GlobalProtect sometimes disconnects unexpectedly or does not require authentication

This document explains the GlobalProtect 24 hour session lifetime limit.

Symptoms

GlobalProtect sometimes disconnects unexpectedly after connecting successfully or does not require username, password and Duo authentication to connect. This may be particularly common in the morning.

Resolution

In most cases, this is intended. When you connect to GlobalProtect and authenticate with your username, password and Duo, you begin a new GlobalProtect session. Your existing session is preserved when you disconnect from GlobalProtect; when you reconnect to GlobalProtect and are not prompted to reauthenticate with your username, password and Duo, you are reconnecting to your existing session. However, GlobalProtect sessions have a maximum lifetime of 24 hours and reconnecting to an existing session in this way cannot extend the session lifetime beyond this 24 hour limit. You will be automatically disconnected from GlobalProtect when the existing session to which you have reconnected reaches its 24 hour lifetime limit.

This is particularly common if you typically connect to GlobalProtect around the same time each day. For example, if you connect to GlobalProtect at 8:00 AM MT on Monday, then at 7:55 AM MT on Tuesday, you will be automatically disconnected from GlobalProtect just five minutes after connecting. When you next connect to GlobalProtect, you will be prompted to authenticate with your username, password and Duo; doing so successfully will begin a new 24 hour session.

To view the time remaining in your current GlobalProtect session, do the following:

Open the GlobalProtect client.
Click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) icon in the upper right corner.
From the context menu, click Settings.
In the Settings window, on the Connections tab, look for the time under Login Lifetime.

When this time elapses, you will be disconnected from GlobalProtect.

To manually begin a new GlobalProtect session instead of reconnecting to an existing session, do the following:

Open the GlobalProtect client.
Click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) icon in the upper right corner.
From the context menu, click Settings.
In the Settings window, click the Sign Out button in the lower left corner.

This ends your current GlobalProtect session. You will be prompted to authenticate with your username, password and Duo when you next connect to GlobalProtect, thus beginning a new GlobalProtect session.

Support

If you require assistance with GlobalProtect, please submit a help request.