrator has the flexibility to set up variable values according to policy branching. Each time the Edge Client closes an APM session, the configured script is invoked. On Windows, the script is located at

C:\Program Files\F5 VPN\scripts\onSessionTermination.bat

The

Run session log off script

check box is cleared by default.

To enable the client to display a warning before launching the pre-defined script on session termination, select

Show warning to user before launching script

check box.

This is selected by default.

To support automatic reconnection without the need to provide credentials again, allow password caching.

Select the

Allow Password Caching

check box.

This check box is cleared by default.

The remaining settings on the screen become available.

From the

Save Password Method

list, select

disk

memory

If you select

disk

, Edge Client caches the user's password (in encrypted form) securely on the disk where it is persisted even after the system is restarted or Edge Client is restarted.

If you select

memory

, Edge Client caches the user's password within the BIG-IP Edge Client application for automatic reconnection purposes.

If you select

memory

, the

Password Cache Expiration (minutes)

field displays with a default value of 240.

If the

Password Cache Expiration (minutes)

field displays, retain the default value or type the number of minutes to save the password in memory. The valid value is between

and

4294967295

To enable automatic download and update of client packages, from the

Component Update

list, select

yes

(default).

If you select

yes

, APM updates Edge Client software automatically on the client system when newer versions are available. This option applies to updates for these components only: BIG-IP Edge Client, component installer service, DNS relay proxy service, and user logon credentials access service.

Beginning BIG-IP version 16.0.0, connectivity profile has optional

OAuth Settings

that Edge Client will use for authenticating Native Apps using OpenID Connect specification. When OAuth is configured, the end-users are required to authenticate via the OAuth authentication flow. This OIDC support provides consistent authentication experience by enabling two-factor verification and Single Sign-On across Browser and Edge Client.

For security reasons, when configuring for OAuth settings, ensure that the BIG-IP local traffic policy enforces HTTPS by redirecting HTTP requests to HTTPS for a virtual server on the BIG-IP system. Refer OIDC RFC for details on OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

OAuth Settings

Select the OAuth provider in the

Provider

list. If you select

None

, OAuth configuration is disabled.

Specify the OAuth Client ID identifier in the

Client ID

field. The client identifier is not a secret and is exposed by the BIG-IP APM virtual server. OAuth configuration is disabled if client ID is not specified.

Specify the scopes that will be requested by the client in the

Scopes

field. The value of the scope parameter is expressed as a list of space-delimited, case-sensitive strings defined by the authorization server. When using multiple strings, the order does not matter. All printable ASCII characters are allowed excluding quote (") and backslash (\).

In the

Complete Redirection URI

field, enter the optional URI for OAuth client to be directed to when authentication completes or fails. The default APM page is used if this URI is not specified. The URI should start with "https://", "http://" or "/".

Refer section

Configuring policies for OAuth client and resource server

in the

BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: OAuth Concepts and Configuration

for details on adding an OAuth Resource Server to the access policy.

Specify the list of APM servers to provide when the client connects.

The servers you add here display as connection options in the BIG-IP Edge Client.

Users can select from these servers or they can type a hostname.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

Server List

A table displays in the right pane.

Click

Add

A table row becomes available for update.

You must type a host name in the

Host Name

field.

Typing an alias in the

Alias

field is optional.

Click

Update

The new row is added at the top of the table.

Continue to add servers, and when you are done, click

Specify DNS suffixes that are in the local network.

Providing a list of DNS suffixes for the download package enables Edge Client to support the autoconnect option. With

Auto-Connect

selected, Edge Client uses the DNS suffixes to automatically connect when a client is not on the local network (not on the list) and automatically disconnect when the client is on the local network.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

Location DNS List

Location DNS list information is displayed in the right pane.

Click

Add

An update row becomes available.

Type a name and click

Update

Type a DNS suffix that conforms to the rules specified for the local network.

The new row displays at the top of the table.

Continue to add DNS names and when you are done, click

Click

The popup screen closes, and the Connectivity Profile List displays.

Configuring Always Connected mode for the Windows Edge Client

Update the connectivity profile in your Network Access configuration to configure Always Connected mode.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Connectivity/VPN

Connectivity

Profiles

Select the connectivity profile that you want to update and click

Edit Profile

The Edit Connectivity Profile popup screen opens and displays General Settings.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

Win/Mac Edge Client

Edge Client settings for Mac and Windows-based systems display in the right pane.

Set Edge Client action settings:

Retain the default (selected) or clear the

Save Servers Upon Exit

check box.

To enable the client to try to use the Windows logon session for an APM session also, select the

Reuse Windows Logon Session

check box.

This is cleared by default.

To enable the client to try to use the credentials that they typed for Windows logon in an APM session also, select the

Reuse Windows Logon Credentials

check box.

This is cleared by default.

To support this option, you must also include the

User Logon Credentials Access Service

in the Windows client package for this connectivity profile and you must ensure that the access policy includes an uncustomized

Logon Page

action.

To support automatic reconnection without the need to provide credentials again, allow password caching.

Select the

Allow Password Caching

check box.

This check box is cleared by default.

The remaining settings on the screen become available.

From the

Save Password Method

list, select

disk

memory

If you select

disk

, Edge Client caches the user's password (in encrypted form) securely on the disk where it is persisted even after the system is restarted or Edge Client is restarted.

If you select

memory

, Edge Client caches the user's password within the BIG-IP Edge Client application for automatic reconnection purposes.

If you select

memory

, the

Password Cache Expiration (minutes)

field displays with a default value of 240.

If the

Password Cache Expiration (minutes)

field displays, retain the default value or type the number of minutes to save the password in memory.

To enable automatic download and update of client packages, from the

Component Update

list, select

yes

(default).

If you select

yes

Specify DNS suffixes that are in the local network.

Providing a list of DNS suffixes for the download package enables Edge Client to support the autoconnect option. With

Auto-Connect

selected, Edge Client uses the DNS suffixes to automatically connect when a client is not on the local network (not on the list) and automatically disconnect when the client is on the local network.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

Location DNS List

Location DNS list information is displayed in the right pane.

Click

Add

An update row becomes available.

Type a name and click

Update

Type a DNS suffix that conforms to the rules specified for the local network.

The new row displays at the top of the table.

Continue to add DNS names and when you are done, click

Click

The popup screen closes, and the Connectivity Profile List displays.

Customizing a downloadable client package for Windows

Customize a Windows client package to specify the client components to install, and to customize settings for BIG-IP Edge Client and Dialup Settings components if you include them.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Connectivity / VPN

Connectivity

Profiles

A list of connectivity profiles displays.

Select a connectivity profile.

Click the

Customize Package

button.

The Customize Windows Client Package popup screen displays with Available Components displayed.

Make sure that only the components that you want to include in the package are selected.

To include the software service that allows the client to store encrypted Windows logon credentials and use those credentials to log on to APM, select the

User Logon Credentials Access Service

check box.

For clients to use the service, you must also select the

Reuse Windows Logon Credentials

check box in the connectivity profile.

To include a service that can check the machine certificate on a client endpoint even when the user does not have the admin privilege, select the

Machine Certificate Checker Service

check box.

Without this service, a user running without admin privilege cannot pass the Machine Cert Auth endpoint security check.

If the

BIG-IP Edge Client

check box is selected, from the left pane select

BIG-IP Edge Client

BIG-IP Edge Client settings display in the right pane.

To enable the Edge Client to try to connect to VPN right after the user logs on to Windows and to prohibit the user from disconnecting VPN, select the

Enable always connected mode

check box. This setting is cleared by default.

Specify the traffic flow for this feature when the VPN is disconnected.

Select

Allow

to allow all traffic when the VPN is disconnected.

Select

Allow-Only-In-Enterprise-LAN

to allow LAN traffic only when the VPN is disconnected.

Select

Block

to deny all traffic when the VPN is disconnected.

To add the virtual servers that are defined in the Windows/Mac Edge Client settings of the connectivity profile to the Windows Trusted sites list the first time the client starts, retain selection of the

Add virtual server to trusted sites list

check box. Otherwise, clear it.

Virtual servers added to the Trusted sites list with this option remain on the trusted sites list indefinitely. This works with the

User Logon Credentials Access Service

setting (available on the Available Components screen) to provide seamless logon with Edge Client if APM accepts the same credentials that users use to log on to Windows.

To automatically start the Edge Client after the user logs on to Windows, retain selection of the

Auto launch after Windows Logon

check box. Otherwise, clear it.

To add sites to the Exclusions list to be excluded from the traffic flow options action, click

Add

, and add the IP address or FQDN. You can add a total of 10 values to the whitelist. However, this list can be extended on client-side using the registry editor or group policy.

Screenshot Customize Window Client Package — Configured exclusion list

When you specify the port after the hostname (for both IPv4 or DNS names), then access will be granted only to specified ports for both TCP and UDP protocols as well as for ICMP. When the port is not specified, then full access is granted to a remote host.

To customize Dialup Settings (if selected on the Available Components screen), from the left pane select

Dialup Settings

Dialup Entry / Windows Logon Integration settings display in the right pane.

With

Dialup Settings

selected, you can specify how you want the user to authenticate to APM.

Users must always type a user name and password to log on to Windows. Subsequently, clients authenticate to APM.

If you want the access policy to run and display a screen where the user must click

Logon

, select the

Enforce Access Policy in Custom Dialer

check box and clear the

Prompt Username and Password

check box. (With these settings, username and password fields are prefilled and the access policy runs.)

If you want the user to view a logon prompt and click

Connect

, clear the

Enforce Access Policy in Custom Dialer

check box and select the

Prompt Username and Password

check box. (With these settings, username and password fields are prefilled and the access policy does not run.)

If you do not want the user to do anything to authenticate to APM, clear the

Enforce Access Policy in Custom Dialer

and

Prompt Username and Password

check boxes. (With these settings, the access policy does not run, and the logon prompt is suppressed.)

Click

Download

The screen closes and the package,

BIGIPEdgeClient.exe

, downloads.

The customized package,

BIGIPEdgeClient.exe

, is downloaded to your client. It is available for you to distribute.

About exclusion list modification

The exclusion addresses are stored as registry keys and not values in the registry in

HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\F5 Networks\RemoteAccess\AlwaysConnected\Exclusions

key. Any values in the key are ignored. You may manually add, edit or remove values under this key using the registry editor or group policy mechanisms. The always-connected service reads those values on start, restart and on network events.

The traffic to the exclusion list is never blocked until the VPN is established, so you can whitelist known identity providers (IdPs) and other sites that are deemed harmless, which improves the usability of locked client mode. After the VPN establishment, the client behaves according to the Network Access resource configuration.

Downloading the client package for Windows

You can download a Windows client package and distribute it to clients.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Connectivity / VPN

Connectivity

Profiles

A list of connectivity profiles displays.

Select a connectivity profile.

Click the

Customize Package

button.

The Customize Windows Client Package popup screen displays with Available Components displayed.

Click

Download

The screen closes and the package,

BIGIPEdgeClient.exe

, downloads.

The customized package,

BIGIPEdgeClient.exe

, is downloaded to your client. It is available for you to distribute. Users must install the package, or, if Component Installer is available on the client, it can install the package for the user.

About Network Access features for Windows-based clients

Access Policy Manager (APM®) supports all Network Access features with BIG-IP Edge Client® for Windows. For a complete list of Network Access features, refer to

BIG-IP Access Policy Manager: Network Access

on AskF5™ at

http://support.f5.com/

. For notes about endpoint security features, refer to

BIG-IP APM® Client Compatibility Matrix

on AskF5™ at

http://support.f5.com/

About connection options on Edge Client for Windows

Edge Client User Interface on Windows

Screenshot Edge Client for Windows — User interface on Windows

BIG-IP Edge Client® for Windows user interface displays these connection options.

Auto-Connect: Starts a secure access connection as it is needed. This option uses the DNS suffix information defined in the connectivity profile to determine when the computer is on a defined local network. When the computer is not on a defined local network, the secure access connection starts. When the computer is on a local network, the client disconnects, but remains active in the system tray. This option does not display if DNS suffixes were not defined.
Connect: Starts and maintains a secure access connection at all times, regardless of the network location.
Disconnect: Stops an active secure access connection, and prevents the client from connecting again until a user clicks
Connect
or
Auto-Connect
.
Connect: Starts and maintains a secure access connection at all times, regardless of the network location.

User Interface when OAuth is in progress

Screenshot Edge Client for windows when OAuth is progress — User interface on Windows when OAuth is in progress

The Edge Client User Interface displays the VPN status while the OAuth authentication is in progress.

Authenticating in Browser...: Indicates that the user authentication using the OAuth 2.0 flow is in progress.

User Interface when OAuth is in progress in an Always Connected mode

Edge Client for Windows supports authentication of Native Apps using OpenID Connect specification in an Always connected mode. When OAuth is configured, the end-users are required to authenticate via the OAuth authentication flow.

BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows user interface displays the following additional settings for an OAuth authorization flow in an Always connected mode:

Authenticating in Browser...: Indicates that the user authentication using the OAuth 2.0 flow is in progress.
Click here to retry authentication: This link allows the user to retry authentication manually if the browser window has accidentally closed before the user is authenticated using the OAuth 2.0 flow.

About OIDC Support in Edge Client for Windows

Edge Client for Windows supports authentication of Native Apps using OpenID Connect specification. When OAuth is configured, the end-users are required to authenticate via the OAuth authentication flow. The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework describes the method of authorization and defines client, resource server, and identity provider roles. OpenID Connect is built on top of OAuth 2.0 and complements the OAuth 2.0 Authorization framework.

The OIDC support provides consistent authentication experience by enabling two-factor verification and Single Sign-On across Browser and Edge Client. It provides:

Ability to use security keys (Yubikey) as an additional factor of authentication for Edge Client (For example, U2F).

Ability to support password-less authentication through public key registration and authentication.

Single Sign-On for Edge Client and other enterprise apps that share a common IDP.

Beginning BIG-IP version 16.0.0, connectivity profile has optional

OAuth Settings

using which administrators can specify the OIDC authorization server discovery endpoint, Client ID, Scopes, and the Complete Redirection URI.

The OAuth authorization flow for Native Apps using the browser is as follows:

The Edge Client queries the authorization server details from BIG-IP and opens the browser tab with the authorization request.

The authorization endpoint receives the authorization request, authenticates the user, and obtains authorization.

The authorization server then issues an authorization code to the redirect URI.

The Edge Client receives the authorization code and responds with HTTP 302 redirect URI to the

Complete Redirection URI

page on the BIG-IP APM or external web server.

The browser issues a request to the

Complete Redirection URI

page and receives a response from the BIG-IP APM or external web server.

The Edge Client presents the authorization code at the token endpoint, which validates the authorization code and issues the tokens requested.

The Edge Client provides a token in the session authorization request to BIG-IP APM.

The BIG-IP system allows or denies access to the APM session.

When the Edge Client opens the browser for OAuth 2.0 authentication, the client displays the status as

Authenticating in browser...

, indicating that the browser has been opened for the authentication, and the Edge Client is waiting for the authorization code. In case of an error, a window with a BIG-IP logout page and an error message are displayed.

Error Codes in case of OAuth failure

The following error codes might be displayed in the Edge Client logs in case of various failures.

Error Code Hex Value	Description
0xA0040300	OAuth parameters are not configured.
0xA0040301	Access Token was not retrieved.
0xA0040302	Failure to initiate Async OAuth flow in the OAuth library.
0xA0040303	API Client DLL is in the process of performing high level Async OAuth login and/or APM login.

About browser-based connections from Linux, Mac, and Windows clients

For Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows-based systems, the Network Access client component is available for automatic download from the BIG-IP system.

The client component supports secure remote web-based access to the network. It is not the same as the customizable client package that is associated with the connectivity profile.

The first time a remote user starts Network Access, APM® downloads a client component. This client component is designed to be self-installing and self-configuring. If the browser does not meet certain requirements, APM prompts the user to download the client component and install it manually.

About machine tunnels for Windows

Machine Tunnels are a new Desktop Client feature for Windows only. When installed on client machines as a Windows Service, a machine tunnel starts during the machine boot sequence and establishes a VPN connection to the specified APM servers in the background. No user interaction or interactive Windows session is required. This can be used for several different scenarios.

Off-premise or remote initial provisioning

: Machine tunnels can provide connectivity to the corporate datacenter when the user logs in to a corporate laptop for the very first time.

Remote computer maintenance

: IT staff can manage the machine and update the software when the user is not logged in, but the device is on and idle.

Remote troubleshooting

: Support Staff are able to log into a user machine via a secure tunnel.

Remote self-service

: When users forget their passwords, IT staff can use machine tunnels to reset the user passwords.

About machine tunnels and proxy servers

Machine Tunnel works as a privileged, non-interactive process under the LocalSystem account and does not support BIG-IP proxy configuration. Machine Tunnels ignore proxy settings configured in APM network access resource and do not use Local Area Network (LAN) proxy settings on the client, instead, the machine tunnel leaves its per-VPN connection proxy settings empty.

If the network access resource has a network route to 0.0.0.0 and the VPN is connected, Windows tries to apply proxy settings from this connection. Because the connection does not have proxy settings, Windows applies empty proxy settings. If the network access resource does not have a route to 0.0.0.0, Windows does not override the system's proxy settings.

Windows has separate proxy settings for the LAN adapter and each Dial-Up/VPN connection. It uses the proxy settings from the active internet connection which can be either LAN or a Dial-Up/VPN type. When Machine Tunnels are connected with the default full tunnel (0.0.0.0) routing, it is the Active Internet Connection, and Windows uses its empty proxy settings. This results in an effective configuration without proxy regardless of the current LAN settings.

To resolve this issue, split the VPN tunnel resource into multiple subnets. As a result, the machine tunnel VPN client does not create any 0.0.0.0 route.

For example:

1.0.0.0/255.0.0.0

2.0.0.0/254.0.0.0

4.0.0.0/252.0.0.0

8.0.0.0/248.0.0.0

16.0.0.0/240.0.0.0

32.0.0.0/224.0.0.0

64.0.0.0/192.0.0.0

128.0.0.0/128.0.0.0

After this routing change, Windows does not consider the machine tunnel VPN as the primary internet connection and uses the LAN proxy settings regardless of the VPN connection status.

About desktop client interactions with machine tunnels

The service establishes a machine tunnel connection on system boot. Once a user logs in to her machine, the user can establish a new VPN connection with the desktop client. A manual client VPN connection overrides the machine tunnel, effectively putting the machine tunnel connection "on hold". The machine tunnel VPN connection pauses until one of the following events occurs:

The user explicitly disconnects from the user-initiated VPN session.

The user logs out of Windows.

The user-initiated VPN session times out.

The user's VPN client is stopped, or the client crashes.

Once one of the interactions above occurs, the machine tunnel connection is resumed.

About creating the machine tunnel installer package

Edge Client 7.1.7 and later supports the ability to create a VPN based on machine credentials with BIG-IP versions 13.1 and above. However, the ability to create a Machine Tunnel installer package through the

Connectivity/VPN

Profiles

Customize Windows Client Package

utility is available for BIG-IP 14.x and above. For BIG-IP 13.x and earlier versions, you must set up the installer package manually and use the Powershell script to build the machine tunnel package.

PowerShell script to create the machine tunnel installer

This script can be used to create the machine tunnel installer on Windows.

PowerShell script createMachineTunnelsPkg.ps1

param([Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][string] $client_iso)

$MountResult = Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath $client_iso -PassThru
$mountdrive = ($MountResult | Get-Volume).DriveLetter

$tempDirectoryBase = [System.IO.Path]::GetTempPath();
Do {
	$newTempDirPath = [String]::Empty;
	[string] $name = [System.Guid]::NewGuid();
$newTempDirPath = (Join-Path $tempDirectoryBase $name);
} While (Test-Path $newTempDirPath);

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $newTempDirPath;


$setupConfig = @"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<CLIENT_CONFIGURATOR>
 <SETUP_CONFIGURATION>
  <PRODUCTNAME>BIG-IP Edge Client (TM) package</PRODUCTNAME>
  <DATABASE>f5fpclients.msi</DATABASE>
  <MINIMUM_MSI>150</MINIMUM_MSI>
  <PROPERTIES>STARTAPPWITHWINDOWS=1</PROPERTIES>
  <OPERATION>INSTALLUPD</OPERATION>
 </SETUP_CONFIGURATION>
 <FEATURES>
  <FEATURE>MachineTunnelService</FEATURE>
  <FEATURE>PortRedirector</FEATURE>
 </FEATURES>
<STONEWALL_EXCLUSIONS>
</STONEWALL_EXCLUSIONS>
</CLIENT_CONFIGURATOR>
"@

$setupConfig | Add-Content (-join ($newTempDirPath, "\_setup_configuration_.f5c"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\f5fpclients.msi")) -Destination (-join ($newTempDirPath, "\f5fpclients.msi"));
$F5_VPNPath = (Join-Path $newTempDirPath "F5 VPN");
$amd64Path = (Join-Path $F5_VPNPath "amd64");
$F5_TMPPath = (Join-Path $F5_VPNPath "F5_TMP");

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $F5_VPNPath;
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $amd64Path;
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $F5_TMPPath;

Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\F5MachineTunnelService.exe")) -Destination (-join ($F5_VPNPath, "\F5MachineTunnelService.exe"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\scew_uls.dll")) -Destination (-join ($F5_VPNPath, "\scew_uls.dll"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\F5MachineTunnelInfo.exe")) -Destination (-join ($F5_VPNPath, "\F5MachineTunnelInfo.exe"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\F5FltSrv.exe")) -Destination (-join ($F5_VPNPath, "\F5FltSrv.exe"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\F5FltDrv.sys")) -Destination (-join ($F5_VPNPath, "\F5FltDrv.sys"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\F5FltSrvAMD64.exe")) -Destination (-join ($amd64Path, "\F5FltSrv.exe"));
Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\F5FltDrvAMD64.sys")) -Destination (-join ($amd64Path, "\F5FltDrv.sys"));

Copy-Item -Path (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\urxvpn.cab")) -Destination (-join ($F5_TMPPath, "\urxvpn.cab"));

Set-Location $newTempDirPath;
$pkgPath = (Join-Path $tempDirectoryBase "MachineTunnelsSetup.exe")
zip -r  (-join ($newTempDirPath, ".zip")) "F5 VPN" _setup_configuration_.f5c f5fpclients.msi

gc (-join ($mountdrive, ":\sam\www\webtop\public\download\setupstub.exe")),(-join ($newTempDirPath, ".zip")) -Enc Byte -Read 512 | sc $pkgPath -Enc Byte

Create the machine tunnel install package

Following are the prerequisites for creating an installer package on BIG-IP versions that do not include the machine tunnel installer:

Desktop APM Clients ISO 7.1.7 or later, available from downloads.f5.com.

GNU win32 zip package, installed and available in the path. Get this package from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/downlinks/zip.php.

A PowerShell script,

createMachineTunnelsPgk.ps1

, used to create machine tunnels. This script is included for reference. Download or create the PowerShell script to a user temp directory.

Administrator privileges on a Windows 10 machine.

Windows PowerShell with an unrestricted execution policy. If not already configured, you can set the unrestricted execution policy for PowerShell by starting power shell as an administrator, and executing the following command at the PowerShell prompt:

set-executionpolicy unrestricted

Use these steps to manually create the installer package.

Open a PowerShell window.

Run the PowerShell script

createMachineTunnelsPkg.ps1

, with the path to the APM Desktop client 7.1.7 ISO as the parameter.

C:\users\example_user\temp\createMachineTunnelsPkg.ps1 c:\Users\example_user\Downloads\apmclients-7166.2018.307.1909-2552.0.iso

The installer package is created and made available under the temp directory, as

MachineTunnelsSetup.exe

You can use

MachineTunnelsSetup.exe

to install the Machine Tunnels service on Windows 10 client machines.

Apps installed for machine tunnel support

These apps are installed to support machine tunnels on Windows.

App	Location	Description
f5MachineTunnelService.exe	%WINDIR%\SysWOW64 (64-bit), %WINDIR%\System32 (32-bit)	The machine tunnel service runs on the machine to provide machine tunnel functionality.
f5MachineTunnelInfo.exe	%WINDIR%\SysWOW64 (64-bit), %WINDIR%\System32 (32-bit)	The console application for the machine tunnel, which provides configuration support and allows the user to get additional information about the service.

Registry keys for machine tunnel configuration

These registry keys control configuration for machine tunnels on Windows.

VPN Servers (Required Parameter)

This key should be created in

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\F5MachineTunnelService\Parameters\VPNServers

Name	Registry Type	Type	Description	Default
Server0	REG_SZ	URL	The URL to which the VPN connects. Only one VPN server URL is supported. For example, https://vpn.company.com/ .

Connection Parameters (Optional)

These keys should be created in

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\F5MachineTunnelService\Parameters

. If the keys are not created, then the default values will be used for these parameters.

Name	Registry Type	Type	Description	Default
LogonAttemptsInterval	REG_DWORD	DWORD	Maximum delay between logon attempts in seconds.	30
IgnoreSSLErrors	REG_DWORD	DWORD	Allows access to a virtual server without a valid certificate. You can add this value for testing or debugging purposes. 1 - Ignore SSL errors and allow access to insecure servers. 0 , or any other value - SSL errors are not ignored, and connections to insecure servers fail.	N/A

Credential Parameters (Optional)

These keys should be created in

HKEY_USERS\<Service_account_SID>\Software\F5 Networks\MachineTunnelService

Name	Registry Type	Type	Description	Default
username	REG_SZ	Base64 encoded binary data	Base64 encoded encrypted user name for authentication.	N/A
password	REG_SZ	Base64 encoded binary data	Base64 encoded encrypted password.	N/A

Configuring an access policy for machine tunnel support

Configure an access policy to detect the machine tunnel client type.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Profiles / Policies

The Access Profiles (Per-Session Policies) screen opens.

Click the name of the access profile you want to edit.

On the menu bar, click

Access Policy

For the

Visual Policy Editor

setting, click the

Edit access policy for Profile policy_name

link.

The visual policy editor opens the access policy in a separate window or tab.

Click the

(+)

icon anywhere in the access policy to add a new item.

Only an applicable subset of access policy items is available for selection in the visual policy editor for any access profile type.

A popup screen opens, listing predefined actions on tabs such as General Purpose, Authentication, and so on.

On the Endpoint Security (Server-Side) tab, select

Client Type

, and then click

Add Item

The Client Type action identifies clients and enables branching based on the client type.

A properties screen opens.

On the Machine Tunnel client branch, change the ending to

Allowed

Click

Save

The Access Policy screen reopens.

Set up the appropriate authentication and client-side checks required for application access at your company and click

Add Item

Change the Successful rule branch from

Deny

Allow

and click the

Save

button.

If needed, configure further actions on the successful and fallback rule branches of this access policy item, and save the changes.

At the top of the screen, click the

Apply Access Policy

link to apply and activate your changes to this access policy.

Click the

button to close the visual policy editor.

To apply this access policy to network traffic, add the access profile to a virtual server.

To ensure that logging is configured to meet your requirements, verify the log settings for the access profile.

Configuring a username and password for the machine tunnel

This task requires that the f5MachineTunnelInfo.exe is installed on the client system on which you are configuring the machine tunnel.

Configure a username and password for the machine tunnel connection. This is recommended only for testing purposes. You must run f5MachineTunnelInfo.exe as an administrator.

From a DOS command prompt in Windows, type

f5MachineTunnelInfo -s -u <username> -p <password>

The machine tunnel username and password are set.

Defining the VPN server for the machine tunnel

This task requires that f5MachineTunnelInfo.exe is installed on the client system on which you are configuring the machine tunnel. This task requires admin access and the ability to edit the Windows Registry.

Start the registry editor (

Start

regedit

Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\F5MachineTunnelService\Parameters\VPNServers

In the right pane, right-click and select

New

String Value

In the

Name

field, type

Server0

Right-click the value and select

Modify

The Edit String dialog opens.

Type the VPN server FQDN or IP address and click

Exit the Registry Editor.

The VPN server for the machine tunnel is now defined.

Configuring client certificates for machine tunnel authentication

When you configure client certificates for the machine tunnel service, you specify the location where the certificates are stored. For on-demand certificate authentication, the F5 Machine Tunnel service can select client certificates present in the service account or from the local computer.

Service Account:

To select a service account as the certificate store, the F5 Machine Tunnel service should be installed on the client system. This store is local to the f5MachineTunnelService on the device.

Local computer:

Selecting a local machine store as the certificate store does not require the F5 Machine Tunnel service to be installed. You can specify the location of the client certificate on the local machine.

Configuring client certificates from the service account

This task requires that the F5 Machine Tunnel service is installed on the client system on which you are configuring certificates.

Configure a client certificate for the F5 Machine Tunnel Service from the service account.

On a Windows client or administrative system, click

Start

Run

and type

mmc

, then click

Click

File

Add/Remove Snap-in

and then click

Add

Under

Snap-in

, double-click

Certificates

, click

Service account

, then click

Do one of the following.

To manage certificates for services on your local computer, click

Local computer

, and then click

To manage certificates for a remote computer, click

Another computer

and type the name of the computer, or click

Browse

to select the computer name, and then click

Click the service for which you are managing certificates. In this case, this is the F5MachineTunnelService Personal store.

Click

Finish

, and then click

Certificates - Service (f5MachineTunnelService) on

Computer Name
appears on the list of selected snap-ins for the new console.

Click

File

Save

You have located the client certificate from the service account for the F5 Machine Tunnel Service.

Configuring client certificates from the local computer

Configure a client certificate for the F5 Machine Tunnel Service in the local computer store.

On a Windows client or administrative system, click

Start

Run

and type

mmc

, then click

Click

File

Add/Remove Snap-in

Under

Snap-in

, double-click

Certificates

, click

Computer account

, then click

To manage certificates for services on your local computer, click

Local computer

Click

Finish

Certificates - (Local Computer)

appears on the list of selected snap-ins for the new console.

Click

File

Save

You have installed the client certificate in the local computer store.

You must now install and configure the F5 Machine Tunnel service on the client system to use this client certificate.

Configuring F5 Machine Tunnel service to select client certificate

This task requires that the F5 Machine Tunnel service is installed on the client system on which you are configuring certificates.

You can configure the F5 Machine Tunnel service to select a client certificate from the local computer store or service store.

Using the Windows Registry:

Start the registry editor (

Start

regedit

Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\F5MachineTunnelService\Parameters

Set string

ClientCertStoreLocation

system

service

system

- for selecting client certificate from the Local Machine store.

service

- for selecting client certificate from the F5 Machine Tunnel service store.

Set string

ClientCertStoreName

to the store name. The default store name is

and can be changed to a custom store.

When no registry setting is specified, then the machine tunnels service will pick the client certificate from the service store.

Using the F5MachineTunnelInfo utility:

From the command prompt that is run as an administrator.

Type F5MachineTunnelInfo.exe --set_client_certstore system <store name> to set the client certificate store location as the Local Machine store.

Type F5MachineTunnelInfo.exe --set_client_certstore service <store name> to set the client certificate store location as the F5MachineTunnelService store.

Type F5MachineTunnelInfo.exe --remove_client_certstore to remove the client certificate store location and name configuration.

You have now configured the F5 Machine Tunnel service to select a client certificate from the local computer store or service store.

Generating a troubleshooting report from Edge Client for Windows

A troubleshooting report provides numerous details about the client and its functioning, such as log files and their contents, components and versions, and so on.

Open the BIG-IP Edge Client user interface.

On a client with a

Start

button, you can type

BIG-IP

in the search field and, in the results, click

BIG-IP Edge Client

Click the

View Details

button.

The Details popup screen displays.

Click the

Diagnostics Report

button.

A Save As popup screen opens.

Select a location, specify a file name, and click

Save

A Collecting data popup screen remains open until the report completes.

Navigate to the location with the downloaded file, extract the files to a folder, and click the HTML file in the folder.

The F5 Report displays in a browser screen.

Open the BIG-IP Edge Client user interface.

On a client with a

Start

button, you can type

BIG-IP

in the search field and, in the results, click

BIG-IP Edge Client

Click the

View Details

button.

The Details popup screen displays.

Click the

Diagnostics Report

button.

A Save As popup screen opens.

Select a location, specify a file name, and click

Save

A Collecting data popup screen remains open until the report completes.

Navigate to the location with the downloaded file, unzip it to a folder, and click the HTML file in the folder.

The report displays.

Overview: Installing and using the client troubleshooting utility

Access Policy Manager provides a client troubleshooting utility for Windows-based systems. Users can access the utility to check the availability and version information for Windows client components and run Network Access diagnostic tests. The utility is integrated into BIG-IP Edge Client® for Windows. To run Network Access diagnostics and troubleshooting reports on clients that have only the browser-based Network Access client component, you can download and install the client troubleshooting utility.

Downloading the client troubleshooting utility

To run the client troubleshooting utility from the command line on a Windows-based system, you must first download the utility from the BIG-IP system.

On the Main screen, click the F5 logo to display the Welcome page.

Scroll to the Downloads area.

In the links for BIG-IP Edge Client Components, click

Client Troubleshooting Utility for Windows

The file

f5wininfo.exe

is saved to your local disk.

Viewing client components in the client troubleshooting utility

You can use the client troubleshooting utility to view client components on Windows-based systems.

Double-click

f5wininfo.exe

to start the client troubleshooting utility.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Components Troubleshooting screen opens.

Use the navigation panel on the left to explore the component categories.

Generating a client troubleshooting report

You can generate a client troubleshooting report on Windows-based systems and include several types of data, a Network Access diagnostic test and so on, in the report.

Double-click

f5wininfo.exe

to start the client troubleshooting utility.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Components Troubleshooting screen opens.

Click

File

Generate Report

The Report screen opens.

Under

Type

, select the types of reports that you want to run.

Under

Format

, select

html

text

for the type of report.

To generate a compressed report, select the

compressed

option.

To view the report without saving the report, click

View

While the report runs, a Collecting Data popup screen opens, and a System Information popup screen opens if the system information report type runs; the popup screens close. If you selected

html

format, the report opens in a browser screen.

Running a Network Access diagnostic test

You can use the client troubleshooting utility to run a Network Access diagnostic test on Windows-based systems.

If BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows is installed, you can run a Network Diagnostics test from the user interface.

Double-click

f5wininfo.exe

to start the client troubleshooting utility.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Components Troubleshooting screen opens.

Click

Tools

Network Access Diagnostic

The Network Access Diagnostic popup screen opens.

Enabling logs using the client troubleshooting utility

You can use the client troubleshooting utility to change the logging level for Edge Client on Windows-based systems.

Double-click

f5wininfo.exe

to start the client troubleshooting utility.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Components Troubleshooting screen opens.

Click

Tools

Enable Logs

Click

File

Generate Report

The Report screen opens.

Under

Type

, select the types of reports that you want to run.

Under

Format

, select

html

text

for the type of report.

To generate a compressed report, select the

compressed

option.

Click

Save As

to choose the path and filename for the report.

To view the report without saving the report, click

View

While the report runs, a Collecting Data popup screen opens and a System Information popup screen opens if the system information report type runs; the popup screens close. If you selected

html

format, the report opens in a browser screen.

Viewing logs in the client troubleshooting utility

You can use the client troubleshooting utility to examine logs in the Windows-based systems.

Double-click

f5wininfo.exe

to start the client troubleshooting utility.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Components Troubleshooting screen opens.

Click

Tools

View Logs

The Log Viewer screen opens.

Click

Export

to download and export logs in HTML format.

The HTML file is saved to your local disk.

Deleting logs in the client troubleshooting utility

You can use the client troubleshooting utility to delete old log files.

Close and shut down BIG-IP Edge Client before you clear log files.

Double-click

f5wininfo.exe

to start the client troubleshooting utility.

The F5 BIG-IP Edge Components Troubleshooting screen opens.

Click

Tools

Delete Logs

The Log File Removal screen opens to confirm the removal.

To delete, both the user and system logs, select the

Delete user logs

and

Delete system logs

check boxes.

Select

Delete

The APM Client logs are deleted.

Overview: Reusing Windows logon credentials for Edge Client

If you want users of BIG-IP Edge Client® for Windows to start a Network Access session with the credentials that they typed to log on to a Windows-based system, you must configure the connectivity profile, the client download package, and the access policy to support this.

A client must be joined to a domain to reuse Windows logon credentials. This will not work if the client is standalone, and not joined to a domain.

Configuring a connectivity profile to reuse Windows logon credentials

For users to reuse Windows credentials to start a Network Access session, you must select the

Reuse Windows Logon Credentials

check box in the connectivity profile.

A client must be joined to a domain to reuse Windows logon credentials. This will not work if the client is standalone, and not joined to a domain.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Connectivity / VPN

Connectivity

Profiles

A list of connectivity profiles displays.

Select the connectivity profile that you want to update and click

Edit Profile

The Edit Connectivity Profile popup screen opens and displays General Settings.

From the left pane of the popup screen, select

Win/Mac Edge Client

Edge Client settings for Mac and Windows-based systems display in the right pane.

Select the

Reuse Windows Logon Credentials

check box.

Click

The popup screen closes, and the Connectivity Profile List displays.

Customizing the Edge Client package for Windows logon credentials reuse

For users to reuse their Windows credentials to start a Network Access session, the Edge Client package must contain the user logon credentials access service.

A client must be joined to a domain to reuse Windows logon credentials. This will not work if the client is standalone, and not joined to a domain.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Connectivity / VPN

Connectivity

Profiles

A list of connectivity profiles displays.

Select the connectivity profile for which you want to customize the client package.

Click the

Customize Package

button.

The Customize Windows Client Package popup screen displays with Available Components displayed.

Select the

User Logon Credentials Access Service

check box.

This software service allows the client to store encrypted Windows logon credentials and use those credentials to log on to Access Policy Manager.

Click

Download

The screen closes and the package,

BIGIPEdgeClient.exe

, downloads.

You must make the downloaded package available to your users, as hosted content or through some other delivery mechanism. Users must install the package or, Component Installer, if present on user systems, can install it for them.

Configuring an access policy for Windows logon credentials reuse

For users to reuse Windows credentials to start a Network Access session, you must ensure that the access policy includes a Logon Page action that has not been customized.

A client must be joined to a domain to reuse Windows logon credentials. This will not work if the client is standalone, and not joined to a domain.

On the Main tab, click

Access

Profiles / Policies

The Access Profiles (Per-Session Policies) screen opens.

In the Per-Session Policy column, click the

Edit

link for the access profile you want to configure.

The visual policy editor opens the access policy in a separate screen.

Make any adjustments needed to the access policy to ensure that it includes a Logon Page action that has not been customized. (Other logon page actions do not support the reuse Windows logon credentials option.)

The Logon Page action must contain only the default fields and the JavaScript cannot be removed or otherwise changed as can be done through Access Policy Manager Customization. If necessary, you can delete a Logon Page action and add it to the policy again to ensure that it is not customized.

Click

Finished

The popup screen closes.

Click the

Apply Access Policy

link to apply and activate the changes to the policy.

Subscriptions

Product Usage

Trials

Registration Keys

Downloads

Applies To:

BIG-IP APM

BIG-IP Edge Client for Windows

About Component Installer

Downloading and installing the Component Installer

Overview: Configuring and installing Edge Client for Windows

About Machine Cert Auth and user privilege

About Edge Client location awareness

About Edge Client automatic reconnection

About Always Connected mode

Configuring a connectivity profile for Edge Client for Windows

Configuring Always Connected mode for the Windows Edge Client

Customizing a downloadable client package for Windows

About exclusion list modification

Downloading the client package for Windows

About Network Access features for Windows-based clients

About connection options on Edge Client for Windows

Edge Client User Interface on Windows

User Interface when OAuth is in progress

User Interface when OAuth is in progress in an Always Connected mode

About OIDC Support in Edge Client for Windows

Error Codes in case of OAuth failure

About browser-based connections from Linux, Mac, and Windows clients

About machine tunnels for Windows

About machine tunnels and proxy servers

About desktop client interactions with machine tunnels

About creating the machine tunnel installer package

PowerShell script to create the machine tunnel installer

PowerShell script createMachineTunnelsPkg.ps1

Create the machine tunnel install package

Apps installed for machine tunnel support

Registry keys for machine tunnel configuration

VPN Servers (Required Parameter)

Connection Parameters (Optional)

Credential Parameters (Optional)

Configuring an access policy for machine tunnel support

Configuring a username and password for the machine tunnel

Defining the VPN server for the machine tunnel

Configuring client certificates for machine tunnel authentication

Configuring client certificates from the service account

Configuring client certificates from the local computer

Configuring F5 Machine Tunnel service to select client certificate

Generating a troubleshooting report from Edge Client for Windows

Overview: Installing and using the client troubleshooting utility

Downloading the client troubleshooting utility

Viewing client components in the client troubleshooting utility

Generating a client troubleshooting report

Running a Network Access diagnostic test

Enabling logs using the client troubleshooting utility

Viewing logs in the client troubleshooting utility

Deleting logs in the client troubleshooting utility

Overview: Reusing Windows logon credentials for Edge Client

Configuring a connectivity profile to reuse Windows logon credentials

Customizing the Edge Client package for Windows logon credentials reuse

Configuring an access policy for Windows logon credentials reuse

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