Automating Zscaler Connectivity on macOS

7 min read

Introduction

Zscaler is a cloud-based security service that provides secure internet access via VPN. Unfortunately, Zscaler does not provide a command-line interface to connect to the VPN. We can't use AppleScript to automate the connectivity as well.

Automating Zscaler Connectivity

Once Zscaler is installed on macOS, if we search for LaunchAgents & LaunchDaemons directories, we can find the Zscaler plist files. 

$ sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*'
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.zscaler.tray.plist


$ sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*'
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.zscaler.service.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.zscaler.tunnel.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.zscaler.UPMServiceController.plist

To connect to Zscaler, we can load these services.

#!/bin/bash

/usr/bin/open -a /Applications/Zscaler/Zscaler.app --hide
sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl load {} \;
sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl load {} \;

To disconnect from Zscaler, we can unload all of them.

#!/bin/bash

sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl unload {} \;
sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl unload {} \;

To automatically toggle the connectivity, we can create a shell script.

#!/bin/bash

if [[ $(pgrep -x Zscaler) ]]; then
    echo "Disconnecting from Zscaler"
    sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl unload {} \;
    sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl unload {} \;
else
    echo "Connecting to Zscaler"
    /usr/bin/open -a /Applications/Zscaler/Zscaler.app --hide
    sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl load {} \;
    sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl load {} \;
fi

Raycast is an alternative to default spotlight search on macOS. We can create a script to toggle connectivity to Zscaler.

#!/bin/bash

# Required parameters:
# @raycast.schemaVersion 1
# @raycast.title toggle zscaler
# @raycast.mode silent

# Optional parameters:
# @raycast.icon ☁️

# Documentation:
# @raycast.author chillaranand
# @raycast.authorURL https://avilpage.com/

if [[ $(pgrep -x Zscaler) ]]; then
    echo "Disconnecting from Zscaler"
    sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl unload {} \;
    sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl unload {} \;
else
    echo "Connecting to Zscaler"
    /usr/bin/open -a /Applications/Zscaler/Zscaler.app --hide
    sudo find /Library/LaunchAgents -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl load {} \;
    sudo find /Library/LaunchDaemons -name '*zscaler*' -exec launchctl load {} \;
fi

Save this script to a folder. From Raycast Settings -> Extensions -> Add Script Directory, we can select this folder, and the script will be available in Raycast.

raycast-connect-toggle

We can assign a shortcut key to the script for quick access.

raycast-connect-toggle

Conclusion

Even though Zscaler does not provide a command-line interface, we can automate the connectivity using the above scripts.

Chillar Anand
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