© 2021 Pulse Secure, LLC. 56
Pulse Secure Desktop Client: Administration Guide
For a particular client/OS/browser combination, you may need to enable the appropriate technology on the
endpoint device. For example, to launch the Pulse Client from Firefox on Windows, you will need to ensure that
Java is enabled in Firefox on the end user's endpoint device. For more information, consult the "Adaptive
Delivery" section of the Pulse Secure Supported Platforms Guide.
Note: A Web install is not compatible with the Pulse Secure rebranding tool, BrandPackager.
• Preconfigured installer: Create the connections that an endpoint needs for connectivity and services,
download the settings file (.pulsepreconfig), and download default Pulse Client installation program.
For Windows endpoints you run the Pulse Client installation program by using an msiexec command
with the settings file as an option. For OS X endpoints, you run the default installer and then import the
.pulsepreconfig file using a separate command.
• Default installer: You can download the default Pulse Client installation program and distribute it to
endpoints using your local organization's standard software distribution method (such as Microsoft
SMS/SCCM). Pulse Client software is installed with all components and no connections. After users
install a default Pulse Client installation, they can add new connections manually through Pulse Client
user interface or by using a browser to access a Pulse Secure server's Web portal. For the latter, the
Pulse Secure server's dynamic connection is downloaded automatically and the new connection is
added to Pulse Client's connections list when the user starts Pulse Client by using the Pulse Secure
server's Web portal interface. Dynamic connections are created as manual rather than automatic
connections, which means that they are run only when the user initiates the connection or the user
browses to a Pulse Secure server and launches Pulse Client from the server's Web interface.
If the Windows endpoints in your environment do not have admin privileges, you can use the Pulse Client
Installer program, which is available on the admin console System Maintenance Installers page. The Pulse
Client Installer allows users to download, install, upgrade, and run client applications without administrator
privileges. In order to perform tasks that require administrator privileges, the Pulse Client Installer runs under
the client's Local System account (a powerful account with full access to the system) and registers itself with
Windows' Service Control Manager (SCM). An Active-X control or a Java applet running inside the user's Web
browser communicates the details of the installation processes to be performed through a secure channel
between the Pulse Secure server and the client system.
• Installing the Pulse Client Installer MSI package requires administrator rights to install onto your client
systems. If you plan to use the EXE version, administrator rights are not needed as long as a previous
version of the access service component (deployed through, for example, JIS, Pulse Client, and so forth)
is already present. If policies are defined for your client with the group policy "Run only Allowed
Windows Application", the following files must be allowed to run in the group policy. If not, client
applications might not install.
- dsmmf.exe
- PulseCompMgrInstaller.exe
- PulseSetupClient.exe
- PulseSetupClientOCX.exe
- PulseSetupXP.exe
- uninstall.exe
- x86_Microsoft.*.exe
• You should ensure that the Microsoft Windows Installer exists on the client system prior to installing
the Pulse Client Installer.