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Global Secure Access client for Microsoft Windows

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The Global Secure Access client, an essential component of Global Secure Access, helps organizations manage and secure network traffic on end-user devices. The client's main role is to route traffic that needs to be secured by Global Secure Access to the cloud service. All other traffic goes directly to the network. The Forwarding Profiles, configured in the portal, determine which traffic the Global Secure Access client routes to the cloud service.

This article describes how to download and install the Global Secure Access client for Windows.

Prerequisites

  • A Microsoft Entra tenant onboarded to Global Secure Access.
  • A managed device joined to the onboarded tenant. The device must be either Microsoft Entra joined or Microsoft Entra hybrid joined.
    • Microsoft Entra registered devices aren't supported.
  • The Global Secure Access client requires a 64-bit version of Windows 10 or Windows 11.
    • Azure Virtual Desktop single-session is supported.
    • Azure Virtual Desktop multi-session isn't supported.
    • Windows 365 is supported.
  • Local administrator credentials are required to install or upgrade the client.
  • The Global Secure Access client requires licensing. For details, see the licensing section of What is Global Secure Access. If needed, you can purchase licenses or get trial licenses.

Download the client

The most current version of the Global Secure Access client is available to download from the Microsoft Entra admin center.

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center as a Global Secure Access Administrator.
  2. Browse to Global Secure Access > Connect > Client download.
  3. Select Download Client. Screenshot of the Client download screen with the Download Client button highlighted.

Install the Global Secure Access client

Automated installation

Organizations can install the Global Secure Access client silently with the /quiet switch, or use Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions, such as Microsoft Intune to deploy the client to their devices.

Manual installation

To manually install the Global Secure Access client:

  1. Run the GlobalSecureAccessClient.exe setup file. Accept the software license terms.
  2. The client installs and silently signs you in with your Microsoft Entra credentials. If the silent sign-in fails, the installer prompts you to sign in manually.
  3. Sign in. The connection icon turns green.
  4. Hover over the connection icon to open the client status notification, which should show as Connected.
    Screenshot showing the client is connected.

Client actions

To view the available client menu actions, right-click the Global Secure Access system tray icon. Screenshot showing the complete list of Global Secure Access client actions.

Tip

The Global Secure Access client menu actions will vary according to your Client registry keys configuration.

Action Description
Sign out Hidden by default. Use the Sign out action when you need to sign in to the Global Secure Access client with a Microsoft Entra user other than the one used to sign in to Windows. To make this action available, update the appropriate Client registry keys.
Disable Select the Disable action to disable the client. The client remains disabled until you either enable the client or restart the machine.
Enable Enables the Global Secure Access client.
Disable Private Access Hidden by default. Use the Disable Private Access action when you wish to bypass Global Secure Access whenever you connect your device directly to the corporate network to access private applications directly through the network rather than through Global Secure Access. To make this action available, update the appropriate Client registry keys.
Collect logs Select this action to collect client logs (information about the client machine, the related event logs for the services, and registry values) and archive them in a zip file to share with Microsoft Support for investigation. The default location for the logs is C:\Program Files\Global Secure Access Client\Logs. You can also collect client logs on Windows by entering the following command in the Command Prompt: C:\Program Files\Global Secure Access Client\LogsCollector\LogsCollector.exe" <username> <user>.
Advanced diagnostics Select this action to launch the Advanced diagnostics utility and access an assortment of troubleshooting tools.

Client status indicators

Status notification

Double-click the Global Secure Access icon to open the client status notification and view the status of each channel configured for the client.
Screenshot showing the client status is connected.

Client statuses in system tray icon

Icon Message Description
Global Secure Access The client is initializing and checking its connection to Global Secure Access.
Global Secure Access - Connected The client is connected to Global Secure Access.
Global Secure Access - Disabled The client is disabled because services are offline or the user disabled the client.
Global Secure Access - Disconnected The client failed to connect to Global Secure Access.
Global Secure Access - Some channels are unreachable The client is partially connected to Global Secure Access (that is, the connection to at least one channel failed: Microsoft Entra, Microsoft 365, Private Access, Internet Access).
Global Secure Access - Disabled by your organization Your organization disabled the client (that is, all traffic forwarding profiles are disabled).
Global Secure Access - Private Access is disabled The user disabled Private Access on this device.
Global Secure Access - could not connect to the Internet The client couldn't detect an internet connection. The device is either connected to a network that doesn't have an Internet connection or a network that requires captive portal sign in.

Known limitations

Known limitations for the current version of the Global Secure Access client include:

Secure Domain Name System (DNS)

The Global Secure Access client doesn't currently support secure DNS in its different versions, such as DNS over HTTPS (DoH), DNS over TLS (DoT), or DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). To configure the client so it can acquire network traffic, you must disable secure DNS. To disable secure DNS in the browser, see Secure DNS disabled in browsers.

DNS over TCP

DNS uses port 53 UDP for name resolution. Some browsers have their own DNS client that also supports port 53 TCP. Currently the Global Secure Access client doesn't support DNS port 53 TCP. As a mitigation, disable the browser's DNS client by setting the following registry values:

  • Microsoft Edge
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge] "BuiltInDnsClientEnabled"=dword:00000000
  • Chrome
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome] "BuiltInDnsClientEnabled"=dword:00000000
    Also add browsing chrome://flags and disabling Async DNS resolver.

IPv6 not supported

The client tunnels only IPv4 traffic. IPv6 traffic isn't acquired by the client and is therefore transferred directly to the network. To enable all relevant traffic to be tunneled, set the network adapter properties to IPv4 preferred.

Connection fallback

If there's a connection error to the cloud service, the client falls back to either direct Internet connection or blocking the connection, based on the hardening value of the matching rule in the forwarding profile.

Geolocation

For network traffic that is tunneled to the cloud service, the application server (website) detects the connection's source IP as the edge's IP address (and not as the user-device's IP address). This scenario might affect services that rely on geolocation.

Tip

For Office 365 and Entra to detect the device's true source IP, consider enabling Source IP restoration.

Virtualization support

Hyper-V support:

  1. External virtual switch: The Global Secure Access Windows client doesn't currently support host machines that have a Hyper-V external virtual switch. However, the client can be installed on the virtual machines to tunnel traffic to Global Secure Access.
  2. Internal virtual switch: The Global Secure Access Windows client can be installed on host and guest machines. The client tunnels only the network traffic of the machine it's installed on. In other words, a client installed on a host machine doesn’t tunnel the network traffic of the guest machines.

The Global Secure Access Windows client supports Azure Virtual Machines.

The Global Secure Access Windows client supports Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).

Note

AVD multi-session is not supported.

Proxy

If a proxy is configured at the application level (such as a browser) or at the OS level, configure a proxy auto configuration (PAC) file to exclude all FQDNs and IPs that you expect the client to tunnel.

To prevent HTTP requests for specific FQDNs/IPs from tunneling to the proxy, add the FQDNs/IPs to the PAC file as exceptions. (These FQDNs/IPs are in the forwarding profile of Global Secure Access for tunneling). For example:

function FindProxyForURL(url, host) {   
        if (isPlainHostName(host) ||   
            dnsDomainIs(host, ".microsoft.com") || // tunneled 
            dnsDomainIs(host, ".msn.com")) // tunneled 
           return "DIRECT";                    // If true, sets "DIRECT" connection 
        else                                   // If not true... 
           return "PROXY 10.1.0.10:8080";  // forward the connection to the proxy
}

If a direct internet connection isn't possible, configure the client to connect to the Global Secure Access service through a proxy. For example, set the grpc_proxy system variable to match the value of the proxy, such as http://proxy:8080.

To apply the configuration changes, restart the Global Secure Access client Windows services.

Packet injection

The client only tunnels traffic sent using sockets. It doesn't tunnel traffic injected to the network stack using a driver (for example, some of the traffic generated by Network Mapper (Nmap)). Injected packets go directly to the network.

Multi-session

The Global Secure Access client doesn't support concurrent sessions on the same machine. This limitation applies to RDP servers and VDI solutions like Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) that are configured for multi-session.

Arm64

The Global Secure Access client doesn't support Arm64 architecture.

QUIC not supported for Internet Access

Since QUIC isn't yet supported for Internet Access, traffic to ports 80 UDP and 443 UDP can't be tunneled.

Tip

QUIC is currently supported in Private Access and Microsoft 365 workloads.

Administrators can disable QUIC protocol triggering clients to fall back to HTTPS over TCP, which is fully supported in Internet Access. For more information, see QUIC not supported for Internet Access.

WSL 2 connectivity

When the Global Secure Access client for Windows is enabled on the host machine, outgoing connections from the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 environment might be blocked. To mitigate this occurrence, create a .wslconfig file that sets dnsTunneling to false. This way, all traffic from the WSL bypasses Global Secure Access and goes directly to the network. For more information, see Advanced settings configuration in WSL.

Troubleshooting

To troubleshoot the Global Secure Access client, right-click the client icon in the taskbar and select one of the troubleshooting options: Collect logs or Advanced diagnostics.

Tip

Administrators can modify the Global Secure Access client menu options by revising the Client registry keys.

For more detailed information on troubleshooting the Global Secure Access client, see the following articles:

Client registry keys

The Global Secure Access client uses specific registry keys to enable or disable different functionalities. Administrators can use a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions, such as Microsoft Intune or Group Policy to control the registry values.

Caution

Do not change other registry values unless instructed by Microsoft Support.

Restrict nonprivileged users

The administrator can prevent nonprivileged users on the Windows device from disabling or enabling the client by setting the following registry key:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Global Secure Access Client
RestrictNonPrivilegedUsers REG_DWORD

Data Description
0x0 Nonprivileged users on the Windows device can disable and enable the client.
0x1 Nonprivileged users on the Windows device are restricted from disabling and enabling the client. A UAC prompt requires local administrator credentials for disable and enable options. The administrator can also hide the disable button (see Hide or unhide system tray menu buttons).

Disable or enable Private Access on the client

This registry value controls whether Private Access is enabled or disabled for the client. If a user is connected to the corporate network, they can choose to bypass Global Secure Access and directly access private applications.

Users can disable and enable Private Access through the system tray menu.

Tip

This option is available on the menu only if it is not hidden (see Hide or unhide system tray menu buttons) and Private Access is enabled for this tenant.

Administrators can disable or enable Private Access for the user by setting the registry key:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Global Secure Access Client

Value Type Data Description
IsPrivateAccessDisabledByUser REG_DWORD 0x0 Private Access is enabled on this device. Network traffic to private applications goes through Global Secure Access.
IsPrivateAccessDisabledByUser REG_DWORD 0x1 Private Access is disabled on this device. Network traffic to private applications goes directly to the network.

Screenshot showing the Registry Editor with the IsPrivateAccessDisabledByUser registry key highlighted.

If the registry value doesn't exist, the default value is 0x0, Private Access is enabled.

Hide or unhide system tray menu buttons

The administrator can show or hide specific buttons in the client system tray icon menu. Create the values under the following registry key:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Global Secure Access Client

Value Type Data Default behavior Description
HideSignOutButton REG_DWORD 0x0 - shown 0x1 - hidden hidden Configure this setting to show or hide the Sign out action. This option is for specific scenarios when a user needs to sign in to the client with a different Microsoft Entra user than the one used to sign in to Windows. Note: You must sign in to the client with a user in the same Microsoft Entra tenant to which the device is joined. You can also use the Sign out action to reauthenticate the existing user.
HideDisablePrivateAccessButton REG_DWORD 0x0 - shown 0x1 - hidden hidden Configure this setting to show or hide the Disable Private Access action. This option is for a scenario when the device is directly connected to the corporate network and the user prefers accessing private applications directly through the network instead of through the Global Secure Access.
HideDisableButton REG_DWORD 0x0 - shown 0x1 - hidden shown Configure this setting to show or hide the Disable action. When visible, the user can disable the Global Secure Access client. The client remains disabled until the user enables it again. If the Disable action is hidden, a nonprivileged user can't disable the client.

Screenshot showing the Registry Editor with the HideSignOutButton and HideDisablePrivateAccessButton registry keys highlighted.

For more information, see Guidance for configuring IPv6 in Windows for advanced users.

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