Create an IKEv1 Policy

Internet Key Exchange (IKE) version 1 policy objects contain the parameters required for IKEv1 policies when defining VPN connections. IKE is a key management protocol that facilitates the management of IPsec-based communications. It is used to authenticate IPsec peers, negotiate and distribute IPsec encryption keys, and automatically establish IPsec security associations (SAs).

There are several pre-defined IKEv1 policies. If any suit your needs, simply enable them by clicking the State toggle. You can also create new policies to implement other combinations of security settings. You cannot edit or delete system-defined objects.

The following procedure explains how you can create and edit objects directly through the Objects page. You can also create an IKEv1 policy while editing the IKE settings in a Site-to-Site VPN connection by clicking the Create New IKEv1 Policy link shown in the object list.

Procedure

Step 1

In the left pane, click Objects.

Step 2

Do one of these things:

  • Click the blue plus button and select FDM > IKEv1 Policy to create a new IKEv1 policy.

  • In the object page, select the IKEv1 policy you want to edit and click Edit in the Actions pane at the right.

Step 3

Enter an object name, up to 128 characters.

Step 4

Configure the IKEv1 properties.

  • Priority - The relative priority of the IKE policy, from 1 to 65,535. The priority determines the order of the IKE policy compared by the two negotiating peers when attempting to find a common security association (SA). If the remote IPsec peer does not support the parameters selected in your highest priority policy, it tries to use the parameters defined in the next lowest priority. The lower the number, the higher the priority.

  • Encryption - The encryption algorithm used to establish the Phase 1 security association (SA) for protecting Phase 2 negotiations. For an explanation of the options, see Deciding Which Encryption Algorithm to Use.

  • Diffie-Hellman Group - The Diffie-Hellman group to use for deriving a shared secret between the two IPsec peers without transmitting it to each other. A larger modulus provides higher security but requires more processing time. The two peers must have a matching modulus group. For an explanation of the options, see Deciding Which Diffie-Hellman Modulus Group to Use.

  • Lifetime - The lifetime of the security association (SA), in seconds, from 120 to 2147483647 or blank. When the lifetime is exceeded, the SA expires and must be renegotiated between the two peers. As a general rule, the shorter the lifetime (up to a point), the more secure your IKE negotiations will be. However, with longer lifetimes, future IPsec security associations can be set up more quickly than with shorter lifetimes. The default is 86400. To specify an unlimited lifetime, enter no value (leave the field blank).

  • Authentication - The method of authentication to use between the two peers. For more information, see Deciding Which Authentication Method to Use.

    • Preshared Key - Use the preshared key that is defined on each device. These keys allow for a secret key to be shared between two peers and to be used by IKE during the authentication phase. If the peer is not configured with the same preshared key, the IKE SA cannot be established.

    • Certificate - Use the device identity certificates for the peers to identify each other. You must obtain these certificates by enrolling each peer in a Certificate Authority. You must also upload the trusted CA root and intermediate CA certificates used to sign the identity certificates in each peer. The peers can be enrolled in the same or a different CA. You cannot use self-signed certificates for either peer.

  • Hash - The hash algorithm for creating a message digest, which is used to ensure message integrity. For an explanation of the options, see Deciding Which Hash Algorithms to Use.

Step 5

Click Add.