KB43966 - Host Checker OS check fails with "Host checker client version is incompatible" if 9.0 components are used to connect to pre-9.0 Pulse Connect Secure / Pulse Policy Secure

This article describes an issue with the Host Checker Predefined Rule of Operating System check.

When connecting to a pre-9.0R Pulse Connect Secure / Pulse Policy Secure, Host Checker may fail with the following error:

Host checker client version is incompatible

This issue is applicable when all conditions are met:

1. Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) or Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) is running a pre-9.0 version
2. Endpoint has Pulse Desktop Client 9.0R1 - 9.0R2.1 installed (or installed standalone Host Checker from 9.0R1 - 9.0R2 from another PCS/PPS device)

This issue occurs due to a change in the framework used for the Operating System checks in 9.0 which led to the incompatibility between the client and server communication.

The incompatibility between the client and server is fixed in Pulse Secure Connect / Pulse Policy Secure 9.0R3 (for browser based Host Checker installations) and Pulse Desktop Client 9.0R3.

For macOS, the OS Check rule was introduced in 9.0R1 so when connecting from a pre-9.0 pulse client to a 9.0 PCS/PPS the error displayed on the Pulse client is the following:
 

OS Check rule is not supported for installed client. 
Please upgrade to supported client version.

• Creating Global Host Checker Policies