When will the GlobalProtect GUI be supported on Ubuntu 20.04

[arderyp]

I see on the following documentation page that only the CLI version of GlobalProtect is supported on Ubuntu 20.04, not the GUI version.  Does anyone know when the GUI version wil be supported, or where I should look to find this information?  Thanks!

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/compatibility-matrix/globalprotect/where-can-i-install-the-globalp...

[BPry · Accepted solution]

@arderyp,

Roadmap discussions are always done under NDA, so outside of the fact that it's being worked on you really can't display any additional information. You can actually use the GUI in 20.04 if you run globalprotect launch-ui. 

[arderyp]

Thanks!  Yes, after a few roadblocks, I was able to get it running:

I got version 5.2.1.0-7 working on Ubuntu 20.04. I downloaded the tar tar (provided by my enterprise), unpacked it, then ran

sudo dpkg -i GlobalProtect_UI_deb-5.2.1.0-7.deb

It will install then show you the GUI, then I entered my VPN url, then I was routed to my SAML SSO auth popup. Once I signed in, the GUI disappeared, and no icon displayed in the header.

Instead of clicking the (non-existent) header icon, you manipulate GP by running

globalprotect launch-ui

to toggle the GUI on/off, which will allow you to disconnect or change the Gateway, change the settings, etc

[fjwcash]

It depends which window manager / desktop environment you use.

Running KDE/Plasma on Ubuntu 20.04 gives me 2 separate GlobalProtect icons in the system tray.  One let's me connect/disconnect and edit configuration.  The other just sits there.  If I uninstall the GP package, both disappear.  I think one is a hold-over from having 5.1.x installed, as the second one is from 5.2.x.

Sometimes, the GUI popup shows right above the system tray, and it's easy to manipulate.  Other times, it shows in the top-right corner of the screen and requires a very fast mouse movement to get to it (using focus follows mouse).

Overall, it's nicer to use, but more flakey than the CLI version.  Will be nice once they get the GUI sorted out.  Aren't there a bunch of freedesktop/XDG standard practices for making these kinds of system tray applets work across WMs/DEs?

GP for Linux also doesn't like laptops that go to sleep while it's connected.  Requires a full deinstall/reinstall of the package to make it work again.  The dreaded "can't connect to local gpd" error.