6.5

Table Of Contents
Managing Security Associations
You can specify an SA and request that the VMkernel use that SA.
The following options for SA setup are supported.
vicfg-ipsec Option esxcli Option Description
sa-src <source_IP> sa-source <source_IP>
Source IP for the SA.
sa-dst <destination_IP> sa-destination
<destination_IP>
Destination IP for the SA.
spi sa-spi
Security Parameter Index (SPI) for the
SA. Must be a hexadecimal number
with a 0x prex.
When IPsec is in use, ESXi uses the
ESP protocol (RFC 43030), which
includes authentication and encryption
information and the SPI. The SPI
identies the SA to use at the receiving
host. Each SA you create must have a
unique combination of source,
destination, protocol, and SPI.
sa-mode [tunnel | transport] sa-mode [tunnel | transport]
Either tunnel or transport.
In tunnel mode, the original packet is
encapsulated in another IPv6 packet,
where source and destination
addresses are the SA endpoint
addresses.
ealgo [null | 3des-cbc |
aes128-cbc]
encryption-algorithm [null |
3des-cbc | aes128-cbc]
Encryption algorithm to be used.
Choose 3des-cbc or aes128-cbc, or
null for no encryption.
ekey <key> encryption-key <key>
Encryption key to be used by the
encryption algorithm. A series of
hexadecimal digits with a 0x prex or
an ASCII string.
ialgo [hmac-sha1 | hmac-
sha2-256 ]
integrity-algorithm [hmac-sha1
| hmac-sha2-256 ]
Authentication algorithm to be used.
Choose hmac-sha1 or hmac-
sha2-256.
ikey integrity-key
Authentication key to be used. A series
of hexadecimal digits or an ASCII
string.
You can perform these main tasks with SAs.
n
Create an SA. You specify the source, the destination, and the authentication mode. You also specify the
authentication algorithm and authentication key to use. You must specify an encryption algorithm and
key, but you can specify null if you want no encryption. Authentication is required and cannot be null.
The following example includes extra line breaks for readability. The last option, sa_2 in the example, is
the name of the SA.
esxcli network ip ipsec sa add
--sa-source 2001:DB8:1::121
--sa-destination 2001:DB8:1::122
--sa-mode transport
--sa-spi 0x1000
--encryption-algorithm 3des-cbc
Chapter 9 Managing vSphere Networking
VMware, Inc. 155