ISAKMPD.CONF(5)

💖 ISAKMPD.CONF(5) 💖 — the File Formats Manual bestie, but make it group chat

okay so. this is isakmpd.conf, the configuration file for the isakmpd daemon — the one that handles security association and key management for the IPsec layer of your kernel's networking stack. very main character of it. ✨

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

isakmpd.conf — configuration file for isakmpd 💅

---

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so isakmpd.conf is literally the config file for the isakmpd daemon, which manages security association and key management for the IPsec layer of the kernel's networking stack. she's important, okay?? 🫶

the file is in that well known format called .INI style — named after the suffix used by an overrated windowing environment for its config files 😭. this format is made of sections, and each one starts with a line that looks like:

[Section name]

between those brackets is the name of the section that follows the header. inside a section you can stash a whole bunch of tag/value pairs, each one looking like:

Tag=Value

if a value needs more room than one line can give it, you can continue it on the next line by ending the first line with a backslash character immediately before the newline character. this trick can extend a value for an arbitrary number of lines. no cap. 🔥

comments can go anywhere in the file by using a hash mark (#). the comment runs to the end of the current line. periodt.

often the right-hand side values are literally other section names — which gives you a whole tree structure. some values are treated as a list of several scalar values, and those lists always use a comma character as the separator. some values are formatted like this: X,Y:Z, which is the offer/accept syntax — X is a value we offer, and Y:Z is a range of accepted values, inclusive. iykyk. 💅

to activate changes to isakmpd.conf without restarting isakmpd, send a SIGHUP signal to the daemon process. slay. 💖

---

🎀 Auto-generated parts of the configuration 🎀

some predefined section names are recognized by the daemon, which saves you from having to fully spell out the Main Mode transforms and Quick Mode suites, protocols, and transforms. it's giving convenience. ✨

For Main Mode:

{DES,BLF,3DES,CAST,AES}-{MD5,SHA}[-GRP{1,2,5,14}][-{DSS,RSA_SIG}]

For Quick Mode:

QM-{proto}[-TRP]-{cipher}[-{hash}][-PFS[-{group}]]-SUITE

where

• {proto} is either ESP or AH
• {cipher} is either DES, 3DES, CAST, BLF or AES
• {hash} is either MD5, SHA, RIPEMD, SHA2-{256,384,512}
• {group} is either GRP1, GRP2, GRP5 or GRP14

for example, 3DES-SHA means: 3DES encryption, SHA hash, and authorization by pre-shared keys. similarly, QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS-SUITE means: ESP protocol, 3DES encryption, SHA hash, and use Perfect Forward Secrecy. obsessed with how clean that is. 💜

unless explicitly stated with -GRP1, 2, 5 or 14, transforms and PFS suites use DH group 2. there are currently no predefined ESP+AH Quick Mode suites. sad but true. 😭

the predefinitions include some default values for the special sections "General", "Keynote", "X509-certificates", and "Default-phase-1-configuration". these default values are presented in the example below. 👑

all autogenerated values can be overridden by manual entries — just use the same section and tag names in the config file. in particular, the default phase 1 (Main or Aggressive Mode) and phase 2 (Quick Mode) lifetimes can be overridden by these tags under the "General" section:

[General]
Default-phase-1-lifetime=       3600,60:86400
Default-phase-2-lifetime=       1200,60:86400

the Main Mode lifetime currently defaults to one hour (minimum 60 seconds, maximum 1 day). the Quick Mode lifetime defaults to 20 minutes (minimum 60 seconds, maximum 1 day). iconic defaults, fr fr.

also, the default phase 1 ID can be set by creating a <Phase1-ID> section, as shown below, and adding this tag under the "General" section:

[General]
Default-phase-1-ID=             Phase1-ID-name

[Phase1-ID-name]
ID-type=                        USER_FQDN
Name=                           foo@bar.com

---

🌱 Roots 🌱

🌸 General 🌸

Generic global configuration parameters ✨

• Default-phase-1-ID — Optional default phase 1 ID name.
• Default-phase-1-lifetime — The default lifetime for autogenerated transforms (phase 1). If unspecified, the value 3600,60:86400 is used as the default.
• Default-phase-2-lifetime — The default lifetime for autogenerated suites (phase 2). If unspecified, the value 1200,60:86400 is used as the default.
• Default-phase-2-suites — A list of phase 2 suites that will be used when establishing dynamic SAs. If left unspecified, QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS-SUITE is used as the default.
• Acquire-Only — If this tag is defined, isakmpd will not set up flows automatically. this is useful when flows are configured with ipsecadm(4) or by other programs like bgpd(8). so isakmpd only takes care of the SA establishment. lowkey handy. 🫶
• Check-interval — The interval between watchdog checks of connections we want up at all times.
• DPD-check-interval — The interval between RFC 3706 (Dead Peer Detection) messages. The default value is 0 (zero), which means DPD is disabled.
• Exchange-max-time — How many seconds should an exchange maximally take to set up before we give up. ⏳
• Listen-on — A list of IP-addresses OK to listen on. This list is used as a filter for the set of addresses the interfaces configured provides. This means that we won't see if an address given here does not exist on this host, and thus no error is given for that case. 💀
• Loglevel — A list of the form class=level, where both class and level are numbers. This is similar to the -D command line switch of isakmpd. See isakmpd(8) for details.
• Logverbose — If this tag is defined, whatever the value is, verbose logging is enabled. This is similar to the -v command line switch of isakmpd. See isakmpd(8) for details.
• NAT-T-Keepalive — The number of seconds between NAT-T keepalive messages, sent by the peer behind NAT to keep the mapping active. Defaults to 20.
• Policy-file — The name of the file that contains keynote(4) policies. The default is "/etc/isakmpd/isakmpd.policy".
• Pubkey-directory — The directory in which isakmpd.conf looks for explicitly trusted public keys. The default is "/etc/isakmpd/pubkeys". Read isakmpd(8) for the required naming convention of the files in here.
• Renegotiate-on-HUP — If this tag is defined, whatever the value is, isakmpd will renegotiate all current phase 2 SAs when the daemon receives a SIGHUP signal, or an ‘R’ is sent to the FIFO interface (see isakmpd(8)). 💅
• Retransmits — How many times should a message be retransmitted before giving up.
• Shared-SADB — If this tag is defined, whatever the value is, some semantics of isakmpd.conf are changed so that multiple instances can run on top of one SADB and set up SAs with each other. Specifically this means replay protection will not be asked for, and errors that can occur when updating an SA with its parameters a 2nd time will be ignored. 👀
• Use-Keynote — This tag controls the use of keynote(4) policy checking. The default value is "yes", which enables the policy checking. When set to any other value, policies will not be checked. This is useful when policies for flows and SA establishment are arranged by other programs like ipsecadm(8) or bgpd(8).

🦋 Phase 1 🦋

ISAKMP SA negotiation parameter root ✨

• <IP-address> — A name of the ISAKMP peer at the given IP-address.
• Default — A name of the default ISAKMP peer. Incoming phase 1 connections from other IP-addresses will use this peer name.

This name is used as the section name for further information to be found. Look at <ISAKMP-peer> below.

💅 Phase 2 💅

IPsec SA negotiation parameter root ✨

• Connections — A list of directed IPsec "connection" names that should be brought up automatically, either on first use if the system supports it, or at startup of the daemon. These names are section names where further information can be found. Look at <IPsec-connection> below. Normally any connections mentioned here are treated as part of the "Passive-connection" list we present below, however there is a flag: "Active-only" that disables this behaviour. This too is mentioned in the <IPsec-connection> section, in the "Flags" tag.

---

part 2 is coming bestie, don't go anywhere 💖✨

• Passive-connections — a list of IPsec "connection" names we recognize and accept initiations for. these names are section names where further information can be found. look at <IPsec-connection> below. currently only the Local-ID and Remote-ID tags are looked at in those sections, as they are matched against the IDs given by the initiator. 💅

---

KeyNote 🎀

• Credential-directory — a directory containing directories named after IDs (IP addresses, user@domain, or hostnames) that contain files named credentials and private_key.

the credentials file contains keynote(4) credentials that are sent to a remote IKE daemon when we use the associated ID, or credentials that we may want to consider when doing an exchange with a remote IKE daemon that uses that ID. note that, in the former case, the last credential in the file MUST contain our public key in its Licensees field. more than one credentials may exist in the file. they are separated by whitelines (the format is essentially the same as that of the policy file). the credentials are of the same format as the policies described in isakmpd.policy(5). the only difference is that the Authorizer field contains a public key, and the assertion is signed. signed assertions can be generated using the keynote(1) utility. 📝

the private_key file contains the private RSA key we use for authentication. if the directory (and the files) exist, they take precedence over X509-based authentication. 🔑

---

X509-Certificates 📜

• Accept-self-signed — if this tag is defined, whatever the value is, certificates that do not originate from a trusted CA but are self-signed will be accepted. (like, we're chill with self-signed if you say so) ✨
• Ca-directory — a directory containing PEM certificates of certification authorities that we trust to sign other certificates. note that for a CA to be really trusted, it needs to be somehow referred to by policy, in isakmpd.policy(5). the certificates in this directory are used for the actual X.509 authentication and for cross-referencing policies that refer to Distinguished Names (DNs). keeping a separate directory (as opposed to integrating policies and X.509 CA certificates) allows for maintenance of a list of "well known" CAs without actually having to trust all (or any) of them. 🤝
• Cert-directory — a directory containing PEM certificates that we trust to be valid. these certificates are used in preference to those passed in messages and are required to have a subjectAltName extension containing the certificate holder identity; usually IP address, FQDN, or User FQDN, as provided by certpatch(8). 🌟
• Private-key — the private key matching the public key of our certificate (which should be in the Cert-directory, and have an appropriate subjectAltName field). 🔐

---

Referred-to sections 🔗

<ISAKMP-peer> — Parameters for negotiation with an ISAKMP peer

• Phase — the constant 1, as ISAKMP-peers and IPsec-connections really are handled by the same code inside isakmpd. (it's giving phase 1 energy) ⚡
• Transport — the name of the transport protocol, defaults to UDP.
• Port — in case of UDP, the UDP port number to send to. this is optional, the default value is 500 which is the IANA-registered number for ISAKMP. 🔢
• Local-address — the Local IP-address to use, if we are multi-homed, or have aliases.
• Address — if existent, the IP-address of the peer.
• Configuration — the name of the ISAKMP-configuration section to use. look at <ISAKMP-configuration> below. if unspecified, defaults to "Default-phase-1-configuration".
• Authentication — if existent, authentication data for this specific peer. in the case of preshared key, this is the key value itself. 🔑
• ID — if existent, the name of the section that describes the local client ID that we should present to our peer. if not present, it defaults to the address of the local interface we are sending packets over to the remote daemon. look at <Phase1-ID> below.
• Remote-ID — if existent, the name of the section that describes the remote client ID we expect the remote daemon to send us. if not present, it defaults to the address of the remote daemon. look at <Phase1-ID> below.
• Flags — a comma-separated list of flags controlling the further handling of the ISAKMP SA. currently there are no specific ISAKMP SA flags defined. (so it's just vibes for now) 🏳️

<Phase1-ID> 🆔

• ID-type — the ID type as given by the RFC specifications. for phase 1 this is currently IPV4_ADDR, IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET, IPV6_ADDR, IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET, FQDN, USER_FQDN or KEY_ID.
• Address — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR or IPV6_ADDR, this tag should exist and be an IP-address.
• Network — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET this tag should exist and be a network address.
• Netmask — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET this tag should exist and be a network subnet mask.
• Name — if the ID-type is FQDN, USER_FQDN or KEY_ID, this tag should exist and contain a domain name, user@domain, or other identifying string respectively.

in the case of KEY_ID, note that the IKE protocol allows any octet sequence to be sent or received under this payload, potentially including non-printable ones. isakmpd(8) can only transmit printable KEY_ID payloads, but can receive and process arbitrary KEY_ID payloads. this effectively means that non-printable KEY_ID remote identities cannot be verified through this means, although it is still possible to do so through isakmpd.policy(5). ⚠️

bestie, pay attention to that KEY_ID caveat — it's a whole thing. non-printable IDs are a no-go for verification here, but you can still flex via isakmpd.policy(5). 💀

<ISAKMP-configuration> ⚙️

• DOI — the domain of interpretation as given by the RFCs. normally IPSEC. if unspecified, defaults to IPSEC.
• EXCHANGE_TYPE — the exchange type as given by the RFCs. for main mode this is ID_PROT and for aggressive mode it is AGGRESSIVE.
• Transforms — a list of proposed transforms to use for protecting the ISAKMP traffic. these are actually names for sections further describing the transforms. look at <ISAKMP-transform> below.

<ISAKMP-transform> 🔄

• ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHM — the encryption algorithm as the RFCs name it, or ANY to denote that any encryption algorithm proposed will be accepted.
• KEY_LENGTH — for encryption algorithms with variable key length, this is where the offered/accepted keylengths are described. the value is of the offer-accept kind described above.
• HASH_ALGORITHM — the hash algorithm as the RFCs name it, or ANY.
• AUTHENTICATION_METHOD — the authentication method as the RFCs name it, or ANY.
• GROUP_DESCRIPTION — the group used for Diffie-Hellman exponentiations, or ANY. the names are symbolic, like MODP_768, MODP_1024, EC_155 and EC_185. 🌈
• PRF — the algorithm you use for the keyed pseudo-random function (aka the thing doing key derivation and authentication in phase 1), or ANY. iykyk 💅
• Life — a whole list of lifetime descriptions, or just ANY. When it's a list, each element is literally the name of a section that defines that lifetime. Peep <Lifetime> down below for the tea. And if you set it to ANY? Then any type of proposed lifetime type and value gets accepted, no questions asked. periodt ✨

🎀 <Lifetime> 🎀

• LIFE_TYPE — either SECONDS or KILOBYTES, depends on what kind of duration you're dealing with. ⚠️ Heads up bestie: this field may NOT be set to ANY. like, at all.
• LIFE_DURATION — an offer/accept kind of value (see above, we covered that vibe). Can also be set to ANY. 🫶

🌸 <IPsec-connection> 🌸

• Phase — the constant 2, because <ISAKMP-peer>s and IPsec-connections are literally handled by the same code inside isakmpd. they're not beating the shared-code allegations 😭
• ISAKMP-peer — the name of the ISAKMP-peer you wanna talk to in order to set this connection up. The value is the name of an <ISAKMP-peer> section. See above. 👑
• Configuration — the name of the IPsec-configuration section to use. Look at <IPsec-configuration> below. 🦋
• Local-ID — if it exists, this is the name of the section describing the optional local client ID we present to our peer. It's also used when we act as responders, to figure out which <IPsec-connection> we're actually dealing with. Look at <IPsec-ID> below. 🍓
• Remote-ID — if it exists, the name of the section describing the optional remote client ID we present to our peer. Also used when we're acting as responders to work out which <IPsec-connection> is ours. Look at <IPsec-ID> below. 💜
• Flags — a comma-separated list of flags controlling how the IPsec SA gets handled further. Right now only one flag is defined, iconic behavior:
  • Active-only — if this flag is given and this <IPsec-connection> is part of the phase 2 connections we automatically keep up, then it will not automatically be used for accepting connections from the peer.

✨ <IPsec-configuration> ✨

• DOI — the domain of interpretation as given by the RFCs. Normally IPSEC. If you leave it unspecified, it defaults to IPSEC. no cap 🌈
• EXCHANGE_TYPE — the exchange type as given by the RFCs. For quick mode this is QUICK_MODE. 💫
• Suites — a list of protection suites (basically bundles of protocols) usable for protecting the IP traffic. Each element in the list is the name of an <IPsec-suite> section. See below. 🧚

💖 <IPsec-suite> 💖

• Protocols — a list of the protocols included in this protection suite. Each list element is the name of an <IPsec-protocol> section. See below. 🎀

🔥 <IPsec-protocol> 🔥

• PROTOCOL_ID — the protocol as given by the RFCs. Acceptable values today are IPSEC_AH and IPSEC_ESP. ✨
• Transforms — a list of transforms usable for implementing the protocol. Each list element is the name of an <IPsec-transform> section. See below. 🌸
• ReplayWindow — the size of the window used for replay protection. This is normally left alone, fr fr. Look at the ESP and AH RFCs if you want a better description. 💅

🌈 <IPsec-transform> 🌈

• TRANSFORM_ID — the transform ID as given by the RFCs. 💜
• ENCAPSULATION_MODE — the encapsulation mode as given by the RFCs. This means TRANSPORT or TUNNEL. 🦋
• AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM — the optional authentication algorithm, in the case of this being an ESP transform. 🍓
• GROUP_DESCRIPTION — an optional (provides PFS if present) Diffie-Hellman group description. The values are the same as GROUP_DESCRIPTION's in <ISAKMP-transform> sections shown above. ⭐
• Life — list of lifetimes, each element is a <Lifetime> section name. 🫶

👑 <IPsec-ID> 👑

• ID-type — the ID type as given by the RFCs. For IPsec this is currently IPV4_ADDR, IPV6_ADDR, IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET. 💫
• Address — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR or IPV6_ADDR, this tag should exist and be an IP-address. 🎀
• Network — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET, this tag should exist and be a network address. 🌸
• Netmask — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET, this tag should exist and be a network subnet mask. ✨
• Protocol — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR, IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET, IPV6_ADDR or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET, this tag says what transport protocol should be transmitted over the SA. If you leave it unspecified, all transport protocols between the two address (ranges) will be sent (or permitted) over that SA. 🔥
• Port — if the ID-type is IPV4_ADDR, IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET, IPV6_ADDR or IPV6_ADDR_SUBNET, this tag says what source or destination port is allowed to be transported over the SA (depends on whether this is a local or a remote ID). If you leave it unspecified, all ports of the given transport protocol will be transmitted (or permitted) over the SA. ⚠️ The Protocol tag must be specified in conjunction with this tag. no skipping, bestie 😭

---

🦋 Other sections 🦋

💜 <IKECFG-ID> 💜

Parameters to use with IKE mode-config. One ID per peer. slay 💅

An IKECFG-ID is written as [<ID-type>/<name>]. The following ID types are supported:

• IPv4 — [ipv4/A.B.C.D]
• IPv6 — [ipv6/abcd:abcd::ab:cd]
• FQDN — [fqdn/foo.bar.org]
• UFQDN — [ufqdn/user@foo.bar.org]
• ASN1_DN — [asn1_dn//C=aa/O=cc/...] (Note the double slashes, because the DN itself starts with a ‘/’.) 🙈

Each section specifies what configuration values to return to the peer requesting IKE mode-config. Currently supported values are:

• Address — the peer's network address.
• Netmask — the peer's netmask.
• Nameserver — the IP address of a DNS nameserver.
• WINS-server — the IP address of a WINS server.

⭐ <Initiator-ID> ⭐

During phase 1 negotiation, isakmpd looks for a pre-shared key in the <ISAKMP-peer> section. But if no Authentication data is specified in that section, and isakmpd is not the initiator, then it goes looking for Authentication data in a section named after the initiator's phase 1 ID. This lets mobile users with dynamic IP addresses have different shared secrets. lowkey genius 🧠✨

Heads up: this only works for aggressive mode, because in main mode the remote initiator ID wouldn't be known yet. 💀

The name of the <Initiator-ID> section depends on the ID type sent by the initiator. Currently this can be:

• IPv4 — [A.B.C.D]
• IPv6 — [abcd:abcd::ab:cd]
• FQDN — [foo.bar.org]
• UFQDN — [user@foo.bar.org]

---

🌈 FILES 🌈

• /etc/isakmpd/isakmpd.conf — the default isakmpd configuration file. the main character fr 💅
• /usr/share/ipsec/isakmpd/ — a directory containing some sample isakmpd configuration files. go peek bestie 🎀

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

okay bestie, here's the whole vibe in one go — a full-on configuration file sample for the isakmpd ISAKMP/Oakley (aka IKE) daemon. read it, love it, copy it, whatever 💅

# A configuration sample for the isakmpd ISAKMP/Oakley (aka IKE) daemon.

[General]
Listen-on=              10.1.0.2

# Incoming phase 1 negotiations are multiplexed on the source IP address
[Phase 1]
10.1.0.1=               ISAKMP-peer-west

# These connections are walked over after config file parsing and told
# to the application layer so that it will inform us when traffic wants to
# pass over them.
This means we can do on-demand keying.
[Phase 2]
Connections=            IPsec-east-west

# Default values are commented out.
[ISAKMP-peer-west]
Phase=                  1
#Transport=             udp
Local-address=          10.1.0.2
Address=                10.1.0.1
#Port=                  isakmp
#Port=                  500
#Configuration=         Default-phase-1-configuration
Authentication=         mekmitasdigoat
#Flags=

[IPsec-east-west]
Phase=                  2
ISAKMP-peer=            ISAKMP-peer-west
Configuration=          Default-quick-mode
Local-ID=               Net-east
Remote-ID=              Net-west
#Flags=

[Net-west]
ID-type=                IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET
Network=                192.168.1.0
Netmask=                255.255.255.0

[Net-east]
ID-type=                IPV4_ADDR_SUBNET
Network=                192.168.2.0
Netmask=                255.255.255.0

# Quick mode descriptions

[Default-quick-mode]
EXCHANGE_TYPE=          QUICK_MODE
Suites=                 QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS-SUITE,QM-ESP-AES-SHA-PFS-SUITE

# Data for an IKE mode-config peer
[asn1_dn//C=SE/L=SomeCity/O=SomeCompany/CN=SomePeer.company.com]
Address=                192.168.1.123
Netmask=                255.255.255.0
Nameserver=             192.168.1.10
WINS-server=            192.168.1.11

# pre-shared key based on initiator's phase 1 ID
[foo.bar.org]
Authentication=         mekmitasdigoat

#
# #####################################################################
# All configuration data below this point is not required as the example
# uses the predefined Main Mode transform and Quick Mode suite names.
# It is included here for completeness.  Note the default values for the
# [General] and [X509-certificates] sections just below.
# #####################################################################
#

[General]
Policy-file=            /etc/isakmpd/isakmpd.policy
Retransmits=            3
Exchange-max-time=      120

# KeyNote credential storage
[KeyNote]
Credential-directory=   /etc/isakmpd/keynote/

# Certificates stored in PEM format
[X509-certificates]
CA-directory=           /etc/isakmpd/ca/
Cert-directory=         /etc/isakmpd/certs/
CRL-directory=          /etc/isakmpd/crls/
Private-key=            /etc/isakmpd/private/local.key

# Default phase 1 description (Main Mode)

[Default-phase-1-configuration]
EXCHANGE_TYPE=          ID_PROT
Transforms=             3DES-SHA

# Main mode transforms
######################

# DES

[DES-MD5]
ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHM=   DES_CBC
HASH_ALGORITHM=         MD5
AUTHENTICATION_METHOD=  PRE_SHARED
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-1-lifetime

[DES-SHA]
ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHM=   DES_CBC
HASH_ALGORITHM=         SHA
AUTHENTICATION_METHOD=  PRE_SHARED
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-1-lifetime

# 3DES

[3DES-SHA]
ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHM=   3DES_CBC
HASH_ALGORITHM=         SHA
AUTHENTICATION_METHOD=  PRE_SHARED
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-1-lifetime

# Blowfish

[BLF-SHA]
ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHM=   BLOWFISH_CBC
KEY_LENGTH=             128,96:192
HASH_ALGORITHM=         SHA
AUTHENTICATION_METHOD=  PRE_SHARED
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-1-lifetime

# Blowfish, using DH group 4 (non-default)
[BLF-SHA-EC185]
ENCRYPTION_ALGORITHM=   BLOWFISH_CBC
KEY_LENGTH=             128,96:192
HASH_ALGORITHM=         SHA
AUTHENTICATION_METHOD=  PRE_SHARED
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      EC2N_185
Life=                   Default-phase-1-lifetime

# Quick mode protection suites
##############################

# DES

[QM-ESP-DES-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES

[QM-ESP-DES-PFS-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES-PFS

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES-MD5

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5-PFS-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES-MD5-PFS

[QM-ESP-DES-SHA-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES-SHA

[QM-ESP-DES-SHA-PFS-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES-SHA-PFS

# 3DES

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-3DES-SHA

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS

# AES

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-AES-SHA

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-PFS-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-AES-SHA-PFS

# AH

[QM-AH-MD5-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-AH-MD5

[QM-AH-MD5-PFS-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-AH-MD5-PFS

# AH + ESP (non-default)

[QM-AH-MD5-ESP-DES-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-AH-MD5,QM-ESP-DES

[QM-AH-MD5-ESP-DES-MD5-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-AH-MD5,QM-ESP-DES-MD5

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5-AH-MD5-SUITE]
Protocols=              QM-ESP-DES-MD5,QM-AH-MD5

# Quick mode protocols

# DES

[QM-ESP-DES]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-DES-XF

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-DES-MD5-XF

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5-PFS]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-DES-MD5-PFS-XF

[QM-ESP-DES-SHA]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-DES-SHA-XF

# 3DES

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-XF

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS-XF

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-TRP]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-TRP-XF

# AES

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-AES-SHA-XF

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-PFS]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-AES-SHA-PFS-XF

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-TRP]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_ESP
Transforms=             QM-ESP-AES-SHA-TRP-XF

# AH MD5

[QM-AH-MD5]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_AH
Transforms=             QM-AH-MD5-XF

[QM-AH-MD5-PFS]
PROTOCOL_ID=            IPSEC_AH
Transforms=             QM-AH-MD5-PFS-XF

# Quick mode transforms

# ESP DES+MD5

[QM-ESP-DES-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_MD5
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-DES-MD5-PFS-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_MD5
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-DES-SHA-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

# 3DES

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           3DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-PFS-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           3DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-3DES-SHA-TRP-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           3DES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TRANSPORT
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

# AES

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           AES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-PFS-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           AES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-ESP-AES-SHA-TRP-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           AES
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TRANSPORT
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_SHA
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

# AH

[QM-AH-MD5-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           MD5
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM=       HMAC_MD5
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[QM-AH-MD5-PFS-XF]
TRANSFORM_ID=           MD5
ENCAPSULATION_MODE=     TUNNEL
GROUP_DESCRIPTION=      MODP_1024
Life=                   Default-phase-2-lifetime

[Sample-Life-Time]
LIFE_TYPE=              SECONDS
LIFE_DURATION=          3600,1800:7200

[Sample-Life-Volume]
LIFE_TYPE=              KILOBYTES
LIFE_DURATION=          1000,768:1536

like… she's long, she's thorough, she ate and left no crumbs 💅✨

quick lil heads-up bestie: everything below that big # banner of hash marks is optional for this example, because the sample up top is already using the predefined Main Mode transform and Quick Mode suite names. it's only down there for completeness. and the config file itself even tells you to peep the default values for the [General] and [X509-certificates] sections sitting right under it 👀

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

go read your sisters, they're all icons too:

• keynote(1)
• ipsec(4)
• keynote(4)
• isakmpd.policy(5)
• isakmpd(8)

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🫶 BUGS 🫶

okay so not everything is perfect and we're gonna be honest about it:

• the RFCs do not permit differing DH groups in the same proposal for aggressive and quick mode exchanges. like, at all. no cap.
• mixing both PFS and non-PFS suites in a quick mode proposal is not possible, because PFS implies using a DH group. they're lowkey a package deal, bestie — can't have one without the other 🫠

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and that's the whole page, babe!! this one came from Debian, dated August 07, 2002, and it lives under the name ISAKMPD.CONF(5) — go forth and configure your IKE like the main character you are 👑💖