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# Interoperation with other IPSEC implementations

The IPSEC protocols are designed to allow interoperation between different implementations. Other sections of this documentation have more detail on:

- the IPSEC protocol specifications
- parts of the protocols implemented or ommitted in FreeS/WAN
- other implementations

FreeS/WAN does interoperate successfully with many other implementations. The ones we know about are listed below.

Of course "the devil is in the details" and the IPSEC protocols have a lot of details. At least one critique has argued that the protocols should be simplified. Various of those details can and do cause difficulties for interoperation. Should you encounter such problems, please let us know via the mailing list. We will likely be able to help you, and your report may be useful both to other users and to the implementation teams.

Note: This file is updated often, whenever I notice an interesting interop report on the mailing list. If you are reading the version that ships with a FreeS/WAN release or is posted on the web, and what you need isn't here, consider downloading the latest snapshot to get the latest version of the doc. Perhaps I've added what you need since the last release.

There is additional information on interoperability testing in our web links section.

## Patches to extend interoperability

Sometimes interoperation requires user-contributed patches or add-ons on the FreeS/WAN end. In general, no patches to the actual IPSEC code are required. The problem is to make FreeS/WAN recognise RSA keys stored in formats other than ours. Each such format needs either a patch to make FreeS/WAN understand that format or a utility to translate it to the FreeS/WAN format.

For example, unmodified FreeS/WAN cannot use RSA keys generated by PGP or keys stored in X.509 certificates, but patches or utilities are available for both those formats. See this list of patches and add-ons.

## Interoperability problems

The IPSEC RFCs are complex and include a number of optional features. There is considerable opportunity for even two correct, standard-conforming, implementations to disagree on details in a way that blocks interoperation. Of course, misinterpretations of the standards and implementation or configuration errors on either end can also foul things up.

That said, FreeS/WAN interoperates successfully with many other implementations. There is a list below.

Known areas where problems may appear are:

- FreeS/WAN does not implement single DES because DES is insecure. Suggestions on what to do if the device you want to talk to has only DES are below.
- FreeS/WAN does not implement Diffie-Hellman group 1 because it it is not entirely clear that this is secure.
- The RFCs define two modes for IKE negotiations -- main mode and aggressive mode. Aggressive mode is slightly faster, but reveals more information to an eavesdropper. Specifically, it lets an eavesdropper know what identities are in use. FreeS/WAN does not implement aggressive mode, so any negotiation another implementation tries that way will fail.

In principle this should not be a problem since main mode support is required in all implementations and aggressive mode is optional. In practice, it is sometimes a problem. Some implementations default to aggressive mode unless you configure them for main mode.

- For automatic keying, the FreeS/WAN default is to provide perfect forward secrecy. We see no reason not to; this is more secure and costs little. Some other implementations, however, turn PFS off by default.

You can turn PFS off in FreeS/WAN with the pfs=no setting in ipsec.conf(5), but if possible we suggest you enable it on the other end instead. That is more secure.

- The IKE protocol allows several types of optional message. Two things happen which are allowed by the RFCs:
  - Some implementations send various optional messages.
  - FreeS/WAN ignores them.
  However, problems may arise if the other end relies on some expected effect of these messages. There are two FAQ questions dealing with this, one on the log message FreeS/WAN gives when ignoring optional payloads and one on the delete SA payload.

The general rule is that to interoperate with FreeS/WAN, the other implementation should be configured for:

- main mode
- triple DES encryption
- Diffie-Hellman Group 2 or 5

This is possible for most implementations.

### Systems that want to use single DES

Linux FreeS/WAN does not support single DES transforms. Neither Pluto's IKE connections nor KLIPS' IPSEC connections can use DES. Since DES is insecure we do not, and will not at any future time, provide it.

DES is, unfortunately, a mandatory part of the IPSEC standard. Despite that, we will not implement DES. We believe it is more important to provide security than to comply with a standard which has been subverted into allowing weak algorithms. See our history and politics section for discussion.

Some implementations may offer DES as the default. In such cases we urge you to change them to Triple DES. If this is not possible, for example because export laws prevent your vendor from offerring you adequate crytography, we urge you to complain vigorously to one or more of:

- your government, especially any department concerned with protecting citizens' privacy or your nation's communication infrastructure
- the vendor
- the embassy of the nation whose laws are problematic for you

Consider using FreeS/WAN instead. PCs are cheap and we deliver 3DES now.

FreeS/WAN does have DES code in it as a sort of historical accident, since we need it to implement our default (currently, our only) block cipher, Triple DES. However, since DES is insecure, we do not provide any interface to that code.

As a matter of project policy, we will not help anyone subvert FreeS/WAN to provide insecure DES encryption.

## Interop HowTo documents

The FreeS/WAN team does not have the resources to test with anything like the full range of other IPSEC implementations out there. Fortunately, some of our users are doing a fine job of filling the gap by providing HowTo information:

- Hans-Jorg Hoxer's HowTo covering interoperation between any two of:
  - FreeS/WAN
  - Open BSD IPSEC
  - Windows 98 with PGPnet
- Jean-Francois Nadeau's practical configurations document covers FreeS/WAN interoperation with
  - Windows 2000 IPSEC
  - NAI PGPnet
  - IRE Safenet SoftPK.
- Oscar Delgado's page has a PDF document covering interop using X.509 certificates between FreeS/WAN and:
  - Windows 2000
  - PGPnet
- Terrandon Communications provide a PDF HowTO on using FreeS/WAN with IRE SafeNet
- Telenor provide a HowTo on FreeS/WAN and Windows 2000
- Carl's Guide for FreeS/WAN and Windows 2000
- Ryan's HowTo for getting PGPnet to connect with FreeS/WAN using x509 certs through a Linksys router, with IPSec passthru enabled.

See also our list of available patches and add-ons.

## Interoperation with specific products

Most of the information in this section is gleaned from the mailing list. For additional information, search one of the list archives.

A large thank you is in order to all the list contributors. This document would not exist without you.

Anyone who has tested with an implementation not listed here, please report results to the mailing list. I generally include the sender's email address when I quote list messages here; "credit where credit is due". If you would prefer that I not do that with yours, please mention that.

### Older versions of FreeS/WAN

Any two versions of FreeS/WAN should interoperate, and many combinations have been tested doing so successfully. In particular, every release is tested against its predecessor before it goes out.

However, if you do encounter a problem involving an older version, we are likely to suggest you upgrade. We do not have the resources to support multiple versions.

The FAQ also discusses this.

### OpenBSD

Two documents we know of cover interoperation between FreeS/WAN and Open BSD IPSEC:

- Hans-Jorg Hoxer's HowTo
- Skyper's guide

This report is from one of the OpenBSD IPSEC developers, a regular participant on our mailing list:

    Subject: spi.c bug
       Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999
       From: Niklas Hallqvist <niklas@appli.se>

    PS.  I don't know if you have an interop list anywhere, but you should
    know FreeS/WAN interops with OpenBSD both at the IPSec level and at
    the IKE level.

He has also talked of porting NetBSD's isakmpd(8) to Linux, but has (as of late April '99) made no announcement of availability. This would provide an alternative to our pluto(8) daemon with a somewhat different feature set. Our KLIPS kernel code would still be used.

The OpenBSD FAQ includes information on their IPSEC implementation.

### FreeBSD

The only reference we have to IPSEC for FreeBSD says their code was ported from OpenBSD.

Here is a mailing list message on FreeBSD interoperation:

    Subject: Re: Interop with [Free|Open|Net]BSD
       Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000
       From: Ghislaine Labouret <Ghislaine.Labouret@hsc.fr>

    On Thu, 28 Dec 2000 13:53:01 -0500, Sandy Harris wrote:

    > FreeBSD:
    >
    > For FreeBSD, I find list discussion of 3DES key formats, presumably for manual
    > keying. We have 192-bit, 3 64-bit keys including parity bits, while FreeBSD 4.0
    > used 168-bit, 3 56-bit keys without the parity bits. Has FreeBSD changed this?

    I still don't understand what made Spike Gronim say that KAME wants a
    168 bits key; I have always been using 192 bits keys with KAME and had
    no interoperability problem between KAME and FreeS/WAN using manual
    keying.

    > For auto keying, I find reports of sucessful use of pre-shared secrets, but
    > nothing on RSA authentication.

    I had KAME (20001023 snapshot) and FreeS/WAN 1.6 successfully
    interoperate using both PSK and RSA-sig authentication. The config
    files, certificates and test keys used are available online:
    http://www.hsc.fr/ipsec/ipsec2000/kame/
    http://www.hsc.fr/ipsec/ipsec2000/freeswan/
    Not much details though, as this is just a report and not a how-to. Will
    improve it if I can find spare time.

    > Does FreeBSD support that?

    KAME can use RSA-sig and can either exchange certificates online or get
    them from a file. I tested the latter. No test with the X.509 patch for
    FreeS/WAN yet, though that's in my short term plans too.

    > Are the key formats compatible, or has anyone written translation code?

    KAME wants the keys inside certificates, in PEM format. To extract the
    keys for FreeS/WAN I used the fswcert utility, but it can be done "by
    hand" using openssl.

### NetBSD

NetBSD has an IPSEC implementation, described in this FAQ.

### Cisco Routers

Useful pages on Cisco sites include:

- VPN support
- sample configurations

Here is a mailing list message with subject "FreeS/WAN and Cisco 3030 VPN Concentrator" and an attached MS-Word document on the setup.

A sample FreeS/WAN configuration, used in testing with Cisco at an interop conference, is in another list message. Unfortunately, it does not give the matching Cisco configuration.

Here is our first interop success report:

    Subject: cisco <-> pluto IKE interop is here........
       Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999
       From: Ian Calderbank

    Ok, tried todays pluto (28 jan) snapshot against a (wait for it) 3des
    cisco box, one with some more serious grunt for benchmarking when the time
    comes.

    And the good news is that pluto and cisco's IKE seem to interoperate. At
    the end of things both devices seem to be happy that they have IKE and
    IPSEC SA's. I can't send any traffic over it cos klips seems to be broken
    (peter seems to be on the case), but fundamentally, pluto seems to be
    interoperable with cisco for SA negotiation.

    I've attached some ipsec barf output - pluto still complains a few times,
    but it gets there :-)

A later message from Ian:

    This configuration is provided as-is and with no assistance or guarantee
    that it works whatsover. In particular your attention is drawn to the versions
    of operating systems and IPSEC that were used in the test. Configurations
    for later versions of freeswan and cisco IOS may well be different.

    Cisco router: 3640 (R4700 processor), ios 12.0(2a)T1), 3DES IPSEC feature set
    ( you do need the 3des version).
    Linux box: P150, freeswan 29/jan/99 snapshot, Redhat 5.2, kernel 2.0.36.
    Interconnect: 10 Base T.
    Algorithm: ESP 3des/md5

    CPU loadings:
    Cisco 3640 : 98%
    Freeswan P150 : load average: 0.08, 0.06, 0.01

    Throughput: 1.1 Mbit/sec at the application layer, approx 1.2Mbit/sec, 100 packet/sec on
    the external network. There were no chokes present, so the limit would
    appear to be the 3640, given it was running near flat out.

    --------------------------

    Freeswan config:
    /etc/ipsec-auto

    auto    ipsec-router-test
            type=tunnel
            left=x.x.x.x
    # x.x.x.x = linux box public ip address
            right=y.y.y.y
    # y.y.y.y = router public ip address
            rightsubnet=192.168.2.0/24
    # private network behind the router - host to which throughput testing was done is here.
            keyexchange=ike
            encrypt=yes
            authenticate=no
            pfs=no
            lifetime=8h

    ----------------------------

    Cisco Router config:

    crypto isakmp policy 1
     encr 3des
     hash md5
     authentication pre-share
    crypto isakmp key SECRET-VALUE address x.x.x.x
    crypto ipsec transform-set 3DES-MD5 esp-3des esp-md5-hmac
    crypto map TEST 1 ipsec-isakmp
     set peer x.x.x.x
     set transform-set 3DES-MD5
     match address 101
    access-list 101 permit ip 192.168.2.0 0.0.0.255 host x.x.x.x
    interface
    crypto map TEST

A page on Cisco's site gave this list (early Jan 2000, before new US export regulations went into effect):

    | Triple DES Encryption for IPSec
    |
    | ...
    |
    | This feature is supported only on the following platforms:
    |
    |     1720
    |     2600 Series
    |     3600 Series
    |     4000 Series
    |     4500 Series
    |     AS5300 Series
    |     7200 Series
    |     7500 Series

A message from another user about using RSA keys with Cisco:

    From: jrussi@uol.com.br
    Subject: Re:Re: Re:Re: [Users] RSA public key and Cisco (3640)
    Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001

    We use Cisco IOS 12.1.5(T) and freeswan 1.8

    Here an example on how I copied the key from cisco:

    Key Data:
      117C311E 16192D86 8886C71D 11111115 11138B11 31881241 11C7E23B D6DB22
      18DEC1BD....

    Will become

    0x117C311E16192D868886C71D1111111511138B113188124111C7E23BD6DB2218DEC1BD...

    We used at least 1024 bits long keys.

    But it doesn´t matter. The problem is that cisco doesn´t agree with the RSA schema from freeswan, I think. In Cisco, rsasig is to use with a CA, and rsaencript did not work as well.

    My case is worse than it. My first intention was to use freeswan in a road warrior config. I really need to use CA, as Cisco needs a fix address to use rsa public key. The public key to cisco is always associated to an IP address ou FQDN. I quit. Will try the X509 patch and the Open CA software.

    Deyvi
    >>(off list)
    >
    >Yes, I was just going to mention that the Cisco's key should be in
    >ipsec.conf (just received your correction).
    >
    >I think that I have the Cisco side configured correctly ( I can't be sure
    >because I can't test against the Freeswan).
    >
    >Starting from having the IPsec tunnel working with pre-share, I did the
    >following on the Cisco side:
    >
    >#config t
    >(config)# crypto key pubkey-chain rsa
    >(config-pubkey-chain)# addressed-key

    >(config-pubkey-key)# key-string
    >(config-pubkey-key)#

    >(config-pubkey-key)#quit
    >(config-pubkey-chain)#exit
    >
    ># config t
    >(config)# crypto isakmp policy 1
    >(config-isakmp)# no authentication pre-share
    >(config-isakmp)# authentication rsa-sig
    >(config-isakmp)# exit
    >
    >How long is your RSA key that was generated on the Cisco? I tried copying
    >the key out of the 3640 and pasting it into ipsec.conf, removing the spaces
    >and adding a '0x' in the front. I get the 'key too small' error still. What
    >version of freeswan are you using?
    >
    >I'm using Freeswan 1.9 w/ IOS 12.1(6).
    >
    >
    >----- Original Message -----
    >From:

    >To: "James Rowe"

    ;

    >Cc:

    >Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 5:15 PM
    >Subject: Re:Re: [Users] RSA public key and Cisco (3640)
    >
    >
    >> We had no problems with the key. Just be sure to remove the blank spaces
    >from the key (general key) that cisco generates.
    >>
    >> Just remove the blank, put all together as a long line (all the lines to a
    >single line) and add a "0x" at the key that Cisco give to you, and paste to
    >ipsec.secrets.
    >>
    >> The public key from FreeSwan, you just remove the "0x" and paste to the
    >command line at cisco. They will not complain about the keys.
    >>
    >> But my problem is with the proposal configured at Cisco. What to you think
    >to use? I tried "authentication rsasig" and "rsaencrip" with no results.
    >Cisco always sends me an "No proposal choosen" error message.
    >>
    >> I road an old message from someone called Brian here at this list, where
    >he says that FreeSwan will not accept authentication rsaencript from Cisco.
    >But rsasig is to use with a CA certification. So my question is: is it
    >possible to use Cisco with public RSA keying, without a CA? The thread ended
    >without an answer to it.
    >>
    >> Deyvi
    >> >>Hello,
    >> >
    >> >I am working on the same issue. I have pre-shared working, but would like
    >to
    >> >use RSA public keys. It seems that the Cisco key is too short. When
    >starting
    >> >IPsec in init.d, it says that the Cisco key is not secure because it is
    >less
    >> >than 512 bits, even tough the key is really over 768 bits. Claudia thinks
    >> >this is a parsing problem and suggested to take a look at the source
    >code.
    >> >
    >> >Some pointers that I have found while working on this:
    >> >
    >> >You must add a '0x' to the front of the Cisco key when entering it into
    >> >Freeswan, and remove the '0x' when entering the freeswan key into the
    >Cisco
    >> >3640.
    >> >
    >> >The case of the hexadecimal letters in the key does not matter. Thinking
    >> >that freeswan stopped reading the key when it encountered the first
    >> >uppercase letter in the Cisco key (freeswan keys are lowercase, Cisco's
    >are
    >> >uppercase), I changed everything to lowercase. Didn't help.
    >> >
    >> >I'll let you know if I make any progess on this. I'd appreciate if you
    >would
    >> >let me know if you get this working. Thanks.
    >> >
    >> >-- Jim Rowe
    >> >
    >> >----- Original Message -----
    >> >From:

    >> >To:

    >> >Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 2:52 PM
    >> >Subject: [Users] RSA public key and Cisco (3640)
    >> >
    >> >
    >> >> Does anyone have a sucessful Cisco config file to use in a
    >freswan-cisco
    >> >conection using RSA public key?
    >> >>
    >> >> We were able to setup a pre-shared conection, but would like to try
    >public
    >> >keying.

### Nortel (Bay Networks) Contivity switch

There is one known issue in FreeS/WAN-to-Contivity interoperation. Recent versions of FreeS/WAN no longer support DH group 1 for key exchange. Older versions of Contivity software support nothing else. Group 2 was added in more recent releases. So:

- older FreeS/WANs, such as 1.5, will work with any Contivity software. Key exchange will be done using DH Group 1. This may not be secure.
- current FreeS/WANs will work only with recent Contivity releases supporting DH Group 2. Contivity 3.5 is one such release.

We recommend using the latest Contivity release.

Some messages from the mailing list:

    Subject: Contivity Extranet Switch
       Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999
       From: Matthias David Siebler <msiebler@nortelnetworks.com>
    Reply-To: msiebler@alum.mit.edu
    Organization: Nortel Networks

    More interoperability results:

    I successfully established a tunnel with a Nortel (formerly Bay (formerly New Oak)) Contivity
    Extranet Switch running the latest release versions.

    The CES is running V2.50 of the software and the Linux server is running V1.0.0 of the Free/SWAN
    code on a RedHat 5.2 unit with the kernel upgraded to 2.0.36-3

    I am using IKE with 3DES-HMAC-MD5

    Note however, that tunnels cannot yet be configured as client tunnels since Free/SWAN does not yet
    support aggressive mode.  Hopefully, that will arrive soon, which would allow remote users to
    connect to a CES using the Free/SWAN code as clients.

and apparently Nortel want their product to work with FreeS/WAN:

    Subject: Is FreeSwan 3.1 a legitamate ipsec implementation when compared to its commercial competitors?
       Date: Tue, 02 May 2000
       From: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>

    Nortel's Contivity IPSEC server has a formal policy of interoperability
    with FreeS/WAN.   I was quite pleased to hear it when they last talked to us,
    and it makes sense in their business environment, since they let you use
    their WinXX client software free, so this gives them support for Linux
    clients.

A more recent mailing list report is:

    Subject: Nortel Contivity and Free-S/WAN
       Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001
       From:  "JJ Streicher-Bremer" <jj@digisle.net>

    OK, here is a very brief nuts and bolts breakdown on how to get this
    combo working.  I want to thank everyone at Free-S/WAN and everyone on
    the list for your help in getting this to work.

    Connecting FreeS/WAN to the Nortel Networks Contivity Extranet Switch:

    What you need:
    FreeS/WAN v1.5 and Contivity ver 2.5 - 3.5 (might work with earlier
    versions, but I have not tested it with this config)
    or
    FreeS/WAN v1.8 and COntivity ver 3.5 (the 3.5 version supports Diffe
    Hilman group 2 key exchange)

    What to do:
    1 - Configure the Contivity:
       Set up a branch office tunnel group with the following settings:

            Connectivity:
            Nailed Up: Disabled
            Access Hours: Anytime
            Call Admission Priority: Highest Priority
            Forwarding Priority: Low Priority
            Idle Timeout: 00:00:00
            Forced Logoff: 00:00:00
            RSVP: Disabled
            RSVP: Token Bucket Depth: 3000 Bytes
            RSVP: Token Bucket Rate: 28 Kbps
            Branch Office Bandwidth Policy:
            - Committed Rate: 56 Kbps
            - Excess Rate: 128 Kbps
            - Excess Action: Mark

            Encryption:
            - ESP - Triple DES with SHA1 Integrity: Enabled
            - ESP - Triple DES with MD5 Integrity: Enabled
            - ESP - 56-bit DES with SHA1 Integrity: Disabled
            - ESP - 56-bit DES with MD5 Integrity: Disabled
            *IKE Encryption and Diffie-Hellman Group: Triple DES with Group
    2 (1024-bit prime)
            Vendor ID: Disabled
            Perfect Forward Secrecy: Enabled
            Compression: Disabled
            Rekey Timeout: 08:00:00
            Rekey Data Count:  (None)
            *ISAKMP Retransmission Interval: 16
            *ISAKMP Retransmission Max Attempts: 4

            Set up a branch office tunnel inside this new group with the
    following settings:

            Endpoint Addresses
            Local - Public address of your COntivity
            Remote - Your Free-S/WAN interface Address
                    Tunnel Type - IPSEC
            IPSEC Authentication - Text Pre-Shared Key
                    One note here, I have had some trouble trying to use HEX
    or Non alphanumeric chars in this key.

            Under IP:
            Static Routing
            Local - networks you want to be able to access through the
    tunnel
            Remote - networks that will be allowed through the tunnel
            NAT - None

       Get routing setup on your office network:
            You will need to get a routing entry that will point all traffic
    bound for your home network (the one that will be acciessible through
    the tunnel) to the internal interface of the contivity system.

       Configure Free-S/WAN:
            Install, compile, and test Free-S/WAN
            Edit ipsec.conf for your new tunnel:
    --------------------------------------------------------
    ipsec.conf --
    config setup
            interfaces="ipsec0=eth1"
            forwardcontrol=no
            klipsdebug=none
            plutodebug=none
            manualstart=
            plutoload=%search
            plutostart=%search
            plutowait=no
    conn net1
            type=tunnel
            auto=start
            auth=esp
            authby=secret
            keyexchange=ike
            keylife=1h
            keyingtries=1
            pfs=yes
            left=10.0.0.2
            leftnexthop=10.0.0.1
            leftsubnet=10.0.1.0/24
            right=172.16.0.2
            rightsubnet=172.16.1.0/24
    conn net2
            type=tunnel
            auto=start
            auth=esp
            authby=secret
            keyexchange=ike
            keylife=1h
            keyingtries=1
            pfs=yes
            left=10.0.0.2
            leftnexthop=10.0.0.1
            leftsubnet=10.0.1.0/24
            right=172.16.0.2
            rightsubnet=172.16.2.0/24

    ipsec.secrets --
    10.0.0.2 172.16.0.2 "Your big secret"
    ---------------------------------------------

    The above config is for this imaginary network:

             +------+
    10.0.1.1 |      |10.0.0.2   10.0.0.1++ Internet
    ---------|      |-------------------++===========
             +------+            Home Router
             Free-S/WAN host

    Internet ++    172.16.0.2####         172.16.1.0/24 These
    =========++--------------####---------172.16.2.0/24 are here somewhere
       Office Router       Contivity

       This has worked for me.  I am still having trouble with the tunnels
    dying after about 30-40 minutes of non-use.  Don't know what that is
    about, but I'll keep you posted.

### Raptor Firewall

#### Raptor 5 on NT (old info)

       Subject: Interoperability with Raptor 5 (Success!)
       Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 16:19:27 -0500
       From: Chuck Bushong <chuckb@chandler-group.com>

    I don't know if this is useful information for anyone, but I have
    successfully established a VPN between RedHat 5.1 (kernel 2.0.34) running
    FreeS/WAN 0.91 and NT4 running Raptor 5.  However, Pluto does not appear
    compatible with the Raptor IKE implementation. . . .

    Subject: RE: linux-ipsec: Interoperability with Raptor 5 (Success!)
    Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 17:22:55 -0500
    From: Chuck Bushong <chuckb@chandler-group.com>

    ... this VPN (at least the klips end) has been up under minimal
    utilization for three weeks plus without interruption.  The
    machine seems very stable.  Pat yourself on the back, gentlemen.
    Your beta release is more stable than certain companies' shipping
    product.

    Keep up the good work.

#### Raptor 6 on Solaris

    Subject: Re: successful interop. with Raptor 6.02
       From: "Charles G. Griebel" <cggrieb@biw.com>
       Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000

    On Thu, Jul 20, 2000 at 12:04:40PM -0700, Kevin Traas wrote:
    > Great!  I'm just about to start looking into this as well, so any
    > docs/info you can provide would be *greatly* appreciated.  Immortalize
    > yourself!  Get something written and added to the compatibility.html
    > file.  Many will thank you.

    Can't be that hard.  I'm just a freeswan newbie who hasn't even done a FS

    FS
    tunnel yet :)

    Anyway, I hope you find this helpful.

    Chock

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Automatically keyed 3DES VPN between Raptor 6.02 on Solaris 2.6 (left) and
       FreeS/WAN 1.5 on 2.2.16 Intel (right)

    FreeS/WAN (right) information:
    -----------------------------

    ipsec.conf
    ----------
    config setup
            interfaces="ipsec0=ppp0"    # change to suite
            klipsdebug=
            plutodebug=
            plutoload=sample
            plutostart=sample

    conn sample
            left=10.0.0.1
            leftnexthop=10.0.0.2
            leftsubnet=192.168.0.0/24
            right=10.1.1.1
            rightnexthop=10.1.1.1
            rightsubnet=172.16.1.0/24
            auto=add
            keyexchange=ike
            pfs=no
            lifetime=8h
            esp=3des-md5-96

    ipsec.secrets
    -------------
    # note I haven't verified that underscores will actually work
    10.0.0.1 10.1.1.1: PSK "some_long_secret_with_plenty_of_chars"

    Raptor 6.02 (left) information:
    ------------------------------
    Key Profiles:
        Name: left-external-kp-dynamic
        Type: Dynamic
        Profile Describing: local entity
        Gateway: 10.1.1.1
        Identification Type: Address
        Identification: 10.1.1.1
        ISAKMP Hash Method: MD5
        ISAKMP Authentication: Shared_Key
        Shared Secret: some_long_secret_with_plenty_of_chars
        Time Expiration: 1080

        Name: right-external-kp-dynamic
        Type: Dynamic
        Profile Describing: remote entity
        Gateway: 10.0.0.1
        Identification Type: Address
        Identification: 10.0.0.1

    Secure Subnets:
        Name: left-ss-dynamic
        Address: 192.168.0.0
        Netmask: 255.255.255.0
        Key Profile: left-ss-dynamic

        Name: right-ss-dynamic
        Address: 172.16.1.0
        Netmask: 255.255.255.0
        Key Profile: right-ss-dynamic

    Secure Tunnel:
        Name: left-to-right-tunnel
        Entity A: right-ss-dynamic
        Entity B: left-ss-dynamic
        Encapsulation: ISAKMP
        Filter: [none]
        Pass traffic through proxies: [unchecked]
        Use Authentication Header: [unchecked]
        Use Encryption Header: [checked]
        Data Integrity Algorithm: MD5
        Data Privacy Algorithm: 3DES

        [Advanced settings]
        Data volume timeout: 2100000
        Lifetime timeout: 480
        Inactivity timeout: 0
        Transport mode: [unchecked]
        Perfect forward secrecy: [unchecked]
        Proxy: [checked]

    ----
    Notes:
    I made the addresses fictitious RFC1918 addresses.
    I haven't tried PFS.
    I had problems getting an SA with manual keying -- I think it may be with the
     SPI's.

#### Raptor manual keying

A mailing list suggestion from FreeS/WAN technical lead Henry Spencer:

    > In the Raptor settings, there are 2 sets of data (1 for each end). Each set
    > contains an SPI, 3 DES Keys and 1 MD5 hash. I only know how to include one
    > set, how do I include the other set? Is the other set needed?

    They may be using different keys for each direction, which is a bit
    unusual for manual keying, but not impossible.  The simplest thing is
    probably to just give it two identical sets of data -- that should work.
    FreeS/WAN has provisions for asymmetric keys etc. in manual keying, but
    that stuff is lightly documented and lightly tested.

### Gauntlet firewall GVPN

    Subject:  Successful interop: FreeS/WAN 1.7

     Gauntlet Firewall GVPN 5.5
       Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000

    Sending the following to the list, at Hugh's request.

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Reiner, Richard
    Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 11:34 AM
    To: 'hugh@mimosa.com'

    Hugh,

    > Good.  But we don't think that you should be using our IPCOMP just
    > yet.  It is flaky :-(

    I've seen no anomalies, although "allow ipcomp" is on at the Gauntlet
    end.  Looking at my ipsec.conf I actually find no refereence to ipcomp.
     I presume it is disabled by default.  In addition, reviewing my logs
    both on the Gauntlet end and the Linux end, I see nothing I can
    interpret as an indication that ipcomp was enabled during negotiation.
    So I have to correct my previous posting - I believe the link is *not*
    using ipcomp.

    > This is interesting and we'd love a more complete writeup.  It should
    > get incorporated into our interop documentation.

    Here are the relevant bits from ipsec.conf:

    config setup
            interfaces=%defaultroute
            klipsdebug=none
            plutodebug=none
            plutoload=%search
            plutostart=%search
            uniqueids=yes

    conn freeswan17-gauntlet55
            auto=start
            type=tunnel
            left=1.1.1.1
            leftnexthop=1.1.1.2
            leftsubnet=10.0.1.0/24
            right=3.3.3.3
            rightnexthop=3.3.3.4
            rightsubnet=10.0.2.0/24
            authby=secret
            keyexchange=ike
            ikelifetime=480m
            auth=esp
            esp=3des-md5-96
            keylife=480m
            keyingtries=8
            pfs=no
            rekeymargin=9m
            rekeyfuzz=25%

    All settings on the Gauntlet side are the same (not shown here, as GUI
    screenshots are hard to show in ASCII... and the textual format that is
    generated by the Gauntlet GUI is ugly in the extreme).

    Note that ikelifetime is 1440m by default on the Gauntlet end, but
    freeswan does not support this value (max appears to be 480m), thus the
    Gauntlet end is also set to 480m to match freeswan's value.

    Also worth noting: I am using the excellent Seawall scripts to manage
    ipchains configuration on the freeswan end.  It automatically generates
    a correct set of firewall rules for the link (along with doing many
    other convenient things).

For more information on Seawall (the Seattle Firewall), see that project's home page on Sourceforge.

### Checkpoint Firewall-1

A PDF HowTo for connecting FreeS/WAN and this product can be downloaded from the vendor's site or browsed at a VPN mailing list site.

The mailing list reports success with this combination, but also some problems. Search the archives for the full story.

Here is one message, about what seems to be the biggest problem:

    Subject: Re: Pb establishing connection from FW1/3DES/SP2 with freeswan 1.5 - ACTE 2
       Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001
       From: Claudia Schmeing <claudia@freeswan.org>

    > Thanx to Michael and Claudia, but this doesn't work from VPN1 to linux (as
    > linux to VPN1 is OK).
    ...

    > I think that VPN1 doesn't send "192.168.1.0/24" but "192.168.1.20/32" and,
    > as Claudia said, IPSEC SA need to match Exactly.

    I don't know about the rules on the VPN-1. You'll have to rely on people
    with applicable experience there...

    > Is it possible that freeswan doesn't do the inclusion process (ie if he
    > receive 192.168.1.20/32, i doesn't match that this is include in
    > 192.168.1.0/24) ?

    Yes, that's correct. It needs to match exactly, and inclusion is not
    part of this process.

    > Btw why VPN/1 send 192.168.1.20/32 and not 192.168.1.20/24 (the value that
    > Freeswan is waiting for)? A bug?

    I think Michael may be able to help you with this.

    > Have i a way to force Freeswan to do the "inclusion" (ie accept
    > 192.168.1.20/32 as a part of 192.160.1.20/24, even if the 2 IPSEC Sa
    > doesn't match exactly) ?

    No, but...
    Another strategy is to accept the fact that the Checkpoint
    proposes separate connections for each machine. If you define
    and add each of these connections on the Linux FreeS/WAN side, then
    Linux FreeS/WAN ought to accept the Checkpoint's proposals.

    The only possible difficulty with this strategy is that I don't know
    how Linux FreeS/WAN handles the concept of overlapping tunnels. I
    believe, though, that these tunnels can coexist, and if for any
    packet there are two options, a more general and a less general, the
    packet will be handled by the more specific tunnel. You would need
    to do a little testing to ensure you understand the behaviour and
    that this does actually solve your problem.

    I think it would be simplest to try to get the Checkpoint to propose the
    more general tunnel. Since I don't recall having seen this problem before,
    I suspect the simpler solution is doable.

### Redcreek Ravlin

We have reports of successful interoperation at an interop conference, but there is also a mailing list thread discussing difficulties some users have encountered.

### SSH Sentinel

The vendor's web site has configuration examples for use with FreeS/WAN.

The vendor seems serious about interop with us. Here is a message one of their staff posted on our list:

    From: Jussi Torhonen <jt@ssh.com>
    Organization: SSH Communications Security Corp - http://www.ssh.com
    Subject: [Users] SSH Sentinel VPN client public beta #3 now available
    Date: Thu, 31 May 2001

    Hello, FreeS/WAN community !

    SSH Communications Security Corp has released a new public beta #3
    version of SSH Sentinel VPN client for Windows. We've got a lot of
    reports also from FreeS/WAN community and with that feedback we've
    improved interoperability and stability.

    For example PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy in IKE rekey) can now be used
    between SSH Sentinel and FreeSWAN, and if using that user contributed
    X.509 patch and exporting the certificate from SSH Sentinel, now those
    -----[BEGIN|END] CERTIFICATE----- headers/footers are properly included
    in the exported PEM formatted certificate, so it can be imported to
    FreeSWAN with fswcert utility and OpenSSL tools.

    Thank you a lot for your feedback, colleagues !

    You can get that new public beta #3 and PDF formatted User Manual from
    ftp://ftp.ssh.com/pub/sentinel/ or via website
    http://www.ipsec.com/products/sentinel/beta/register.html

    For more information about the product, please check our website
    http://www.ipsec.com

    We eagerly want to make SSH Sentinel as the best VPN client on the
    market. If you want to contact our support, please send e-mail to
    sentinel-support@ssh.com or fill up our feedback form at
    http://www.ipsec.com/support/sentinel/beta_report.html

    Best regards,
    Jussi Torhonen, SSH Sentinel Team
    Kuopio, Finland

### F-Secure VPN for Windows

       Subject: linux-ipsec: Identification through other than IP number
       Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
       From: Thomas Bellman <bellman@signum.se>

    ... Currently we are trying to interop FreeS/WAN
    with F-Secure VPN+ Client 4.0 (for MS Windows), and as long as
    the Windows machine has a fix IP address, and are initiating the
    IKE negotiations, things are working well.  However, when the IP
    address is changing, it doesn't work. ...
    (I'll try to write something up about the problems we are having
    when Pluto is initiatior in another message.)

### Watchguard

Watchguard make a Linux-based firewall product. Ipchains author Rusty Russell thanks them for support and recommends them in one of his HowTos . On the other hand, some comments on our mailing list about the Watchguard product have been quite unfavourable. See, for example, this archive message.

Watchguard do not use FreeS/WAN in their product. They have their own IPSEC implementation.

We have had mailing list reports of successful interoperation between FreeS/WAN and the Watchguard firewall, using manually keyed connections. The user could not get automatically keyed connections to work; the message below explains this.

Here is some mail from a Watchguard employee about interoperation:

    Subject: FreeS/WAN and WatchGuard Firebox interop
       Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000
       From: Max Enders <menders@watchguard.com>

    I was recently given the task of testing IPSec interoperability
    with our product, the Firebox. I just wanted to let you know that
    I had success with a manual keyed tunnel. Here's what I used for
    my test:

    RedHat Linux 6.2
    Linux 2.2.18 i686 unknown
    Linux FreeS/WAN 1.8
    "Trusted" interface: 192.168.0.1/24
    "External" interface: 192.168.1.1/24

    Firebox II FastVPN
    WatchGuard Live Security System v4.5
    Trusted interface: 192.168.2.1/24
    External interface: 192.168.1.2/24

    Because FreeS/WAN does not implement single DES, a dynamic keyed
    tunnel will not work. Our product strictly uses DES for main mode.
    We hope to address this in a future release. Here are instructions
    for configuring the Firebox:

    Open the Policy Manager and create a new IPSec gateway. Set the Key
    Negotiation Type to manual and enter the FreeS/WAN box's external
    IP address for the Remote Gateway IP. Configure a new tunnel with
    a unique SPI. Select 3DES-CBC for Encryption and MD5-HMAC for
    Authentication. Make an Encryption Key and Authentication Key.
    Copy the values and save them for configuration of the FreeS/WAN box.
    Configure a routing policy and any necessary services as you normally
    would.

    Here's how I configured FreeS/WAN:

    Modifications to /etc/ipsec.conf:

    Under the "config setup" section, add:

    manualstart=firebox

    At the end of the file, add the following connection:

    conn firebox
    left=192.168.1.1
    leftsubnet=192.168.0.0/24
    right=192.168.1.2
    rightsubnet=192.168.2.0/24
    spi=0x101
    esp=3des-md5-96
    espenckey=0x515b0875793e3708517c3d4554012f7c0273375e51572a31
    espauthkey=0x072649041c2c0d452f7c15407576522f

    The spi used here should match the Firebox's. Note that the Policy Manager
    expects an SPI in decimal, not hexadecimal. The espenckey value should be
    0x and the Encryption Key you're using on the Firebox. Likewise for
    espauthkey and the Authentication Key on the Firebox.

A user comments:

    Subject: RE: Freeswan
       Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001
       From: "Patrick Poncet" <pponcet@vaxxine.com>

    It's working!!!

    Voila...  I wish to thank all the FreeS/WAN for putting out such a great
    product out!  And also Philippe PAULEAU who pioneered interoperability
    between FreeS/WAN and Watchguard Firebox II and therefore showed me that my
    efforts would not be wasted!...

    Yes indeed FreeS/WAN to WatchGuard Firebox only works in manual keying mode
    and the best way to generate keys is to have the firebox generate the keys,
    then copy and paste into the ipsec.conf file on the FreeS/WAN side (don't
    forget to prefix the keys with '0x' in your ipsec.conf file.

    Also keep in mind that the SPI is in decimal on the Firebox side and HEX on
    the FreeS/WAN side!!!  We spent 4 hours on fixing this HEX-DEC issue only :)

### Xedia Access Point/QVPN

       Subject: linux-ipsec: Interoperability result
       Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 18:08:12 -0500
      From: Paul Koning <pkoning@xedia.com>

    Here's another datapoint for the "FreeS/WAN interoperability
    database".

    I tested 0.92 against the Xedia Access Point/QVPN product, using
    dynamic keying (i.e., Pluto at work).

    Results: it works fine so long as you ask for 3DES.  DES and no-crypto
    modes don't work when Pluto is involved.

    I did limited data testing, which seemed to be fine.  No performance
    numbers yet, could do that if people are interested.

    Any questions, please ask.

            paul

### PGP Mac and Windows IPSEC Client

Since version 6.5, the PGP products from PGP Inc. have included an IPSEC client program.

Here is the first message about it to our mailing list, from a senior PGP employee:

       Subject: linux-ipsec: PGPnet interoperable with FreeSWAN
       Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 18:06:13 -0700
       From: Will Price <wprice@cyphers.net>
        To:  linux-ipsec@clinet.fi

    Network Associates announced PGP 6.5 today.  It includes a new product
    PGPnet which is a full IKE/IPSec client implementation.  This product
    is for Windows and Macintosh.  I just wanted to send a brief note to
    this list that the product was compatibility tested with FreeSWAN
    prior to its release, and the tests were successful!
    [snip]
    - --
    Will Price, Architect/Sr. Mgr., PGP Client Products
    Total Network Security Division
    Network Associates, Inc.

One version is downloadable at no cost for non-commercial use. See our links. That version does not support subnets.

Several of the user-written HowTos mentioned above cover interoperation between PGPnet and FreeS/WAN.

A more recent post from the same PGP Inc staff member pointed out:

    Make sure you're using PGP 7.0 or later as the key parser was improved
    in that release.  (PGP 7.0.1 was just released)

Various users have reported various successes and problems talking to PGPnet with FreeS/WAN. There has also been a fairly complex discussion of some fine points of RFC interpretation between the implementers of the two systems. Check an archive of our mailing list for details.

A post summarising some of this, from our Pluto programmer:

       Subject: PGPnet 6.5 and freeswan
       Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000
       From: "D. Hugh Redelmeier" <hugh@mimosa.com>

    | From: Yan Seiner
    |
    | OK, I'm stumped.  I am trying to configure IPSEC to support road
    | warriors using PGPnet 6.5.
    |
    | I've set up everything as per the man pages on the ipsec side.
    |
    | I've set up everything on the PGPnet side per the docs for that package.
    |
    | Pluto fails with this:
    |
    | Jan 16 08:14:11 aphrodite Pluto[26401]: "homeusers" #8: no acceptable
    | Oakley Transform
    |
    | and then it terminates the connection.

    As far as I can tell/remember, there are three common ways that PGPnet
    and FreeS/WAN don't get along.

    1. PGPnet proposes a longer lifetime for an SA than Pluto is willing
       to accept.

    2. After rekeying (i.e. after building a new SA bundle because the old
       one is about to expire), FreeS/WAN immediately switches to the new
       one while PGPnet continues using the old

    3. FreeS/WAN defaults to expecting Perfect Forward Secrecy and PGPnet
       does not.

    Perhaps you are bumping into the first.  In any case, look back
    in the log to see why Pluto rejected each transform

Some advice from the mailing list:

       Subject: Re: Secure Gate Fails- PGPNet & FreeSwan
       Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000
       From: Andreas Haumer <andreas@xss.co.at>

    I have a PGPnet setup running with FreeS/WAN working as secure
    gateway. It works quite fine, except for a re-negotiation problem
    I'm currently investigating, and in fact I have it running on some
    test equipment here right now!

    As I tried _several_ different non-working configuration settings
    I think I know the exact _one_ which works... :-)

    Here's my short "HOWTO":

    FreeS/WAN version: snap1000jun25b
    PGPnet: PGP Personal Privacy, Version 6.5.3
    Linux: 2.2.16 with some patches

    Network setup:
    =============

    internal subnet [192.168.x.0/24]
    |
    |        [192.168.x.1]
    secure gateway with FreeS/WAN
    |        [a.b.c.x]
    |
    |        [a.b.c.y]
    router to internet
    |
    |   Internet
    |
    |        [dynamically assigned IP address]
    road-warrior with PGPnet

    Configuration of FreeS/WAN:
    ==========================

    a) /etc/ipsec.conf

    config setup
            interfaces=%defaultroute
            klipsdebug=none
            plutodebug=none
            plutoload=%search
            plutostart=%search

    conn %default
            keyingtries=1
            authby=secret
            left=a.b.c.x
            leftnexthop=a.b.c.y

    conn gw-rw
            right=0.0.0.0
            auto=add

    conn subnet-rw
            leftsubnet=192.168.x.0/24
            right=0.0.0.0
            auto=add

    b) /etc/ipsec.secrets

    a.b.c.x 0.0.0.0: "my very secret secret"

    Note: If you are running ipchains on your secure gateway,
    you have to open the firewall for all the IPsec packets
    and also for traffic from your ipsec interface!
    Don't masquerade the IPsec traffic!

    Check your logfiles if the firewall is blocking some
    important packets!

    Configuration of PGPnet:
    =======================

    (note that there is an excellent description, including
    screenshots of PGPnet, on <http://jixen.tripod.com/>)

    In short, do the following:

    Launch the PGPnet configuration tool and set defaults options
    =============================================================

    Start - Program - PGP - PGPnet
    View - Options
    General Panel :
      Expert Mode
      Allow communications with unconfigured hosts
      Require valid authentication key
      Cache passphrases between logins
      IKE Duration : 6h
      IPsec : 6h
    Advanced panel :
      Selected options :
        Ciphers : Tripple DES
        Hashes : MD5
        Diffie-Hellman : 1024 and 1536
        Compression : LZS and Deflate
      Make the IKE proposal :
        Shared-Key - MD5 - 3DES -1024 bits on top of the list (move up)
      Make the IPSec proposal :
        NONE - MD5-TrippleDES -NONE on top of the list (move up)
      Select Perfect Forward Secrecy = 1024 bits
    Press OK

    Create the connection's definition.
    ==================================

    In the Hosts panel, ADD
      Name : Enter a name for the right gateway
      IPaddress : Enter its IP address visible to the internet (a.b.c.x)
      Select Secure Gateway
      Set shared Paraphrase : enter you preshared key
      Identity type : select IP address
      Identity : enter 0.0.0.0
      Remote Authentication : select Any valid key
    Press Ok
      Select the newly created entry for the right gateway and click ADD,
    YES
      Name : Enter a name for the central subnet
      IP address : Enter its network IP address (192.168.x.0)
      Select Insecure Subnet
      Subnet Mask : enter its subnetmask (255.255.255.0)
    Press OK, YES, YES

    This should be it. Note that with this configuration there is
    still this re-keying problem: after 6 hours, the SA is expired
    and the connection fails. You have to re-connect your connection
    with PGPnet.

and a note from the team's tech support person:

    Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2000
    From: Claudia Schmeing

    There is a known issue with PGPNet which I don't see mentioned in the docs.
    It's likely related to this one, that you note on the site:

    >2. After rekeying (i.e. after building a new SA bundle because the old
    >   one is about to expire), FreeS/WAN immediately switches to the new
    >   one while PGPnet continues using the old

    The issue is: When taking down and subsequently recreating a connection,
    it can appear to come up, but it is unusable because PGPNet continues
    to use an old SA, which Linux FreeS/WAN no longer recognizes. The solution is
    to take down the old connection using PGPNet, so that it will then
    use the most recently generated SA.

### IRE Safenet/SoftPK

IRE have an extensive line of IPSEC products, including firewall software with IPSEC, and hardware encryption devices for LAN or modem links. Their Soft-PK is a Win 98 and NT client.

Quite a few people seem to be using this with FreeS/WAN and, judging by mailing list reports, to be getting good results. Several documents are available:

- PDF HowTo titled FreeS/WAN 1.8 <--> IRE Safenet SoftPK 5.1.0 Road-Warrior VPN Configuration Guide from Terradon Communications.
- PDF document from Red Baron Consulting.
- IRE-to-FreeS/WAN section of Jean-Francois Nadeau's configuration document

Some messages from the mailing list:

    Subject: Re: Identification through other than IP number
    Date:  Fri, 23 Apr 1999
    From:  Tim Miller <cerebus+counterpane@haybaler.sackheads.org>

    Randy Dees writes:

     > Anyone know of a low-cost MS-Win client that interoperates and does not
     > require purchasing a server license to get it?

            SafeNet/Soft-PK from IRE (http://www.ire.com) is a low-cost
    client (though I don't have the exact cost available at the moment).
    I've got it running on an NT4 workstation and it interoperates nicely
    (in transport mode, will try tunnel later) with FreeS/WAN.  It's also
    ICSA IPsec certified.

A later report from a different user:

    Subject: Interop.. testing. WIN32 client : Success Story
    Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999
    From: Jean-Francois Nadeau <jna@microflex.ca>

    You can add IRE's products in the supported, well working (and cheap)
    WIN32 client. I tested it (SafeNet SoftPK 3DES) against Freeswan 1.0
    and 1.1 in both tunnel and transport mode in a RoadWarrior configuration.  No bug.

    The software is light, non-intrusive and transparent for the user.....defenitly,
    thats a good one.

    The tunnel is establish on demand.

    Using shared keys....but hope to use certificates with it soon (well,
    when Freeswan will ;)).

A recent report with some setup details:

    Subject: RE: linux-ipsec: PGPnet and Freeswan one more time...
       Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2000
      From: "Tim Wilson" <timwilson@mediaone.net>

    Here are some details about using the IRE SafeNet Soft/PK client with a
    FreeSwan gateway.

    I applied the x509 patch to Pluto according to the instructions. I use the
    "leftcert" and "rightcert" keywords in the ipsec.conf file. This causes
    FreeSwan to read the public keys and identities from the cert files. The
    identities wanted and used by FreeSwan will then be the DNs in the certs.

    I used OpenSSL to generate keys and certs and to sign certs. When generating
    the gateway cert, you should *not* enter an e-mail address because it turns
    out that confuses Soft/PK. Also, Andreas Steffan tells me that you want to
    keep the cert short to avoid fragmentation, so use a 1024-bit RSA key and
    succinct names.

    The FreeSwan gateway cert goes in /etc/ipsec.d/, the gateway private key is
    extracted from the key file using fswcert (part of the x509 patch) and
    pasted into /etc/ipsec.secrets, and a DER version of the gateway cert goes
    in /etc/x509cert.der. This is all according to the instructions that
    accompany the x509 patch.

    The Windows client is of course running Soft/PK in this case. I generated a
    private key and cert for the client on the Linux machine using OpenSSL. I
    created a pkcs12 file containing the client's private key and cert, which I
    put on a floppy and imported into Soft/PK. I also imported the gateway cert
    into Soft/PK (you can either import a self-signed cert for the gateway or
    the self-signed cert for the CA that signed the gateway cert--either works).

    Soft/PK allows you to configure practically everything for the connection.
    Here are the main points to watch for:

    On the first panel you have to set the peer identities. The gateway will
    identify itself using the DN in the gateway cert. So of course you have to
    configure Soft/PK to look for the correct DN. There's no problem with this
    as long as you didn't enter an e-mail address in the gateway cert. Just
    check "Connect using Secure Gateway tunnel", set ID type to "Distinguished
    Name", and enter the correct info in the dialog box.

    In "My identity" just select the client cert that you imported in pcks12
    format. Soft/PK apparently identifies itself with the DN from the cert,
    which is exactly what FreeSwan is looking for.

    In "Security Policy", you want Main mode and make the PFS setting agree with
    whatever FreeSwan is doing (FreeSwan uses PFS by default). If you use PFS I
    believe you must use DH group 2 as FreeSwan doesn't like group 1.

    Phase 1 Authentication must be "RSA signatures" and 3DES plus either MD5 or
    SHA-1 (I used MD5 but I believe FreeSwan accepts either). I left the
    lifetime unspecified. Also you must select DH group 2 because I believe that
    FreeSwan will not accept group 1.

    Phase 2 also must use 3DES and MD5 or SHA-1. I used no compression and only
    ESP and no AH, haven't tried other choices.

    Hope this helps.

### Borderware

### Freegate

    Subject: ipsec interoperability FYI
       Date: Sun, 02 May 1999
       From: Sean Rooney <sean@coldstream.ca>

    we've been doing some basic interoperability testing of the following;

    PGP NT VPN 6.5 and freeswan both seem to work reasonably well with
    Borderware 6.0 and freegate 1.3 beta. [as well as eachother]

    more details coming soon.

### Timestep

       Subject: TimeStep Permit/Gate interop works!
       Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999
       From: Derick Cassidy <dcthebrain@geek.com>

    Just a quick note of success.  TimeStep Permit/Gate (2520) and
    Free/Swan (June 4th snapshot) interoperate!

    I have them working in AUTO mode, with IKE.  IPSec SA's are negotiated
    with 3DES and MD5.

    Here are the configs and a diagram for both configs.

    left subnet---| Timestep | --- internet --- | Linux box |

    The left subnet is defined as the red side of the timestep box.
     This network definition MUST exist in the Secure Map.

    On the Linux box:

    ipsec.conf

    conn timestep
            type=tunnel
            left=209.yyy.xxx.6
            leftnexthop=209.yyy.xxx.1
            leftsubnet=209.yyy.xxx.128/25
            right=24.aaa.bbb.203
            rightnexthop=24.aaa.bbb.1
            rightsubnet=24.aaa.bbb.203/32
            keyexchange=ike
            keylife=8h
            keyingtries=0

    In the TimeStep permit/gate Secure Map

    begin static-map
            target "209.yyy.xxx.128/255.255.255.128"
            mode   "ISAKMP-Shared"
            tunnel "209.yyy.xxx.6"
    end

    In the TimeStep Security Descriptor file

    begin security-descriptor
            Name    "High"
            IPSec   "ESP 3DES MINUTES 300 or ESP 3DES HMAC MD5 MINUTES 300"
            ISAKMP  "IDENTITY PFS 3DES MD5 MINUTES 1440
                                    or DES MD5 MINUTES 1440"
    end

    The timestep has a shared secret for 24.aaa.bbb.203/255.255.255.255
    set in the Shared Secret Authentication tab of Permit/Config.

### Shiva/Intel LANrover

A web page with Shiva compatibility information.

### Sun Solaris

       Subject: Re: FreeS/WAN and Solaris
       Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000
       From: Peter Onion <Peter.Onion@btinternet.com>

    Slowaris 8 has a native (in kernel) IPSEC implementation.

    I've not done much interop testing yet, but I seem to rememeber we got a manual
    keyed connection between it and FreeSwan a few months ago.

### Sonicwall

    Subject: Re: FreeS/WAN and SonicWall
         Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001
         From: "Dilan Arumainathan" <dilan_a@impark.com>

    ***************************************************
    I know I HAVE TO write the mini-howto - but here is the beginning
    ***************************************************

    Here is my Sonicwall configuration for my working connection:

    conn testauto
            left=x.x.x.x
            leftnexthop=x.x.x.x
            right=y.y.y.y
            rightnexthop=y.y.y.y
            rightsubnet=10.1.20.0/24
    #You need to set the Unique Firewall Identifier to the parameter that you
    #use as the rightid.

### Radguard

Here are some mailing list comments from FreeS/WAN tech support person Claudia Schmeing on this:

    It certainly has been possible to interop between Radguard VPN gateways and
    past Linux FreeS/WAN versions, as is evidenced by
    http://www.opus1.com/vpn/atl99display.html, as well as my own interop results
    from San Diego this year. There have been no major changes since SD that
    I would foresee affecting this.

    The Radguard team said that their VPN gateway will not respond to a peer
    request with PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy) on, but it *will* successfully
    establish such a connection with Linux FreeS/WAN when Radguard is the
    initiator. Since PFS is a desirable feature in terms of cryptographic
    security, this asymmetry may frustrate efforts to provide a connection that
    is both as reliable as secure as possible.

    While it's not clear that rekeying will present a problem, I suspect that
    some fine tuning of the key life parameters may be needed. Unfortunately
    I was unable to do additional tests on this topic.

    Due to the PFS issue, when trying to maintain a connection with PFS,
    you may need to set the rekeying times shorter on the radguard side,
    in order to ensure that it is always the initiator.

### Windows clients

Quite a number of client programs for IPSEC on Windows are available. Many of them are listed in this piece of list mail:

     Subject: Re: Searching Windows95/98 and NT4.0 Clients for FreeS/WAN
        From: Claudia Schmeing <claudia@coldstream.ca>
        Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000

    F-Secure VPN+
    -------------
    for Win 95, 98 and NT 4.0
    http://www.datafellows.com/products/vpnplus

    Checkpoint SecureRemote VPN-1 4.1
    ---------------------------------
    for Win 95, 98 and NT
    http://www.checkpoint.com/techsupport/freedownloads.html

    Raptor Firewall, Raptor MobileNT 5.0
    -------------------------------------
    Mobile NT is a "Client"* for Win 95, 98 (except SE), First Edition Windows NT
    up to Service Pack 4. It ships with DES; triple DES may be available as an
    add-on depending on your location.

    Firewall is for Win NT 4.0 or Win 2000.
    http://www.axent.com

    IRE SafeNet SoftPK
    ------------------
    a "Client" for Win 95, 98 and NT 4.0 *
    http://www.ire.com

    Xedia's AccessPoint QVPN "Client" or "Builder"
    ----------------------------------------------
    "Builder" is for NT
    "Client" is for Win 98 *
    http://www.xedia.com

    * "Client" in this context indicates software that does not support a subnet
    behind its end of the connection.

That mail omits the PGPnet client because the user asking the question already knew of it. The SSH Sentinel client, released since the above message, is another possibility. Both of those have members of the vendor's staff active on our mailing list, an excellent sign for both interoperability and support.

We also know of some Windows IPSEC clients not mentioned above:

- Lucent
- Ashleylaurent

No doubt there are others we don't know of.

### NT domains vs. tunnels

There has been some mailing list discussion of making NT domains work across FreeS/WAN tunnels.

Robert Cotran asked:

    > I have a VPN setup between two subnets (192.168.1.x and 192.168.2.x).  I
    > would like to be able to join the NT domain on 192.168.1.x from the
    > 192.168.2.x subnet.  Is this possible?  Do I have to forward specific ports
    > to do this?  I've already set up WINS entries for all the machines, so
    > accessing computers by their NetBIOS names works perfectly.  Please let me
    > know about this domain thing.  Thanks!

Dilan Arumainathan answered:

    All you need to do is to:

    1. Enable NetBIOS over TCP.
    2. Create a "lmhosts" file and enter the address of a BDC or a PDC like
        192.168.1.[x]  [Your PDC/BDC servername] #PRE #DOM:[Your Domain Name]
        eg. 192.168.1.1 MYOWNPDC #PRE #DOM:DENSI-NT

    3. Reboot if necessary.

and Sebastien Pfieffer provided a slightly different answer:

    For a trust relationship to work between NT domains in different
    (sub)nets all domain controllers of the 1st domain have to know about
    all controllers of the other domain.
    Either you use the described LMHOSTS entry for every domain controller
    of both domains or consider setting up WINS service(s).

We suspect that in some cases it may be more complex than that. See the discussion of Linux services and Windows 2000 below and the Interop HowTo documents listed above.

### Windows 2000

Windows 2000 ships with an IPSEC implementation built in. There may be restrictions. We have had mailing list reports that only the server version will act as a gateway, working with a subnet behind it, and other versions offer only "client" functionality, with no subnet. We are unclear on details.

Some versions of Windows 2000 ship with only weak encryption. You need to upgrade them with the strong encryption pack, available either via the Windows 2000 update service or from Microsoft's web site.

Windows 2000 IPSEC sometimes exhibits remarkably odd behaviour. It will allow you to configure it for 3DES only, then ignore your settings and fall back to single DES in some circumstances. Microsoft have said they will fix this. See this Wired article.

#### Other Linux services related to Win 2000

Windows 2000 also uses a number of other security mechanisms which have Linux equivalents. To integrate well with Windows 2000, you may need to look at several open source projects other than FreeS/WAN:

- Windows 2000 builds L2TP tunnels over (some of?) its IPSEC connections. There is a Linux L2TP Daemon.
- Kerberos authentication is used in Windows 2000.
  - MIT Kerberos site
  - introductory document
  - Kerberos links page

The Windows 2000 Kerberos implementation includes proprietary modifications. This is a security worry since it is by no means clear that the modified version remains secure. It also creates interoperation problems. Microsoft have released documentation on their modifications, but only under a license that hampers attempts either to audit their code for security flaws or to build other implementations that interoperate with it.

- Samba is a Linux implementation of the Windows SMB protocol, allowing disk sharing and other network services
- tipxd, the Tunelling IPX Daemon, encapsulates IPX for transport over IP.

Here is a mailing list message, from FreeS/WAN team tech support person Claudia Schmeing, discussing Windows 2000 and L2TP:

    You write,

    > I want some information about IPsec with L2TP.
    > I'm going to build the IPsec tunnel on the L2TP tunnel.
    > Is it strange?
    > Is there any case like this already implemented?

    It's used, but rarely. In many cases, IPSec alone is sufficient.

    In this thread, Timo Teras reports that he configured the L2TP/IPSec
    hybrid with Win2k. He gives some pointers.
    http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/linux-ipsec/html/2000/11/msg00545.html

    See also John P. Eisenmenger's report on his own experiences at:
    http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/linux-ipsec/html/2001/02/msg00195.html

#### FreeS/WAN-to-Win2000 interop

As for IPSEC interoperation between Windows 2000 and FreeS/WAN, there are several web sites listed under Interop HowTo documents above.

Here is a discussion from the mailing list:

    From: "Jean-Francois Nadeau" <jna@microflex.ca>
    Subject: Win2000 IPsec  interop. in tunnel mode
    Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000

    This was a pain.... but it worked. ;)

    Win2000 Server against Freeswan 1.1 in tunnel mode is a success.

    My Setup

    Freeswan :
    Kernel 2.2.12 running Freeswan 1.1
    Using 3DES-MD5 and PreShared Keys.

    Win2000
    M$ Win2000 Advanced server patched for 3DES

    Here's the setup for the Win2000 Server.

    Open an MMC with the IPsec Security policy editor snap-in.
    Create a new IP Security Policy.
    Create 2 IP SECURITY RULES. One for inbound traffic and one for outbound trafic (see below)
    Create 2 IP FILTERS. One for inbound traffic and one for outbound trafic (see below)
    Assign the inbound IP SECURITY RULE to the inbound IP FILTERS, same for outbound.
    Select both IP SECURITY RULES.
    Select your IP Security Policy, right click and ASSIGN.

    We need an example to clarify that !@#! logic :

    In freeswan :

    Conn Interop_Testing
    Left=1.2.3.4
    Leftsubnet=10.0.0.0/8
    Right=9.8.7.6
    Rightsubnet=192.168.0.0/24

    In Win2000

    IP Security Policy : Interop_Testing

    **********
    1st IP Security rule : Left_to_Right
            IP Filter  List : Left_to_Right
                    Source Address = 1.2.3.4
                    Destination Address = A specific Subnet = 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0
            Filter Action : Request Security
            Connections type : All connections
            Tunnel Settings : Endpoint = 9.8.7.6
            Authentication Method = PreSharedKey=yourkey
    ***********

    **********
    2nd IP Security rule : Right_to_Left
            IP Filter  List : Right_to_Left
                    Source Address = 9.8.7.6
                    Destination Address = A specific Subnet = 10.0.0.0 255.0.0.0
            Filter Action : Request Security
            Connections type : All connections
            Tunnel Settings : Endpoint = 1.2.3.4
            Authentication Method = PreSharedKey=yourkey
    ***********

    HINTS :

    Do not use mirroring in your IP filters.
    Move your main proposal to the top (in my case 3DES-MD5)
    Enable PFS.

    It worked... but a RoadWarrior configuration doesnt seems to be
    possible here (must specify both Endpoints and 0.0.0.0 is not acceptable).

    Jean-Francois Nadeau
    Microlfex.

The RoadWarrior problem has since been solved. RSA authentication has been added to FreeS/WAN since the above message was posted.

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