F5 Networks Big-IP Edge Client for Linux

Question

My company just switched from Cisco VPN to an F5 Networks Big-IP Edge VPN infrastructure. F5 can provide clients for common operating systems, but unfortunately my company provides clients only for Windows and Mac OS-X while I'm currently using Linux (Ubuntu).

From what I understand, the Big-IP Edge Client is customized by/for each company itself, so it has to be provided by the company itself, but I may be wrong (I hope so).

Can I build/package/download a Linux client myself? If so, what information do I need in order to do so?

Should the answer be no, is there some way to use the Windows or Mac OS-X client to connect from my Linux (Ubuntu) box (e.g. a guest virtual windows machine used as a "bridge" or "proxy" for my host Linux box, or maybe Wine...)?

Answer 1

After some research I found that my assumption was largely wrong: the pre-packaged Big-IP Edge Client for Windows and for Mac received from my company, are standard clients only pre-configured with a (configurable) URL to connect to (I just saw one of my colleagues installing and using it).

In the mean time I found a CLI Linux client from some different site than the F5 site (it is a University site that allows the students to connect to its VPN and has a downloadable Linux client). That client is a plain generic client, you only need to input the URL, the username and the password/PIN.

Using the URL I found in the previous step I was able to connect successfully.

So, for anyone having the same problem, the solution I suggest is the following: search the Internet for a Linux client (I found 2/3 sites), install it on your Linux box, discover the URL to connect to, and use the account you have been given by your company to establish the connection.

Answer 2

I had the same problem. I installed VirtualBox in Linux (i use xubuntu) then I installed Windows10 within Virtual box. Once that was completed I then downloaded and installed the F5 Networks Big-IP Edge Client for Windows. this works really well; but it takes a little more time to startup a vpn session.