Global Secure Access Client Installed and Running but UI/Tray Icon Not Visible

Chitteti Sai kumar 0 Reputation points
2026-08-17T16:10:40.55+00:00

The GSA client installs successfully and all services are running, however the application UI/tray icon is not visible for any user, including the local Administrator account.

Troubleshooting Performed

  • Uninstalled and reinstalled the latest GSA client.
  • Verified device is Microsoft Entra Joined.
  • Verified DeviceAuthStatus = SUCCESS.
  • Verified AzureAdPrt = YES.
  • Verified all GSA services are running:
    • GlobalSecureAccessClientManagerService
      • GlobalSecureAccessEngineService
        • GlobalSecureAccessForwardingProfileService
          • GlobalSecureAccessTunnelingService
          • Verified GlobalSecureAccessClient.exe is running in Task Manager.
          • Tested with both standard user and Administrator account.
          • Rejoined the device to Entra ID.
          • Rebooted multiple times.

Observation

The GSA background processes and services are running successfully, but the application/tray icon never appears and the client UI cannot be accessed.

Event Viewer Error

A .NET Runtime error was observed when launching GlobalSecureAccessClient.exe indicating an issue related to:

Plain Text

1

Microsoft.NETCore.App.runtimeconfig.json

2

The document is empty.

3

Invalid framework config.json

Show more lines

Could you please advise on additional troubleshooting steps or confirm if this is a known issue with the current GSA client version?

Microsoft Security | Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Entra Private Access
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  1. AI answer

    2026-08-17T16:10:56.6166667+00:00

    The supported next steps are:

    1. Use the built-in client troubleshooting tools from the taskbar icon menu if available: Export logs and Advanced diagnostics tool.
    2. Since GlobalSecureAccessClient.exe is already running but the tray UI is not visible, manually start the tray application from: C:\Program Files\Global Secure Access Client\GlobalSecureAccessClient.exe
    3. Verify the tray icon is visible. If a sign-in notification appears, select Sign in. If it does not appear, check Notification Center and select Sign in there.
    4. Sign in with a user from the same Microsoft Entra tenant that the device is joined to.
    5. Hover over the system tray icon and verify that the client is not disabled by your organization.
    6. Restart the client and wait a few seconds.
    7. Check Event Viewer for client errors.
    8. If the tray application still does not appear, collect troubleshooting logs and submit a support ticket including those logs.

    Supported health checks relevant to this scenario:

    • The device must be Microsoft Entra joined or Microsoft Entra hybrid joined. Microsoft Entra registered devices are not supported.
    • The Windows sign-in user must be a Microsoft Entra user, not a local-only account.
    • The tunneling, engine, and policy retriever services must be running.
    • If the client icon is missing from the tray, the documented action is to run GlobalSecureAccessClient.exe from the installation path above.

    No documented known issue for the specific .NET Runtime error or Microsoft.NETCore.App.runtimeconfig.json corruption is provided in the available material. The documented escalation path, after self-service diagnostics and log collection, is to submit a support ticket.

    References:

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