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Tom_Roche_93458's avatar
Tom_Roche_93458
Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
Jun 29, 2012

how to run F5 Network Access on a 64-bit linux?

How to run F5 Network Access on a 64-bit linux? Particularly, can I use the VPN without a browser plugin? If not, which browser versions are supported? What I mean, why I ask:

My employer is giving me remote access via an RSA SecurID token and instructions for web-based access using the F5 Network Access Plugin. My personal systems are all 64-bit linux, running versions of debian (with 3.2 kernels). My primary laptop has 2 browser versions installed: Firefox 12.0 and Iceweasel 13.0.1. (Note that Iceweasel is just Firefox with an open-license logo and branding. The debian package=iceweasel tracks the latest release version of Firefox from Mozilla.) Using Iceweasel (my usual browser), I received and activated my token and set my credentials on the provided remote-access website. I was then instructed to install the F5 Network Access Plugin.

Unfortunately, that fails: the xpi begins running, but then quits with the message

F5 Network Access Plugin could not be installed because it is not compatible with Iceweasel 13.0.1

I quit Iceweasel, started Firefox, logged into the remote-access site, and attempted to install the plugin, which similarly failed:

F5 Network Access Plugin could not be installed because it is not compatible with Firefox 12.0

So my first question is, with which current linux and browser versions *is* F5 Network Access Plugin compatible?

My second question is, can one obtain F5 network access on 64-bit linux *without* the browser plugin? I am also a graduate student, and obtain VPN access to my school's compute clusters via the Cisco VPN client built into debian's stock Gnome NetworkManager. I also find good comments regarding an unofficial F5 VPN client. Hence I'm not seeing why one needs to install a browser plugin to do networking.

BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)
remote access
security

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  • Seth_Cooper's avatar
    Seth_Cooper
    Icon for Employee rankEmployee
    Jul 26, 2012
    Based off of the list in the link below only 32-bit Linux OS's are supported form a client perspective.

     

     

    http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_apm/manuals/product/apm_compat_matrix_10_1_0.html

     

     

    Here is a Tech Tip article on using clientliess login on the command line.

     

     

    https://devcentral.f5.com/?tabid=63&articleType=ArticleView&articleId=32

     

     

    Seth
  • Tom_Roche_93458's avatar
    Tom_Roche_93458
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jul 28, 2012
    Seth Cooper 07/26/2012 10:10 AM

     

    > Here is a Tech Tip article on using clientliess login on the command line.

     

    > https://devcentral.f5.com/?tabid=63&articleType=ArticleView&articleId=32

     

    and the final comment on that article is

     

    Gary Genett Friday, August 12, 2011 4:45 PM

     

    > This script is several years old; I'm very impressed it lasted as long as it did.

     

    ...

     

    > This is a final note to clarify that any issues with this script are left as an exercise for the reader

     

     

    Hardly seems worth the effort, since F5 clearly doesn't give a damn.
  • Michael_Koyfma1's avatar
    Michael_Koyfma1
    Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
    Jul 28, 2012
    Tom,

     

     

    You need to ask your employer's IT department what is the exact name and version of F5 product they are running(i.e. Firepass, APM, etc.). Based upon that answer, we can give you the most precise answer.
  • Crunched_18095's avatar
    Crunched_18095
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Aug 30, 2012
    I'd like to know how to get this sorted also. My employer is running APM 10.2.1 I believe. How can I connect to this from a Fedora 17 64bit OS running Firefox or Chrome? I try to connect and the plugin install just fails.
  • Seth_Cooper's avatar
    Seth_Cooper
    Icon for Employee rankEmployee
    Sep 09, 2012
    Crunched,

     

     

    Try setting selinux to permissive mode. We have this working on Fedora 17 64bit with Firefox 15.

     

     

    Check /etc/sysconfig/selinux if you need help with permissive mode.

     

     

    Seth
  • Tom_Roche_93458's avatar
    Tom_Roche_93458
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Sep 26, 2012

    hope this formats correctly (Preview is not working in my browser):

     

     

    Michael Koyfman on 07/28/2012 04:03 PM

     

    > You need to ask your employer's IT department

     

    > what is the exact name and version of F5 product

     

    > they are running(i.e. Firepass, APM, etc.)

     

     

    It only took 2 months :-( but I finally found the "F5 guy" for my organization (a fairly large government agency), and got his email. Is there someone at F5 with whom I can connect my "F5 guy" and get this resolved? All I know at this point is that "we're only running the LTM module."

     

  • Tom_Roche_93458's avatar
    Tom_Roche_93458
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Sep 26, 2012
    Michael Koyfman on 07/28/2012 04:03 PM

     

    > You need to ask your employer's IT department

     

    > what is the exact name and version of F5 product

     

    > they are running(i.e. Firepass, APM, etc.)

     

     

    This just in from "the F5 guy":

     

    > We are running BIG-IP LTM and TMOS version 10.1.0

     

  • Michael_Koyfma1's avatar
    Michael_Koyfma1
    Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
    Sep 26, 2012
    It has to be APM as well - and 10.1 does not support Linux 64-bit clientside components. You need to be on v11
  • Tom_Roche_93458's avatar
    Tom_Roche_93458
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Sep 26, 2012
    "F5 guy":

     

    >> We are running BIG-IP LTM and TMOS version 10.1.0

     

     

    Michael Koyfman 09/26/2012 02:31 PM

     

    > It has to be APM as well - and [you need v11 to] support Linux 64-bit clientside components

     

     

    [sigh/] So is there a list of what we would need to do backend to allow me to run a 64-bit linux client? Not that I think they'll upgrade just for me, but I'd like to know if/where this fits in their plan.

     

     

    Alternatively, is there someone @ F5 we could contact?