IPSEC_CHECK(8)

📦
version 4.15 · 4 versions
, in centos-stream 9

💅 IPSEC_CHECK(8) — the ipsec_show era

ok so before we even start: yes, the header says IPSEC_CHECK(8) and the man page itself says ipsec_show in the NAME section. that's not a typo on my end bestie, that's just how it is. we don't ask questions, we just vibe. 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

ipsec_show — peeks at a target IP address and tells you whether it would get encrypted or not 👀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ipsec show IP-address

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so here's the tea: ipsec show shows you if the target IP address would get encrypted. that's literally it, that's the whole job. 🔥

the one catch — right now it requires the XFRM/NETKEY stack root access. so like, root energy only, no cap. 👑

and if you don't give it a target IP at all? it just shows you all the active source - dest tunnels. iconic of it honestly. 🌈

🌸 HISTORY 🌸

written originally for the Libreswan Project by Paul Wouters 🫶

💀 BUGS 💀

ngl, it's pretty simplistic, so there might be cases where it is wrong. 😭

also there's obviously a race condition — if you run this show and right afterwards the tunnel goes down, well. yeah. that. 🙈

⭐ AUTHOR ⭐

Paul Wouters

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sign-off time 🎀✨ this page came from libreswan, dated 10/19/2026 — that's the whole footer, folded up cute for you. go forth and encrypt (or don't, that's literally what the command tells you 💜).

📦 where this page comes from