KB27813 - Pulse not passing traffic or stuck on 'Securing Connection' if Base Filtering Engine service (BFE) is not started

This article discusses an issue where the Pulse desktop client cannot access the JNPRNA Control Device Object if the Window service Base Filtering Engine (BFE) (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) is not running.

 

This issue can result in the following symptoms:

Pulse 4.0 and earlier:

• Pulse client displays the 'Connected' status, but the user is not able to pass traffic.
• Pulse client displays the 'Connected' status, but when ipconfig command is executed from the windows command line, the Pulse Virtual Adapter is not listed.

Pulse 5.0 and later:

• Pulse client stuck on 'Securing Connection" status

There are many possible reasons as to why the tunnel setup may not complete successfully or within a timely manner. This article only documents one possible cause. It is possible that other configuration issues on the server or client side may also result in this issue.

In one case, the problem occurs if the Window service Base Filtering Engine (BFE) (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) is not running.

This issue can occur if the Windows BFE service is no longer running. The BFE service might also get removed by virus programs or antivirus software. If this happens, you can copy the following registry key from a working machine which has the BFE service, then import it into the affected machine and reboot.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\BFE

If this does not resolve the issue, please contact your local IT department for further assistance why the Base Filtering Engine is missing or will not start.  By default, Windows will have this service installed and running.

Note:  The BFE service is only applicable to Vista and later. This service is not applicable to Windows XP.

KB22191 [Pulse] Issues installing Pulse desktop client or connecting to resources over the VPN tunnel