23.5 Fluxbox: Setting up Forticlient 7.4

[jno]

New to MX Linux and apologies if this has been asked already.

I would like to set up Forticlient on my machine to connect to my employer's vpn (then rdp/remote desktop with xfreedrp)

I already have this working on Linux Mint Cinnamon with Forticlient 7.4 (the version that is in the Mint Software Manager at time of writing), that allows SAML. On Mint this works by (1) click connect on forticlient with server info (2) loads a browser window (3) I login, then (4) Forticlient connects and I'm told I can close the browser (happy days).

So I (probably incorrectly) tried installing the same Mint version on my Fluxbox only for Forticlient to load but have nothing but a grey blank window and two nothing menus (File > Quit) and a Help menu with opportunity to enter details and/or click connect.



Any suggestions on how to get Forticlient 7.4 setup correctly on MX Fluxbox 23.5 to allow me to connect like Mint allows me to do?

Thank you in advance for your time and patience.

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System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-32-amd64 [6.1.129-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-32-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Fluxbox v: 1.3.7 info: tint2 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.5_fluxbox_x64
    Libretto Jan 12 2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: SAMSUNG product: N250P/N145P v: N/A serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: SAMSUNG model: N250P/N145P serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Phoenix
    v: 03HG.M015.20110928.JIP date: 09/28/2011
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 43.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 43.3/48.8 Wh (88.6%) volts: 12.5 min: 11.1
    model: SAMSUNG Electronics type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Atom N455 bits: 64 type: MT arch: Bonnell level: v1 built: 2008-13
    process: Intel 45nm family: 6 model-id: 0x1C (28) stepping: 0xA (10) microcode: 0x107
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 1 tpc: 2 threads: 2 smt: enabled cache: L1: 56 KiB
    desc: d-1x24 KiB; i-1x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 1x512 KiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1663 min/max: 1000/1667 scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand
    cores: 1: 1663 2: 1663 bogomips: 6649
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Not affected
  Type: spectre_v1 status: Not affected
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Atom Processor D4xx/D5xx/N4xx/N5xx Integrated Graphics vendor: Samsung Co
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: PowerVR SGX535 process: Intel 45-130nm ports: active: LVDS-1
    empty: VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:a011 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Silicon Motion WebCam SCB-0355N type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 5-8:4
    chip-ID: 2232:1006 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded: intel dri: i915 gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1024x600 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 270x158mm (10.63x6.22") s-diag: 313mm (12.32")
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 mapped: LVDS1 model: Chi Mei Opto 0x1032 built: 2009 res: 1024x600 hz: 60
    dpi: 117 gamma: 1.2 size: 222x125mm (8.74x4.92") diag: 255mm (10") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1024x600
  API: OpenGL v: 2.1 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: i915 (: Pineview M) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Samsung Co driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:27d8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-32-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 100 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:08ae class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Marvell 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet vendor: Samsung Co driver: sky2 v: 1.30 pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 2000 bus-ID: 09:00.0 chip-ID: 11ab:4354 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.41 GiB used: 12.9 GiB (5.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SanDisk model: SSD PLUS 240GB size: 223.57 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 04RL scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 model: UDisk size: 14.84 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: N/A rev: 5.00
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 223.57 GiB size: 219 GiB (97.96%) used: 12.9 GiB (5.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
    maj-min: 8:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 1024 MiB used: 185 MiB (18.1%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 51.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 2266 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2260 libs: 1214 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 6
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirror.easyname.ch/mxlinux-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 199 Uptime: 1h 18m wakeups: 2 Memory: 1.91 GiB used: 976 MiB (49.9%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[DukeComposed]

So I (probably incorrectly) tried installing the same Mint version on my Fluxbox only for Forticlient to load but have nothing but a grey blank window

How, exactly, did you accomplish this? Post exact URLs to the installation instructions you followed if possible.

[siamhie]

Any messages when you launch it from a terminal? That would be a starting point.

[jno]

So I (probably incorrectly) tried installing the same Mint version on my Fluxbox only for Forticlient to load but have nothing but a grey blank window

How, exactly, did you accomplish this? Post exact URLs to the installation instructions you followed if possible.

Urrm, to be honest I typed so much in I can't honestly remember the exact process.

Pretty sure I did this first in Mint to get the version number which was 7.4.something :

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apt policy forticlient

Then got the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS version 7.2 from here by following the instructions here: https://www.fortinet.com/support/produc ... oads/linux

I wasn't really expecting to work, but forticlient definitely loads after installation, just a blank window thereafter.

I am assuming there is no native Forticlient 7.4 for MX Linux just yet, correct?

[DukeComposed]

Then got the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS version 7.2 from here by following the instructions here: https://www.fortinet.com/support/produc ... oads/linux

You don't seem to have the FortiClient package repo installed on your system. The instructions from that page state to add a new repo:

Create /etc/apt/sources.list.d/repo.fortinet.com.list with the following content

deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/repo.fortinet.com.gpg] https://repo.fortinet.com/repo/forticli ... /ubuntu22/ stable non-free

repo.fortinet.com.list should have shown up in your QSI, and it's absent. I checked this before I asked:

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Repos:
  Packages: 2266 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2260 libs: 1214 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 6
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirror.easyname.ch/mxlinux-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free

So either this QSI is old or you didn't install it according to the instructions. Worse, and which you already knew, is that mixing and matching Ubuntu software on MX is an easy way to break your system. I'm guessing there's a load-bearing systemd unit file somewhere. You can try rebooting with systemd (un-good) or you can go find that fortinet/FortiClient startup script and see what it starts so you can recreate it under sysvinit (doubleplus good, but non-trivial for beginners to attempt).

[siamhie]

FortiClient isn't supported on Debian systems. FortiClient 7.4.x on Debian (https://community.fortinet.com/t5/Suppo ... m-p/372329)

Currently, Debian is not included in the list of supported Linux distributions for FortiClient.
You can review the supported Linux versions at the link below:
https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fort ... nd-support

[jno]

FortiClient isn't supported on Debian systems. FortiClient 7.4.x on Debian (https://community.fortinet.com/t5/Suppo ... m-p/372329)

Currently, Debian is not included in the list of supported Linux distributions for FortiClient.
You can review the supported Linux versions at the link below:
https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fort ... nd-support

Ok, thanks for pointing that out. :)

[siamhie]

Ok, thanks for pointing that out. :)

Have you tried booting to System-d?

[jno]

Ok, thanks for pointing that out. :)

Have you tried booting to System-d?

I'd genuinely love to answer the question but I really have little or no idea as to what that is. I looked it up and even the definition I find didn't help much.

:D

I think for now I'm best off accepting that getting Forticlient working with my general lack of ability is unlikely to happen soon. #defeatist_iknow

[siamhie]

Ok, thanks for pointing that out. :)

Have you tried booting to System-d?

I'd genuinely love to answer the question but I really have little or no idea as to what that is. I looked it up and even the definition I find didn't help much.

@jno When you are at the grub menu, select Advanced Options, then select the entry that reads (systemd).