F5 VPN clients experiencing issues after update

Nov 18, 2018 06:58 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has just acknowledged a new Windows 10 version 1809 bug, as the company publicly informed users that updating to this new release could break down the F5 VPN service for some users.

The software giant explains that it’s aware of possible errors experienced by F5 VPN users after installing its latest Windows operating system, noting that some may lose network connectivity when the VPN service is configured to run in a split tunnel configuration.

While Microsoft says that an upgrade block is in place, a workaround does exist, and more information is available in this F5 technical support document.

The workaround

The company says network access could be lost after setting up the BIG-IP APM network access profile to use split tunneling and users attempt to establish a network access session using BIG-IP Edge Client or an Internet browser from the client device.

“This issue is a result of a regression bug in Windows 10. F5 expects Microsoft to issue a fix for this issue shortly in a cumulative update. We cannot provide an exact timeline for this Microsoft fix,” it says.

A workaround does exist and it is available in the link above, with F5 noting that users need to configure the network access profile manually.

“To work around this issue, you can modify the network access profile and change the Use split tunneling for traffic setting to Force all traffic through tunnel. Alternatively you can use F5 Access to establish the network access session,” the support document adds.

An ETA as to when the fix could land isn’t available right now, but Microsoft is already testing new cumulative updates as part of the Windows Insider program and a potential go-ahead could be given in the coming days. It's not yet known, however, if this patch would be included in the next cumulative update cycle.