Release Notes : F5 Access for macOS 1.0.0

Applies To:

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Release Notes
Updated Date: 07/07/2020

Summary:

In September 2017, Apple posted the release of F5 Access for macOS version 1.0.0. Users should download this new version from the macOS app store.

Applies To: BIG-IP APM 16.0.0, 15.1.0, 15.0.1, 15.0.0, 14.1.2, 14.1.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.0, 13.1.3, 13.1.1, 13.1.0, 13.0.1, 13.0.0

 

Contents:

User documentation for this release

For a comprehensive list of documentation that is relevant to this release, refer to BIG-IP Access Policy Manager Documentation.

Features and enhancements in 1.0.0

Network Extension Framework

F5 Access for macOS uses Apple's new Network Extension Framework. Apple's Network Extension Framework is a major architectural shift for the F5 Access client related to features such as Layer 3 VPN, Per-App VPN Tunneling, Server Certificate Verification, and other features.

Feature Description
Split-tunneling (include list) Split-tunneling include list of IP address ranges/subnet masks.
Split-tunneling (exclude list) Split-tunneling exclude list of IP address ranges/subnet masks.
Server SSL Certificate Verification Verify server SSL certificate against CA store.
Authentication w/ Username and Password Support Username and password in native logon mode.
Authentication with Username and Password and Client Certificate Two-factor authentication with username and password and client certificate in native logon mode.
Certificate-only Authentication Support Authentication with certificate in native logon mode. The client certificate work only for request mode.
Keychain Users can use the saved password from the keychain.
MDM Provisioning Support configuration by endpoint management systems or MDM.
VPN Tunnel Information Display detailed information about the VPN tunnel.
Per-App VPN Support Layer 3 VPN With the macOS Network Extension Framework, Per-App VPN policies are enforced by macOS.
Per-App VPN On-Demand Start Per-App VPN on demand.
TLS and DTLS Support TLS and DTLS protocols switch when appropriate. DTLS to TLS fallback is supported today.
Compression over TLS The compression of traffic (GZIP) for a given TLS network tunnel.
Landing URI support Configuration of a landing URI for the VPN tunnel.

Known issues affecting F5 Access 1.0.0

The following are known issues that affect the user experience when F5 Access is used on a macOS device. These issues may be addressed in the future by F5 or Apple.

ID number Description
669654 The system UI server macOS component might crash when you enable "show VPN status in menu bar". This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 32750779.
669689 When the VPN Configuration is removed from System > Network Preference, the VPN Profile isn't removed, and the system becomes inconsistent. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 29301077.
670618 F5 Access is not notified when a VPN profile is installed, and the user has to restart F5 Access to refresh the F5 Access menu. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 31506133.
670699 When the credential is installed with the VPN profile, the user must enter device credentials in order to allow F5 Access to read credentials from the system keychain to establish the VPN connection. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 30311873.
670770 According to Apple documentation, the "App-to-Per-App VPN Mapping" feature does not currently work.
670772 According to Apple documentation, OnDemandRules with EvaluateConnection should work; however, this feature does not currently work. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 31825144.
670775 With the Per-App VPN SafariDomain feature, after a connection, the Per-App VPN status is not updated in the System > Network Preference dialog. Note that the app doesn't display the Per-App VPN configuration in the menu or configuration manager. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 31719435.
670785 Per App VPN with safari domain occasionally doesn't work, usually when there are multiple copies of the F5 Access app instance in the system. We are tracking this issue with Apple issue 31561784. As a workaround
  1. Remove all instances of F5Access.app on your device (lsregister -dump | grep F5Access)
  2. Run /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister to unregister all previous installed versions of F5Access.app (lsregister -v -u full_path_to_the_app).
  3. run ./lsregister -dump to check that F5Access.app has been uninstalled.
  4. Run the F5 Access Installer to reinstall F5Access.app.
  5. Run lsregister -kill -seed.
VPN on demand should now be started according to per-app rules.
676151 Currently, only one active VPN connection is supported. Connections to multiple VPN servers are not supported due to platform limitations. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33902689.
676553 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, domain name to IP mapping assigned under /etc/hosts is not picked up by DNS resolution. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33712200.
676735 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, included routes will not work if they overlap with the local subnet. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33832609.
676763 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, if static routes already exist on the macOS device, these static routes are not removed after the VPN is established, and traffic may leak from the VPN. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33730108.
677151 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, when the VPN configuration is installed from a profile, the user can still enable or disable onDemand from the network preference panel. This creates inconsistency between the profile and the actual configuration on the system. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33761127.
677152 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, when a Per-App VPN profile is installed, the user can not start the profile from the network preferences panel. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33812079.
677347 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, a VPN tunnel interface can not be assigned an IP that is same as the client's local gateway IP. The IP pool should exclude the gateway IP address. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33811754.
677657 Because of limitations in the new network extension framework, when a client reconnects immediately after disconnecting, the F5Access process is stopped by launchd. To workaround this issue, we have added a 20-second delay when the client disconnects. This issue is being tracked with Apple issue 33887258.

Contacting F5 Networks

Phone - North America: 1-888-882-7535 or (206) 272-6500
Phone - Outside North America, Universal Toll-Free: +800 11 ASK 4 F5 or (800 11275 435)
Fax: See Regional Support for your area.
Web: https://support.f5.com/csp/home
Email: support@f5.com

For additional information, please visit http://www.f5.com.

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