KB40228 - Pulse Secure Desktop lient fails to start with Error 1205 "Failed to setup virtual adaptor" when Base Filtering Engine is disabled

Pulse Secure Desktop client fails to start with Error 1205 "Failed to setup virtual adaptor" when Base Filtering Engine is disabled

The Pulse Secure Desktop Client for Windows relies on the Windows OS service “Base Filtering Engine” (BFE) in order to function.  If the BFE service is disabled, the Pulse Desktop Client operation can fail with the error message:

Failed to setup virtual adaptor. Error 1205

The above message is generic, but the debuglog.log will provide more clarity on the problem with the following messages:

'TM' FwpmEngineOpen0 failed with error 1753. Wait for BFE to start

The Base Filtering Engine is a core Windows service which is required by the Pulse Secure desktop client for Windows to operate properly. The most common reason BFE becomes disabled is by an Anti-virus program flagging BFE as a problematic service.

More information about BFE can be found here:https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa363967(v=vs.85).aspx

With Pulse desktop 5.0rX and earlier, the above-mentioned errors will only occur if BFE is disabled and the Pulse “Traffic Enforcement” feature is enabled. 

With Pulse desktop 5.1rX and up, the error will occur whenever BFE is disabled, regardless of the “Traffic Enforcement” status. To resolve this issue by re-enabling BFE consult the Microsoft documentation relevant to the particular version of Microsoft Windows.