6.5

Table Of Contents
The VMware implementation of IPsec adheres to the following IPv6 RFCs.
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4301 Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol
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4303 IP Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP)
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4835 Cryptographic Algorithm Implementation Requirements for ESP
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2410 The NULL Encryption Algorithm and Its Use With IPsec
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2451 The ESP CBC-Mode Cipher Algorithms
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3602 The AES-CBC Cipher Algorithm and Its Use with IPsec
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2404 The Use of HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH
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4868 Using HMAC-SHA-256, HMAC-SHA-384, and HMAC-SHA-512
Using IPsec with ESXi
When you set up IPsec on an ESXi host, you enable protection of incoming or outgoing data. What happens
precisely depends on how you set up the system’s Security Associations (SAs) and Security Policies (SPs).
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An SA determines how the system protects trac. When you create an SA, you specify the source and
destination, authentication, and encryption parameters, and an identier for the SA with the following
options.
vicfg-ipsec esxcli network ip ipsec
sa-src and sa-dst --sa-source and --sa-destination
spi (security parameter index) --sa-spi
sa-mode (tunnel or transport) --sa-mode
ealgo and ekey --encryption-algorithm and --encryption-key
ialgo and ikey --integrity-algorithm and --integrity-key
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An SP identies and selects trac that must be protected. An SP consists of two logical sections, a
selector, and an action.
The selector is specied by the following options.
vicfg-ipsec esxcli network ip ipsec
src-addr and src-port --sa-source and --source-port
dst-addr and dst-port --destination-port
ulproto --upper-layer-protocol
direction (in or out) --flow-direction
The action is specied by the following options.
vicfg-ipsec esxcli network ip ipsec
sa-name --sa-name
sp-name --sp-name
action (none, discard, ipsec) --action
Because IPsec allows you to target precisely which trac should be encrypted, it is well suited for securing
your vSphere environment. For example, you can set up the environment so all vMotion trac is encrypted.
vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples
154 VMware, Inc.