Simple script that starts and stops GlobalProtect.app on Mac OSX.

global-protect.sh

#!/bin/bash

case $# in
   0)
      echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
      exit 1
      ;;
   1)
      case $1 in
         start)
            echo "Starting GlobalProtect..."
            launchctl load /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist
            launchctl load /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist
            echo "Done!"
            ;;
         stop)
            echo "Stopping GlobalProtect..."
            launchctl remove com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps
            launchctl remove com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa
            echo "Done!"
            ;;
         *)
            echo "'$1' is not a valid verb."
            echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
            exit 2
            ;;
      esac
      ;;
   *)
      echo "Too many args provided ($#)."
      echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
      exit 3
      ;;
esac

Works great, thanks!

How to of GlobalProtect + zsh + skhd

1. Add the following to ~/.zshenv (create it if doesn't exist already)

# Kill VPN
function unloadGlobalProtect {
  launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist

  launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist
}

# Start VPN process
function loadGlobalProtect {
  launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist

  launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist

}

# Toggle VPN connection
function toggleGlobalProtectConnection {
	osascript <<EOF
	tell application "System Events" to tell process "GlobalProtect"
		click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- Activates the GlobalProtect "window" in the menubar
		click button 2 of window 1 -- Clicks either Connect or Disconnect
		click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- This will close the GlobalProtect "window" after clicking Connect/Disconnect. This is optional.
	end tell
EOF
}

2. Add bindings to skhd. For example these are mine (you may need to remove default MacOS bindings)

rcmd + ralt - space : zsh -c "toggleGlobalProtectConnection" # (dis)connect to VPN
# 0x2B = ,
# 0x2F = .
rcmd + ralt - 0x2B : zsh -c "unloadGlobalProtect " # killall global protect
rcmd + ralt - 0x2F : zsh -c "loadGlobalProtect " # start global protect

3. Stop skhd service and start it manually to confirm everything is working fine

brew services stop skhd
skhd

4. Play with the keybindings and see the functions outputs in the terminal from 3.

5. Stop manual instance of skhd and restart service

# CTRL + C
brew services start skhd

How can I add drop-down option with diff VPN portals available to choose and connect in GP app via script/code for Mac?
OR
Deploy Mac GP App with list of available VPN portals to be chosen by user and connect ?

Thanks!

Thanks!

Auto connects on recovering from sleep:

brew install sleepwatcher

~/.wakeup:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# power on
/usr/local/bin/blueutil --power 1

# try to connect headphones
/usr/local/bin/blueutil --connect 00-1b-66-b0-eb-24

# autoconnect VPN
source ./vpn-connect.sh

./vpn-connect.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# https://gist.github.com/kaleksandrov/3cfee92845a403da995e7e44ba771183
  
osascript <<EOF
tell application "System Events" to tell process "GlobalProtect"
	click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- Activates the GlobalProtect "window" in the menubar
	set frontmost to true -- keep window 1 active
	tell window 1
	  -- Find the status 
	  tell (first UI element whose title is "Connect") to if exists then set message to "VPN is connecting now..."
	  tell (first UI element whose title is "Disconnect") to if exists then set message to "VPN is connected."
	  -- Click connect button
	  tell (first UI element whose title is "Connect") to if exists then click
	end tell
	click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- This will close the GlobalProtect "window" after clicking Connect/Disconnect. This is optional.
	say message
	return message
end tell
EOF

Detect whether the VPN is currently connected:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#
# check-vpn-connected
#
# Determines if the Global Protect VPN is connected. The detection method uses
# a comparison of the client's configured IP addresses and the active network
# interface addresses.
#
# - If VPN is connected, the script exits with code 0.
#
# - If VPN is NOT connected, the script exits with code 1.
#
# Arguments:
#
#   -v | --verbose  Prints out a message to STDERR if not connected.
#   -d | --debug    Prints debugging info. Implies --verbose.
#
# shellcheck disable=SC2155
#   (see https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki)
#

main() {
  local verbose=0;
  local debug=0;
  local ipv4AddressRegex="(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)";

  while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
    case "$1" in
      --verbose|-v)
        # Verbose output.
        verbose=1;
        ;;

      --debug|-d)
        # Debug output; implies verbose.
        debug=1;
        verbose=1;
    esac;
    shift;
  done;

  # Get the active interface addresses.
  # shellcheck disable=SC2207
  # IPv6 support would require filtering on 'inet6' and an IPv6 regex.
  local interfaceIPs=($(ifconfig -a -u inet | grep -F "inet" | grep -oE "${ipv4AddressRegex}"));
  if [[ "${debug}" -ne 0 ]]; then
    >&2 echo "Interface Addresses: ${interfaceIPs[*]}";
  fi;

  # Read Global Protect client configuration, return the listed IPv4 addresses.
  # IPv6 support would require filtering on 'PreferredIPv6_' and an IPv6 regex.
  IFS=$'\n' read -d '' -r -a vpnIPs < <( \
    defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.paloaltonetworks.GlobalProtect.settings.plist | \
    grep -F "PreferredIP_" | \
    grep -oE "${ipv4AddressRegex}" \
  );
  if [[ "${debug}" -ne 0 ]]; then
    >&2 echo "VPN IPs: ${vpnIPs[*]}";
  fi;

  # If one of the interface IPs matches one of the VPN IPs then the VPN is connected.
  # printf converts the bash array into a pipe-delimited list and XXXX is a never-match last element.
  if grep -qE "($(printf '%s|' "${interfaceIPs[@]}")XXXX)" <<< "${vpnIPs[@]}"; then
    exit 0;
  else
    if [[ "${verbose}" -ne 0 ]]; then
      >&2 echo "$(tput setaf 208)Active VPN connection required!$(tput op)";
    fi;

    exit 1;
  fi;
}

main "$@";

Update on my version of toggleGlobalProtectConnection that broke with the update to GlobalProtect of the last few days

function toggleGlobalProtectConnection {
  osascript <<EOF
  tell application "System Events" to tell process "GlobalProtect"
    click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- Activates the GlobalProtect "window" in the menubar
    set frontmost to true -- keep window 1 active
    tell window 1
      -- Click on the connect or disconnect button, depending on if they exist or not
      if exists (first UI element whose title is "Connect") then
        tell (first UI element whose title is "Connect") to if exists then click
      else
        tell (first UI element whose title is "Disconnect") to if exists then click
      end if
    end tell
    click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- This will close the GlobalProtect "window" after clicking Connect/Disconnect. This is optional.
  end tell
EOF
}

(it has duplicate code but it works 🤣)

It's inspired by the previous comments. Thanks to everyone!

Here is what I modified it to , check for connection state after every 30 minutes(you can modify this ) and then connect again

`➜  ~ cat gp.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash


osascript <<EOF
tell application "System Events" to tell process "GlobalProtect"
	click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- Activates the GlobalProtect "window" in the menubar
	set frontmost to false -- keep window 1 active
	tell window 1
	  -- Find the status
	  tell (first UI element whose title is "Connect") to if exists then set message to "VPN is connecting now..."
	  --tell (first UI element whose title is "Disconnect") to if exists then set message to "VPN is connected."
	  -- Click connect button
	  tell (first UI element whose title is "Connect") to if exists then click
	end tell
	click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- This will close the GlobalProtect "window" after clicking Connect/Disconnect. This is optional.
end tell
EOF
➜  ~ cat com.example.globalprotect.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.example.globalprotect</string>
    <key>Program</key>
    <string>/Users/Aadil.Mir/gp.sh</string>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>1800</integer>
  </dict>
</plist>



cp com.example.globalprotect.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.example.globalprotect.plist


launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.example.globalprotect.plist
`

Hi, Friends.

I found that none of the above worked for me on MacOS Ventura 13.2.1 running GlobalProtect 6.0.5, so I created a simple script that does.

Perhaps I am different in that I have also disabled the underlying system LaunchDaemon service (pangpsd) when this thing is not running because I like to know what's happening on my machine at all times, to the best extent possible. I have no Login Items enabled and modified the plists directly with a text editor to keep them from launching on startup.

This quick script is part of my ~/.bash_profile and invoked by calling vpn on the command line and will start the requisite services, and then launch GlobalProtect. If you have a different install location, you may need to change the open -a /Applications/GlobalProtect.app line to the appropriate directory.

To quit, vpn unload will stop and disable all services and kill the app as well. Errors are suppressed, with the routing > /dev/null 2>&1 because I don't care if the shutdown process isn't clean. Your milage may vary.

vpn() {
	if [ "$1" = "unload" ]; then
		launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
		launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
		launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpsd.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
		PID="$(launchctl list | grep palo | cut -f 1)"
		kill $PID
		echo "VPN unloaded"
	else
		launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist
		launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist 
		launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpsd.plist
		open -a /Applications/GlobalProtect.app
	fi
}

Is there a way to fill in your 2FA code when prompted for this when connecting to a specific VPN portal?

Is there a way to fill in your 2FA code when prompted for this when connecting to a specific VPN portal?

This script doesn't supports this. All it does is to register/unregister the global protect application as an autostart service. It doesn't use any global protect API.

@kaleksandrov thank you, I understand that. However, do you think it would be possible, seeing that some of the scripts above are using the click functionality?

This is a easier version that works for me in macOS Sonoma

vpn() {
    if [ "$1" = "stop" ]; then
        launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
        launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
        echo "VPN unloaded"
    elif [ "$1" = "start" ]; then
        #statements
        launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist
        launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist
        echo "VPN loaded"
    fi
}

I adapted the script to kill globalprotect icon in tray on stop and open globalprotect app when start :

# Add the function below to your .zsh_env or .bash_profile
# Usage : globalprotect start or globalprotect stop

globalprotect() {
    if [ "$1" = "stop" ]; then
        launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
        launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist > /dev/null 2>&1
        PID="$(launchctl list | grep palo | cut -f 1)"

        # Kill the processes IDs only if found
        if [ ! -z "$PID" ]; then
                kill -9 $PID
        fi

        echo "VPN unloaded"
    elif [ "$1" = "start" ]; then
        launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist
        launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist
        open -a /Applications/GlobalProtect.app
        echo "VPN loaded"
    fi
}

Just to share:

Here is my version of start / stop script

# echo "START"
# set -e
# set -x

PORTAL="vpn.nios.net"
MAX_ATTEMPTS=10
SLEEP_INTERVAL=5
WAIT_FOR_APP_TO_BE_READY=5
WAIT_FOR_CONNECTION=15

function check_setup() {
    if [ ! -e "/Applications/GlobalProtect.app" ]; then
        echo "GlobalProtect app is not installed."
        exit 1
    fi

    if [ ! -e "/Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist" ] || [ ! -e "/Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist" ]; then
        echo "GlobalProtect launch agents are not properly set up."
        exit 1
    fi
}

function ensure_app_running() {
    for ((i=1; i<=$MAX_ATTEMPTS; i++)); do
        if osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains "GlobalProtect"' &>/dev/null; then
            sleep $WAIT_FOR_APP_TO_BE_READY
            return 0
        fi
        echo "Waiting for GlobalProtect app to start..."
        sleep $SLEEP_INTERVAL
    done

    echo "Failed to start GlobalProtect app."
    exit 1
}

function start_vpn() {
    echo -e "\nStarting GlobalProtect...\n"
    launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist
    launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist

    ensure_app_running

    connect_vpn

    sleep $WAIT_FOR_CONNECTION

    if check_vpn_status; then
        echo -e "\nVPN is connected to $PORTAL\n"
        return 0
    fi

    for ((i=1; i<=$MAX_ATTEMPTS; i++)); do
        connect_vpn
        sleep $SLEEP_INTERVAL
        if check_vpn_status; then
        echo -e "\nVPN is connected to $PORTAL\n"
            return 0
        fi
    done

    echo -e "\nFailed to connect to VPN after $MAX_ATTEMPTS attempts\n"
    exit 1
}

function connect_vpn() {
    osascript <<EOF &>/dev/null
    tell application "System Events"
        tell process "GlobalProtect"
            if not (exists window 1) then
                click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 -- Activates the GlobalProtect "window" in the menubar
                delay 2 -- Wait for 2 seconds
            end if
            set frontmost to true -- keep window 1 active
            tell window 1
                if exists (first button whose title is "Connect") then
                    tell (first button whose title is "Connect") to if exists then click
                end if
            end tell
        end tell
    end tell
EOF
}

function check_vpn_status() {
    VPN_STATUS=$(osascript <<EOF 2>/dev/null
    tell application "System Events"
        tell process "GlobalProtect"
            set frontmost to true -- keep window 1 active
            tell window 1
                if exists (first button whose title is "Disconnect") then
                    return "Connected"
                else
                    return "Not Connected"
                end if
            end tell
        end tell
    end tell
EOF
    )
    echo "VPN status: $VPN_STATUS"
    if [ "$VPN_STATUS" == "Connected" ]; then
        return 0
    elif [ "$VPN_STATUS" == "Not Connected" ]; then
        return 1
    else
        return 1
    fi
}
function stop_vpn() {
    echo -e "\nStopping GlobalProtect...\n"

    if ! launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist 2>/dev/null || \
       ! launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist 2>/dev/null; then
        echo "Failed to bootout as current user, trying with sudo..."
        sudo launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangps.plist 2>/dev/null
        sudo launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) /Library/LaunchAgents/com.paloaltonetworks.gp.pangpa.plist 2>/dev/null
    fi

    PIDS=$(launchctl list | grep -E 'com\.paloaltonetworks\.gp\.pangpa|com\.paloaltonetworks\.gp\.pangps' | awk '{print $1}')
    if [ ! -z "$PIDS" ]; then
        echo "Killing GlobalProtect processes..."
        for PID in $PIDS; do 
            if sudo kill -9 $PID; then
                echo "Killed process $PID"
            else
                echo "Failed to kill process $PID"
            fi
        done
    fi

    echo -e "\nVPN stopped\n"
}

case $1 in
    start)
        check_setup
        start_vpn
        ;;
    stop)
        stop_vpn
        ;;
    *)
        echo "'$1' is not a valid verb."
        echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop}"
        exit 1
        ;;
esac

I adapted the script to kill globalprotect icon in tray on stop and open globalprotect app when start :

@damosse31 THANK YOU! That's exactly what I was looking for and it works perfectly on macOS Sonoma and GlobalProtect 6.1.4 🫶