Configuring HP-UX IPSec

Step 3: Configuring IKE PoliciesStep 3: Configuring IKE Policies

Complete this step only if you are using dynamic keys for IPSec. You do not need to configure IKE policies if you are using only manual keys for IPSec, or if you are only using HP-UX IPSec to discard packets. If you are not using dynamic keys, go to “Step 6: Configuring the Bypass List (Local IPv4 Addresses)” on page 101

HP-UX IPSec uses the parameters in an IKE policy when using the IKE protocol to establish ISAKMP/Main Mode (MM) Security Associations (SAs) with remote systems. IPSec uses ISAKMP/MM SAs to negotiate IPSec SAs; an ISAKMP/MM SA must exist with a remote system before IPSec can negotiate IPSec SAs.

You must have at least one IKE policy if you are using dynamic keys for IPSec. If HP-UX IPSec cannot find an IKE policy with a remote address specification that matches the remote system, the ISAKMP/MM SA negotiation will fail.

HP recommends that you use an ipsec_config batch file to configure IKE policies.

Policy Order and Selection

When HP-UX IPSec needs to establish an ISAKMP/MM SA, it searches the IKE policies according to the value of the priority parameter for each policy and selects the first policy with the IP address and prefix specifications that match the remote system’s address.

Automatic Priority Increment

You can explicitly set the priority of an IKE policy with the priority argument, or you can use the automatic priority increment value for IKE policies in the profile file (the priority parameter value in the IKEPolicy-Defaultssection of the profile file). If you do not specify a priority argument, ipsec_config assigns a priority value that is set to the current highest priority value (lowest priority) in the configuration data base, incremented by the automatic priority increment value for IKE policies. The result is that the new policy will be the last policy evaluated before the default policy. The default automatic priority increment value (priority) is 10.

Chapter 3

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