KB43623 - Pulse Desktop Client "Connect" button is grayed out

This article describes an issue with the Pulse Desktop Client where the "Connect" button in the user interface is grayed out, preventing the user from being able to complete authentication.

When using a secondary authentication server as RSA on the authentication realm with the following options:

Under Username is:  
Radio button is set to: predefined as:
and
<USER> or <USERNAME> is specified.

Under Password is: 
Radio button is set to: specified by user on sign-in page

As per the below screenshot:


And user has enabled the option in Pulse to "Save settings" for the primary authentication stage as per the below screenshot:



Upon being presented with the secondary authentication the username field is grayed out, along with the "Connect" button.

This issue impacts the following versions:

• Pulse Desktop Client 5.3R3 to 5.3R4

This issue occurs if the user enables "Save Settings" in the Pulse UI for the <primary> authentication and the authentication realm in the PCS config uses a secondary authentication server with username option set to "predefined as <USERNAME>" for secondary authentication which results in secondary username field being greyed out (expected) but Pulse is expecting an entry other than a blank field, which causes the "Connect" button to be grayed out as the form is not complete.


 

To resolve this issue, please upgrade to Pulse Desktop Client 5.3R5 and above.

Workaround:

• In the authentication realm settings, change the secondary authentication server option from:

Predefined as <USERNAME>
to
Specified by user on sign-in page as per the below screenshot:



AND

• *Have the Pulse user disable the option Save Settings in the connection set options in the Pulse UI.  (See below for additional information.) 

(Note: Changing these options will require the user to enter their username twice--once for primary authentication and again for secondary authentication.)

Additional information: Since instructing all users to disable the "Save Settings" option in the Pulse UI may not be a suitable solution, it is possible to manage this centrally with the following steps:

1. From the PCS admin console, go to Users > Pulse Client > Connections
2. Select the connection set.
3. Under the Options uncheck the option to Allow saving logon information as per the screenshot below:

4. Go to Users > Pulse Client > Components
5. Select the component set that the connection set is tied to that was modified in step 3 and click Download installer configuration.
6. Use SCCM or other software management tool to push the preconfig file to end users to reinstall the Pulse client with the option disabled.
7. For users who do not already have the Save Settings option enabled or for endpoints that are not managed centrally, it will be necessary for Pulse users to connect to the PCS device from a browser using the same sign-in URL configured for the connection in Pulse, and click Connect next to the Pulse client on the bookmark page to download the updated Pulse client.
8. To notify Pulse users about these changes prior to connecting, a Pre Sign-In Notification can be configured by going to Signing In > Sign In Notifications and configuring a notification with the desired instructions, then applying this to the appropriate sign-in URL as a "pre auth notification" as per the example in the screenshot below:

The Pulse user experience will be similar to the example in the screenshot below when they click Connect from the Pulse UI connection list: