FortiClient-Cloud Deployment Guide
FortiClient-Cloud Deployment Guide
FortiClient 22.1
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Introduction 4
Requirements 4
Licensing 5
Product integration and support 6
Deploying FortiClient Cloud 7
Managing endpoints with FortiClient Cloud 8
Adding a FortiClient deployment package 8
Installing FortiClient on an endpoint and registering to FortiClient Cloud 10
Connecting an endpoint to FortiClient Cloud 11
Adding a new invitation for a deployment package 14
Requesting forensic analysis 15
Managing Chromebooks with FortiClient Cloud 17
Adding a secondary admin account 18
Upgrading FortiClient Cloud 19
Fabric Devices 22
Allowlisting the FortiClient Cloud external IP address 23
Limitations of FortiClient Cloud 24
Privacy 26
Change log 27
A cloud-based SaaS endpoint management service called FortiClient Cloud is available. This is a Fortinet-hosted
EMS solution.
You can execute EMS functions from the cloud-based EMS. You must complete the following steps to create a cloud-
based EMS instance under your FortiCloud user account:
1. Register a FortiClient Cloud subscription to your FortiCloud account.
2. Register a FortiClient license contract for management by FortiClient Cloud to your FortiCloud account.
You can use FortiClient Cloud to manage and provision up to 50000 FortiClient endpoints. You
must use an on-premise EMS to manage more than 50000 endpoints.
You can use FortiClient Cloud to manage the following FortiClient endpoint types:
l Windows
l macOS
l Linux
l iOS
l Android
l Chromebook
FortiClient Cloud 22.1 is running EMS 7.0.
This guide only provides information specific to FortiClient Cloud. For information about EMS
features that this guide does not include, see the EMS Administration Guide.
You can use the FortiClient Cloud Service monitoring site to check the status of the FortiClient
Cloud service and any scheduled maintenance times.
Requirements
The following items are required before you can initialize your FortiClient Cloud instance:
Requirement Description
FortiCloud Create a FortiCloud account if you do not have one and register a FortiClient Cloud subscription to
account with this account. Launching FortiClient Cloud requires a primary FortiCloud account with a FortiClient
FortiClient Cloud Cloud subscription. A primary FortiCloud account with a FortiClient Cloud subscription can invite
subscription other users to launch FortiClient Cloud. Each FortiCloud account that will access FortiClient Cloud
must be registered with its own FortiClient Cloud subscription. See Deploying FortiClient Cloud on
page 7.
Internet access You must have Internet access to create a FortiClient Cloud instance.
Licensing
When registering the license contract, you must specify that the endpoints or users will be managed using
FortiClient Cloud, as Deploying FortiClient Cloud on page 7 describes.
Registering a ZTNA license for FortiClient Cloud management does not support all features supported for on-
premise EMS. See Limitations of FortiClient Cloud on page 24 for the list of supported features.
l FortiOS:
l 7.0.0 and later versions
l FortiAnalyzer:
l 7.0.0 and later versions
To import a profile from FortiManager to FortiClient Cloud, FortiManager must be reachable over the public Internet.
FortiClient Cloud is a component of FortiSASE, a cloud-based SaaS service that offers protection for remote, off-net
endpoints. FortiSASE only works with a new FortiClient Cloud instance. You cannot apply a FortiSASE license to an
existing FortiClient Cloud instance. See the FortiSASE documentation.
This topic explains how to deploy FortiClient Cloud. This topic assumes that you have already purchased the desired
subscription licenses for your deployment from a Fortinet partner or reseller and received your license activation codes.
You can create only one FortiClient Cloud instance per FortiCloud account.
You may need to wait a few minutes for the cloud instance to initialize before you can
proceed to step 2 or 3.
If you cannot access the FortiClient Cloud portal, ensure that you enable access to
forticlient.forticloud.com:443. Refer to the list of required services and ports for
FortiClient.
4. When you first log in to FortiClient Cloud, you can select the region to store your FortiClient Cloud data. Select North
America or EMEA.
Installer Type Use an official FortiClient installer or a custom FortiClient installer. See Adding
a custom FortiClient installer for details on uploading a custom installer.
Keep updated to the latest Select to enable FortiClient to automatically update to the latest patch release
patch when FortiClient is installed on an endpoint.
Expiry Date Enter this deployment package's expiry date. After this date, users cannot use
this deployment package to install FortiClient.
Notes (Optional) Enter any notes about the FortiClient deployment package.
Security Fabric Agent Enabled by default and cannot be disabled. Installs FortiClient with Telemetry
enabled.
Secure Access Architecture Install FortiClient with SSL and IPsec VPN enabled. Disable to omit SSL and
Components IPsec VPN support from the FortiClient deployment package.
Advanced Persistent Threat Install FortiClient with APT components enabled. Disable to omit APT
(APT) Components components from the FortiClient deployment package. Includes FortiSandbox
detection and quarantine features.
FortiClient Cloud does not support all the features that an on-premise EMS supports. See
Limitations of FortiClient Cloud on page 24.
Enable desktop shortcut Configure the FortiClient deployment package to create a desktop shortcut on
the endpoint.
Enable start menu shortcut Configure the FortiClient deployment package to create a Start menu shortcut
on the endpoint.
Enable Installer ID Configure an installer ID. Select an existing installer ID or enter a new installer
ID. If creating an installer ID, select a group path or create a new group in the
Group Path field. FortiClient automatically groups endpoints according to
installer ID group assignment rules.
Enable Endpoint Profile Select an endpoint profile to include in the installer. EMS applies the profile to
the endpoint once it has installed FortiClient. This option is necessary if it is
required to have certain security features enabled prior to contact with EMS, or
if users require VPN connection to connect to EMS.
7. Click Next. The Telemetry tab displays the hostname and IP address of the FortiClient server, which will manage
FortiClient once it is installed on the endpoint. Also configure the following option:
Enable telemetry connection Enable this option, and select the name of the gateway list to use. The
to Security Fabric (FortiGate) gateway list defines the IP address for the FortiGate.
If you have not created a gateway list, select the checkbox, then click the No
telemetry server lists are available, create one here link to create a gateway
list for this deployment package to use. See FortiClient EMS Administration
Guide for details on configuring a gateway list.
8. Click Finish. The FortiClient deployment package is added to FortiClient and displays on the Manage Installers >
Deployment Packages pane. The deployment package may include .exe (32-bit and 64-bit), .msi, and .dmg files
depending on the configuration.
Deploying FortiClient to Windows and macOS endpoints is the same in FortiClient Cloud as for on-premise EMS. See
Deployment for more details.
When installing FortiClient on an endpoint from a deployment package created in FortiClient Cloud, the administrator
carries out some actions, while the endpoint user carries out others.
1. (Administrator) In EMS, go to Manage Installers > Deployment Packages. Note the invitation code for the desired
deployment package.
Sending individual invitation codes is considered best practice, as it can limit any
unexpected endpoints from connecting to FortiClient Cloud.
b. (Administrator) In the Email recipients field, enter the email addresses of the desired end users.
c. (Administrator) If desired, enable Send SMS notifications.
d. (Administrator) In the SMS recipients field, enter the phone numbers of the desired end users.
e. (Administrator) In the Expiry date field, set the expiry date. Click Save.
5. (Administrator) The email that users receive for an individual invitation code does not include a FortiClient download
link. You must share the installer files with users, or send them the link to FortiClient.com, from where they can
download the installer files.
6. (End user) Install FortiClient on your device. The FortiClient Cloud invitation email or text message that you
received may include a FortiClient download link. Otherwise, your administrator should have provided the installer
files or a link where you can download them.
7. (End user) Your FortiClient may automatically register to FortiClient Cloud after installation. If your FortiClient did
not automatically register to FortiClient Cloud, use the instructions in Connecting an endpoint to FortiClient Cloud on
page 11 to register to FortiClient Cloud.
You can use the following instructions to connect to FortiClient Cloud in one of the following scenarios:
l If you want to connect a FortiClient Linux, iOS, or Android endpoint to FortiClient Cloud. Since you cannot create a
deployment package for these operating systems in FortiClient Cloud, this is the only way to register these
endpoints to FortiClient Cloud.
l If your FortiClient did not automatically register to FortiClient Cloud after installation.
1. If your administrator is using FortiClient Cloud, you should receive an invitation email. Use the link in the invitation
email to download FortiClient to your device.
2. Run the downloaded installer to install FortiClient.
3. After initial installation, FortiClient should automatically register to FortiClient Cloud. If FortiClient does not
automatically register to FortiClient Cloud, enter the invitation code in the Join FortiClient Cloud field on the Zero
Trust Telemetry tab in FortiClient.
4. Click Connect. Ensure that the Status displays as Connected. FortiClient software is now licensed and activated.
1. Go to Invitations.
2. Select an existing invitation code for the desired deployment package.
3. Click Add.
4. To send the code to a single recipient, select Individual. Otherwise, select Bulk.
Sending individual invitation codes is considered best practice, as it can limit any
unexpected endpoints from connecting to FortiClient Cloud.
The FortiGuard Endpoint Forensic Analysis service provides remote endpoint analysis to help you respond to and
recover from cyber incidents. For each engagement, forensic analysts from Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs remotely assist in
the collection, examination, and presentation of digital evidence, including a final detailed report.
This feature requires the FortiGuard Endpoint Forensic Analysis license. The following instructions assume that you
have purchased the license and registered it to your FortiCloud account. You can have a maximum of five forensic
analysis requests in progress at a given time.
The endpoint summary displays a Forensics Analysis section, which displays the status and task ID of the endpoint's last
requested analysis.
Status Description
Pending Forensic analysis request has been initiated. The Forensics team has not yet
assigned it to an analyst.
In-progress The Forensics team has assigned the request to an analyst, who has begun
working on it.
Complete The analyst has completed analysis on the endpoint and shared the result in a
PDF document. You can download the report from the Forensics Analysis section
of the endpoint summary.
analysis.
l The EMS administrator canceled the request.
You can use FortiClient Cloud to manage Chromebooks. After you deploy and configure FortiClient Cloud, the Google
Admin console, and the FortiClient Web Filter extension, the products work together to provide web filtering security for
Google Chromebook users logged into the Google domain.
You can configure FortiClient Cloud for Chromebook management by following the instructions in Installation and setup
for managing Chromebooks. While these topics are written for on-premise EMS, they also apply to FortiClient Cloud,
except for one difference. In step 2 of Configuring the FortiClient Web Filter extension, instead of ProfileServerUrl,
the text file must contain the following text:
{
"InvitationCode": { "Value": "<FortiClient invitation code>"},
"SerialNumber": { "Value": "<FortiClient serial number>"}
}
The FortiClient Cloud primary administrator (the user who created the FortiClient Cloud instance) can add secondary
administrators from their FortiCloud account.
5. Enter the user information as required. If the new user does not have a FortiCloud account, they must create one.
Click Save. A user added on this page becomes visible on the FortiClient Cloud GUI in Administrators and can log in
to FortiClient Cloud with their FortiCloud account. These users have limited permissions. For details on configuring
permissions for these administrators, see Admin roles.
FortiClient Cloud is a SaaS service where Fortinet continuously updates the version for all customers. You can expect
FortiClient Cloud to upgrade two to four weeks after a stable minor GA version release announcement.
Fortinet sends a email notification seven to ten business days prior to the upgrade to remind you that an upgrade is
scheduled. The email includes the upgrade time and version information.
You can also view the upgrade schedule on the FortiClient Cloud portal.
After the upgrade, view your FortiOS connectors to ensure that they are functioning correctly and that the desired
FortiGates are authorized on FortiClient Cloud and vice-versa.
To reschedule an upgrade:
3. In the System Upgrade Time field, select the desired date. You must select a date before the displayed last day to
upgrade. If you need to upgrade on a day after the displayed last day to upgrade, or you want to cancel the upgrade,
contact Fortinet Support.
4. Click OK.
The Fabric Devices page displays FortiGates that FortiClient Cloud is connected to via the Fortinet Security Fabric. You
must authorize a connection request from a FortiGate to allow Fabric connection between FortiClient Cloud and the
FortiGate.
This process involves some actions that the FortiOS administrator takes, and other actions that the FortiClient
Cloud administrator takes.
1. (FortiOS administrator) Configure FortiClient Cloud in Security Fabric > Settings > FortiClient Endpoint
Management System (EMS) in FortiOS.
2. (FortiOS administrator) Confirm the FortiClient Cloud serial number that FortiOS obtains.
3. (FortiClient Cloud administrator) Log in to FortiClient Cloud. FortiClient Cloud prompts you to authorize or deny
Fabric Connector access from that FortiGate. The prompt includes the FortiGate hostname, serial number, and IP
address. Authorize the connection to establish the Fabric connection between FortiClient Cloud and the FortiGate.
If you want to configure certain options for FortiClient Cloud, you must allowlist the FortiClient Cloud external IP address.
This includes the following options:
l Active Directory integration
l Importing a profile from FortiGate or FortiManager
l SMTP server configuration
When you log in to FortiClient Cloud, go to About on the right panel. The IP address row on this page displays the IP
address that you must allowlist for the listed features.
You can use FortiClient Cloud to manage and provision up to 50000 FortiClient endpoints. You
must use an on-premise EMS to manage more than 50000 endpoints.
FortiClient Cloud supports the majority of features that on-premise EMS supports.
FortiClient Cloud does not currently support initial FortiClient deployment to AD devices. To use this feature, use on-
premise EMS instead of FortiClient Cloud.
The following provides a comparison between FortiClient Cloud, EMS 7.0, and EMS 6.4:
Share endpoint telemetry data with FortiGate connector Updated connector for FortiGate and
FortiGate and FortiAnalyzer FortiAnalyzer
FortiSASE support Yes No
Web Filter
Antimalware Yes (Content pattern recognition Yes (CPRL and machine learning)
language (CPRL) and machine
learning)
Supported platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS,
Android, and Chromebook Android, and Chromebook
Multitenancy No Yes
You can find information around privacy, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California
Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) at the following:
Link Description
When registering the FortiClient Cloud license on the FortiCloud portal, you can choose where your instance will reside:
North America or EMEA. See Deploying FortiClient Cloud on page 7.
For questions regarding Fortinet's privacy efforts, contact [email protected].
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