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# IPSEC

Section: Maintenance Commands (8)
Updated: 1 June 2001
Index Return to Main Contents

## NAME

ipsec - invoke IPsec utilities

## SYNOPSIS

ipsec command [ argument ...]

ipsec --help
ipsec --version
ipsec --copyright
ipsec --directory

## DESCRIPTION

Ipsec invokes any of several utilities involved in controlling the IPsec encryption/authentication system, running the specified command with the specified arguments as if it had been invoked directly. This largely eliminates possible name collisions with other software, and also permits some centralized services. In particular, ipsec supplies the invoked command with a suitable PATH environment variable, and also provides IPSEC_DIR and IPSEC_VERSION environment variables, containing respectively the full pathname of the directory where the IPsec utilities are stored and the IPsec version number.

ipsec --help lists the available commands. Most have their own manual pages, e.g. ipsec_auto(8) for auto.

ipsec --version supplies the version number of Linux FreeS/WAN. A version number of the form ``Uxxx/Kyyy'' indicates that the user-level utilities are version xxx but the kernel portion appears to be version yyy (this form is used only if the two disagree).

ipsec --copyright supplies boring copyright details.

ipsec --directory reports where ipsec thinks the IPsec utilities are stored.

## FILES

/usr/local/lib/ipsec`` usual utilities directory

## SEE ALSO

ipsec.conf(5), ipsec.secrets(5), ipsec_auto(8), ipsec_barf(8), ipsec_setup(8), ipsec_showdefaults(8), ipsec_showhostkey(8)

HTML documentation shipped with the release, starting with doc/index.html. <http://www.freeswan.org/doc.html> may also be of use.

## HISTORY

Written for Linux FreeS/WAN <http://www.freeswan.org> by Henry Spencer.

## BUGS

The provision of centralized services, while convenient, does compromise the original concept of making the utilities invocable directly as well as via ipsec.

## Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
FILES
SEE ALSO
HISTORY
BUGS

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 05:09:30 GMT, June 19, 2001