16 May 2017

SITE TO SITE VPN

R80.10

Administration Guide
Classification: [Protected]
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16 May 2017 First release of this document
 Important Information

SmartConsole Toolbars
For a guided tour of SmartConsole, click What's New in the left bottom corner of SmartConsole.

Global Toolbar (top left of SmartConsole)

Description and Keyboard Shortcut
The main SmartConsole Menu

The Objects menu.

Also leads to the Object Explorer Ctrl+E

Install policy on managed gateways

Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Navigation Toolbar (left side of SmartConsole)

Description and Keyboard Shortcut
Gateways & Servers configuration view
Ctrl+1

Security Policies Access Control view

Security Policies Threat Prevention view
Ctrl+2

Logs & Monitor view

Ctrl+3

Manage & Settings view - review and configure the Security Management
Server settings
Ctrl+4

Command Line Interface Button (left bottom corner of SmartConsole)

Description and Keyboard Shortcut
Open a command line interface for management scripting and API
F9

What's New Button (left bottom corner of SmartConsole)

Description and Keyboard Shortcut
Open a tour of the SmartConsole

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 4

 Important Information

Objects and Validations Tabs (right side of SmartConsole)

Description
Objects Manage security and network objects

Validations Validation warnings and errors

System Information Area (bottom of SmartConsole)

Description
Task List Management activities, such as policy installation tasks

Server Details The IP address of the Security Management Server

Connected The administrators that are connected to the Security Management Server
Users

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 5

Contents
Important Information................................................................................................... 3
SmartConsole Toolbars ............................................................................................ 4
Check Point VPN.......................................................................................................... 10
IPsec VPN ................................................................................................................ 10
VPN Components ...........................................................................................................10
Understanding the Terminology ....................................................................................10
Site to Site VPN..............................................................................................................11
IPv6 Support and Limitations .........................................................................................15
Getting Started with Site-to-Site VPN ......................................................................... 16
Setting up Site-to-Site VPN between Gateways ...................................................... 16
Enabling IPsec VPN on a Gateway..................................................................................16
Creating a VPN Community ...........................................................................................17
Defining the VPN Domain for a Gateway ........................................................................18
Confirming VPN Routing ................................................................................................18
Configuring Site to Site VPN Rules in the Access Policy ................................................18
Confirming that a VPN Tunnel Opens Successfully ................................................. 19
Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration ........................................................................... 20
Configuring a Meshed Community Between Internally Managed Gateways ........... 20
Configuring a Star Community Between Internally Managed Gateways ................. 21
Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways Using Certificates ................. 21
Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways Using Pre-Shared Secret ..... 23
Firewall Control Connections in VPN Communities ................................................ 25
Why Turning off Firewall Implied Rules Blocks Control Connections ............................25
Allowing Firewall Control Connections Inside a VPN .....................................................26
Discovering Which Services are Used for Control Connections .....................................26
Simplified and Traditional Modes............................................................................ 26
IPsec & IKE .................................................................................................................. 27
Overview.................................................................................................................. 27
IKE Phase I ....................................................................................................................27
IKE Phase II (Quick mode or IPSec Phase) .....................................................................28
IKEv1 and IKEv2 .............................................................................................................30
Methods of Encryption and Integrity ..............................................................................30
Phase I modes ...............................................................................................................31
Renegotiating IKE & IPsec Lifetimes .............................................................................31
Perfect Forward Secrecy ...............................................................................................32
IP Compression .............................................................................................................32
Subnets and Security Associations ................................................................................32
IKE DoS Protection .................................................................................................. 34
Understanding DoS Attacks ...........................................................................................34
IKE DoS Attacks .............................................................................................................34
Defense Against IKE DoS Attacks ..................................................................................34
SmartConsole IKE DoS Attack Protection Settings ........................................................34
Advanced IKE DoS Attack Protection Settings ...............................................................35
Configuring Advanced IKE Properties ..................................................................... 37
VPN Community Object - Encryption Settings ................................................................37
VPN Community Object - Advanced Settings .................................................................38
On the Gateway Network Object ....................................................................................38
Link Selection.............................................................................................................. 39
Link Selection Overview .......................................................................................... 39
Configuring IP Selection by Remote Peer ............................................................... 39
Last Known Available Peer IP Address ..........................................................................42
Configuring Outgoing Route Selection .................................................................... 42
When Initiating a Tunnel ................................................................................................42
When Responding to a Remotely Initiated Tunnel..........................................................43
Using Route Based Probing ...........................................................................................43
Configuring Source IP Address Settings ................................................................. 44
Outgoing Link Tracking ........................................................................................... 45
Link Selection Scenarios ......................................................................................... 45
Gateway with a Single External Interface ......................................................................45
Gateway with Several IP Addresses Used by Different Parties ......................................46
Gateway with an Interface Behind a Static NAT Device ..................................................46
Utilizing Load Sharing ...................................................................................................47
Service Based Link Selection .................................................................................. 48
Configuring Service Based Link Selection .....................................................................49
Service Based Link Selection Scenarios ........................................................................50
Trusted Links .......................................................................................................... 53
Configuring Trusted Links .............................................................................................53
Trusted Links Scenarios ................................................................................................54
On Demand Links (ODL) .......................................................................................... 55
Configuring On Demand Links .......................................................................................56
Link Selection and ISP Redundancy ........................................................................ 57
Configuring Link Selection and ISP Redundancy ...........................................................57
Link Selection and ISP Redundancy ...............................................................................58
Link Selection with non-Check Point Devices ......................................................... 59
Public Key Infrastructure ............................................................................................ 61
Need for Integration with Different PKI Solutions .................................................. 61
Supporting a Wide Variety of PKI Solutions ............................................................ 62
PKI and Remote Access Users .......................................................................................62
PKI Deployments and VPN .............................................................................................62
Trusting An External CA ................................................................................................64
Enrolling a Managed Entity ............................................................................................65
Validation of a Certificate...............................................................................................65
Special Considerations for PKI................................................................................ 69
Using the Internal CA vs. Deploying a Third Party CA ....................................................69
Distributed Key Management and Storage ....................................................................69
Configuration of PKI Operations.............................................................................. 70
Trusting a CA – Step-By-Step ........................................................................................70
Certificate Revocation (All CA Types).............................................................................71
Certificate Recovery and Renewal .................................................................................72
CA Certificate Rollover ..................................................................................................72
Adding Matching Criteria to the Validation Process .......................................................73
CRL Cache Usage ..........................................................................................................74
Modifying the CRL Pre-Fetch Cache ..............................................................................74
Configuring CRL Grace Period .......................................................................................74
Configuring OCSP .................................................................................................... 74
Domain Based VPN...................................................................................................... 75
Overview of Domain-based VPN .............................................................................. 75
VPN Routing and Access Control ............................................................................ 76
 Configuring VPN Routing in Domain Based VPN ..................................................... 76
Configuring VPN Routing for Security Gateways in SmartConsole ................................76
Configuration in the VPN Configuration File ..................................................................76
Configuring the 'Accept VPN Traffic Rule' .....................................................................77
Configuring Multiple Hubs .............................................................................................78
Route Based VPN ........................................................................................................ 80
Overview of Route-based VPN................................................................................. 80
VPN Tunnel Interface (VTI) ...................................................................................... 81
Numbered VTI................................................................................................................82
Unnumbered VTI ............................................................................................................82
Using Dynamic Routing Protocols ........................................................................... 82
Configuring Numbered VTIs .................................................................................... 82
Enabling Route Based VPN ............................................................................................82
Configuring Numbered VTIs ..........................................................................................83
VTIs in a Clustered Environment ............................................................................. 84
Configuring VTIs in a Clustered Environment ......................................................... 84
Enabling Dynamic Routing Protocols on VTIs ......................................................... 88
Configuring VTIs in a Gaia Environment .................................................................. 91
Configuring Anti-Spoofing on VTIs .......................................................................... 91
Configuring Unnumbered VTIs ................................................................................ 91
Routing Multicast Packets Through VPN Tunnels ................................................... 92
Tunnel Management ................................................................................................... 93
Overview of Tunnel Management ............................................................................ 93
Permanent Tunnels................................................................................................. 93
Permanent Tunnels in a MEP Environment ...................................................................94
Tunnel Testing for Permanent Tunnels .........................................................................94
Terminating Permanent Tunnels ...................................................................................94
Dead Peer Detection ......................................................................................................94
VPN Tunnel Sharing ................................................................................................ 96
Configuring Tunnel Features .................................................................................. 97
Permanent Tunnels .......................................................................................................97
Advanced Permanent Tunnel Configuration ..................................................................98
Tracking Options ...........................................................................................................98
Route Injection Mechanism ......................................................................................... 99
Overview of Route Injection ..................................................................................... 99
Automatic RIM ......................................................................................................... 99
Custom Scripts ...................................................................................................... 101
Injecting Peer Security Gateway Interfaces .......................................................... 102
Configuring RIM .................................................................................................... 103
Configuring RIM in a Star Community ..........................................................................103
Configuring RIM in a Meshed Community: ...................................................................103
Enabling the RIM_inject_peer_interfaces flag ............................................................104
Tracking Options .........................................................................................................104
Configuring RIM on Gaia........................................................................................ 104
Wire Mode ................................................................................................................. 106
Overview of Wire Mode .......................................................................................... 106
Wire Mode Scenarios ............................................................................................ 106
Wire Mode in a MEP Configuration ..............................................................................107
Wire Mode with Route Based VPN ...............................................................................108
Wire Mode Between Two VPN Communities ................................................................109
Special Considerations for Wire Mode .................................................................. 109
 Configuring Wire Mode ......................................................................................... 110
Enabling Wire Mode on a VPN Community...................................................................110
Enabling Wire Mode on a Specific Security Gateway ....................................................110
Directional VPN Enforcement ................................................................................... 111
Overview of Directional VPN ................................................................................. 111
Directional Enforcement within a Community ...................................................... 111
Configurable Objects in a Direction....................................................................... 112
Directional Enforcement between Communities .................................................. 112
Configuring Directional VPN Within a Community ................................................ 113
Configuring Directional VPN Between Communities ............................................ 114
Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs .............................................................................. 115
Overview of MEP ................................................................................................... 115
VPN High Availability Using MEP or Clustering ...........................................................115
Implementation ...........................................................................................................115
Explicit MEP .......................................................................................................... 116
MEP Selection Methods ...............................................................................................117
Implicit MEP .......................................................................................................... 122
First to Respond ..........................................................................................................123
Routing Return Packets ........................................................................................ 125
IP Pool Network Address Translation (NAT) ................................................................125
Special Considerations.......................................................................................... 126
Configuring MEP ................................................................................................... 126
Configuring Explicit MEP .............................................................................................126
Configuring Implicit MEP .............................................................................................127
Configuring IP Pool NAT ..............................................................................................128
Resolving Connectivity Issues ................................................................................... 130
IPsec NAT-Traversal ............................................................................................. 130
Configuring NAT-Traversal .........................................................................................130
Advanced NAT-T Configuration....................................................................................130
VPN Command Line Interface ................................................................................... 131
VPN Commands .................................................................................................... 131
CHAPTE R 1

Check Point VPN

In This Section:
IPsec VPN ......................................................................................................................10

IPsec VPN
The IPsec VPN solution lets the Security Gateway encrypt and decrypt traffic to and from other
gateways and clients. Use SmartConsole to easily configure VPN connections between Security
Gateways and remote devices.
For Site to Site Communities, you can configure Star and Mesh topologies for VPN networks, and
include third-party gateways.
The VPN tunnel guarantees:
• Authenticity - Uses standard authentication methods
• Privacy - All VPN data is encrypted
• Integrity - Uses industry-standard integrity assurance methods

IKE and IPsec

The Check Point VPN solution uses these secure VPN protocols to manage encryption keys, and
send encrypted packets. IKE (Internet Key Exchange) is a standard key management protocol that
is used to create the VPN tunnels. IPsec is protocol that supports secure IP communications that
are authenticated and encrypted on private or public networks.

VPN Components
VPN is composed of:
• VPN endpoints, such as Security Gateways, Security Gateway clusters, or remote clients (such
as laptop computers or mobile phones) that communicate using a VPN.
• VPN trust entities, such as a Check Point Internal Certificate Authority (ICA). The ICA is part of
the Check Point suite used for creating SIC trusted connection between Security Gateways,
authenticating administrators and third party servers. The ICA provides certificates for internal
Security Gateways and remote access clients which negotiate the VPN link.
• VPN Management tools, such as Security Management Server and SmartConsole.
SmartConsole is the SmartConsole used to access the Security Management Server. The VPN
Manager is part of SmartConsole. SmartConsole enables organizations to define and deploy
Intranet, and remote Access VPNs.

Understanding the Terminology

• VPN - Virtual Private Network. A secure, encrypted connection between networks and remote
clients on a public infrastructure, to give authenticated remote users and sites secured access
to an organization's network and resources.

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 10

 Check Point VPN

• Virtual Tunnel Interface - Virtual Tunnel Interface. A virtual interface that is a member of an
existing, Route Based, VPN tunnel.
• VPN Peer - A gateway that connects to a different gateway using a Virtual Tunnel Interface.
• VPN Domain - A group of computers and networks connected to a VPN tunnel by one VPN
gateway that handles encryption and protects the VPN Domain members.
• VPN Community - A named collection of VPN domains, each protected by a VPN gateway.
• VPN Security Gateway - The gateway that manages encryption and decryption of traffic
between members of a VPN Domain, typically located at one (Remote Access VPN) or both
(Site to Site VPN) ends of a VPN tunnel.
• Site to Site VPN - An encrypted tunnel between two gateways, typically of different
geographical sites.
• Remote Access VPN - An encryption tunnel between a Security Gateway and remote access
clients, such as Endpoint Security VPN, and communities.
• Remote Access Community - A group of computers, appliances, and devices that access, with
authentication and encryption, the internal protected network from physically remote sites.
• Star Topology - A "hub and spoke" virtual private network community, with gateways defined
as Satellites (spokes) that create tunnels only with the central gateway ("hub").
• Meshed topology - A VPN community with a VPN Domain that creates a tunnel to other VPN
Domains.
• Domain-based VPN - A method to route encrypted traffic with parameters defined by Security
Gateways.
• Route-Based VPN - A routing method for participants in a VPN community, defined by the
Virtual Tunnel Interfaces (VTI).
• IKE (Internet Key Exchange) - An Encryption key management protocol that enhances IPSec
by providing additional features, flexibility, and ease of configuration.
• IPSec - A set of secure VPN protocols that manage encryption keys and encrypted packet
traffic, to create a standard for authentication and encryption services.

Site to Site VPN

The basis of Site to Site VPN is the encrypted VPN tunnel. Two Security Gateways negotiate a link
and create a VPN tunnel and each tunnel can contain more than one VPN connection. One Security
Gateway can maintain more than one VPN tunnel at the same time.

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 11

 Check Point VPN

Item Description
A, B Security Gateways

2 VPN tunnel

3 Internal network in VPN domain

4 Host 4

5 Host 5

In this sample VPN deployment, Host 4 and Host 5 securely send data to each other. The Security
Gateways do IKE negotiation and create a VPN tunnel. They use the IPsec protocol to encrypt and
decrypt data that is sent between Host 4 and Host 5.

VPN Workflow

Host 4 sends packet Firewalls A & B create

Firewall A encrypts data
to Host 5 VPN tunnel

Host 5 receives Encrypted data is sent

Firewall B decrypts data
unencrypted data through VPN tunnel

VPN Communities
A VPN Domain is a collection of internal networks that use Security Gateways to send and receive
VPN traffic. Define the resources that are included in the VPN Domain for each Security Gateway.
Then join the Security Gateways into a VPN community - collection of VPN tunnels and their
attributes. Network resources of different VPN Domains can securely communicate with each
other through VPN tunnels that terminate at the Security Gateways in the VPN communities.
VPN communities are based on Star and Mesh topologies. In a Mesh community, there are VPN
tunnels between each pair of Security Gateway. In a Star community, each satellite Security
Gateway has a VPN tunnel to the central Security Gateway, but not to other Security Gateways in
the community.
Note - Global VPN Communities are not supported in this release.

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 12

 Check Point VPN

Mesh Topology Star Topology

Item Description
1 Security Gateway

2 Satellite Security Gateways

3 Central Security Gateway

Sample Combination VPN Community

Item Description
1 London Security Gateway

2 New York Security Gateway

3 London - New York Mesh community

4 London company partner (external network)

5 London Star community

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 13

 Check Point VPN

Item Description
6 New York company partner (external network)

7 New York Star community

This deployment is composed of a Mesh community for London and New York Security Gateways
that share internal networks. The Security Gateways for external networks of company partners
do not have access to the London and New York internal networks. However, the Star VPN
communities let the company partners access the internal networks of the sites that they work
with.

Routing VPN Traffic

Configure the Security Gateway to route VPN traffic based on VPN Domains or based on the
routing settings of the operating system.

Note - For each VPN gateway, you must configure an existing gateway as a default
gateway.

Domain Based VPN

The VPN traffic is routed according to the VPN Domains that are defined in SmartConsole. Use
domain based routing to let satellite Security Gateways in a star-based topology send VPN traffic
to each other. The central Security Gateway creates a VPN tunnel to each satellite gateway and
the traffic is routed to the correct VPN domain.

Route Based VPN

VPN traffic is routed according to the routing settings (static or dynamic) of the Security Gateway
operating system. The Security Gateway uses a VTI (VPN Tunnel Interface) to send the VPN traffic
as if it were a physical interface. The VTIs of Security Gateways in a VPN community connect and
can support dynamic routing protocols.

Granular Routing Control

The Link Selection feature gives you granular control of the VPN traffic in the network. Use this
feature to enable the Security Gateway to:
• Find the best possible route for VPN traffic
• Select the interfaces that are used for VPN traffic to internal and external networks
• Configure the IP addresses that are used for VPN traffic
• Use route probing to select available VPN tunnels
• Use Load Sharing for Link Selection to equally distribute VPN traffic to VPN tunnels

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 14

 Check Point VPN

IPv6 Support and Limitations

This release includes limited IPv6 support for IPsec VPN communities:
• IPv6 is supported for Site to Site VPN only (Main IP to Main IP). The Main IP address for both
Security Gateways must be defined as an IPv6 Address. You can define other IP addresses that
are IPv4 or IPv6.
• IPv6 supports IKEv2 encryption only. IKEv2 is automatically always used for IPv6 traffic. The
encryption method configuration applies to IPv4 traffic only.
• VPN tunneling only supports IPv4 inside an IPv4 tunnel, and IPv6 inside an IPv6 tunnel. IPv4
traffic inside an IPv6 tunnel is not supported.
These VPN features are not supported for IPv6:
• Remote Access VPN
• CRL fetch for the internal Certificate Authority
• Multiple Entry Points (MEP)
• Route-based VPN (VTI)
• Wire Mode VPN
• Gateways with a dynamic IP address.
• Route Injection Mechanism (RIM)
• Traditional mode Firewall Policies
• IKE Denial of Service protection
• IKE Aggressive Mode
• Gateways with Dynamic IP addresses
• Traditional Mode VPN
• Migration from Traditional mode to Simplified mode
• Tunnel Management (permanent tunnels)
• Directional VPN Enforcement
• Link Selection
• GRE Tunnels
• Tunnel View in SmartView Monitor
• VPN Overview page
• vpn_route.conf configuration file

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 15

CHAPTE R 2

Getting Started with Site-to-Site VPN

In This Section:
Setting up Site-to-Site VPN between Gateways..........................................................16
Confirming that a VPN Tunnel Opens Successfully ....................................................19

Setting up Site-to-Site VPN between Gateways

Scenario: Two Check Point gateways are managed by the same Security Management Server. How
do you create a site-to-site VPN between the two gateways so that they can communicate
securely?

Overview of the Workflow:

1. Create the gateway objects in SmartConsole and make sure that IPsec VPN is enabled on each
one ("Enabling IPsec VPN on a Gateway" on page 16).
2. Generate internal CA certificates for each gateway (done automatically).
3. Create the VPN Community ("Creating a VPN Community" on page 17).
4. Define the VPN Domain ("Defining the VPN Domain for a Gateway" on page 18).
5. Make sure that the VPN will work with your configured routing, or change the routing or link
selection settings as necessary ("Confirming VPN Routing" on page 18).
6. Create rules for the traffic ("Configuring Site to Site VPN Rules in the Access Policy" on page
18).
7. Install the Access Control Policy.

Enabling IPsec VPN on a Gateway

Site to Site VPN requires two or more gateways with the IPsec VPN Software Blade enabled. Other
Software Blades can be enabled on the same gateway.
Make sure that Trusted Communication is established between all gateways and the Security
Management Server.

To enable the IPsec VPN Software Blade on a gateway:

1. In SmartConsole, open a gateway object.
2. On the General Properties page, in the Network Security tab, select IPsec VPN.
3. Click OK.
An internal CA certificate for the gateway is created automatically.

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 16

 Getting Started with Site-to-Site VPN

Creating a VPN Community

You can create a Meshed or Star VPN Community. The procedure below shows an example of a
Star Community.

To create a new VPN community:

1. In SmartConsole > Security Policies tab, in the Access Tools area, click VPN Communities.
2. Click the New icon and select Star Community.
A New Star Community window opens.
3. Enter a name for the VPN Community.
4. In the Center Gateways area, click the plus icon to add one or more gateways to be in the
center of the community.
5. In the Satellite Gateways area, click the plus icon to add one or more gateways to be around
the center gateway.
6. Click OK.
The Community uses the default encryption and VPN Routing settings.
7. Optional: Edit more settings for the VPN Community in the community object.

More VPN Community Settings

In addition to the gateway members, you can edit these settings for the VPN Community in the
community object:
• Encrypted Traffic - Select Accept all encrypted traffic to encrypt all traffic between the
Security Gateways. If this is not selected, create rules in the Security Policy Rule Base to allow
encrypted traffic between community members
• Encryption - Select encryption settings that include the Encryption Method and Encryption
Suite. See VPN Community Object - Encryption Settings (on page 37).
• Tunnel Management - Select settings VPN tunnels that include Permanent Tunnels and
Tunnel Sharing. See Configuring Tunnel Features (on page 97).
• VPN Routing -For Star Communities, select how VPN traffic is routed between the center and
satellite gateways. By default this is always set to To center only. See Configuring Domain
Based VPN ("Configuring VPN Routing in Domain Based VPN" on page 76).
• MEP (Multiple Entry Points) - For Star Communities, select how the entry gateway for VPN
traffic is chosen. This only applies when you have multiple center gateways in the community.
See Configuring MEP (on page 126).
• Excluded Services - Add services that are not to be encrypted, for example Firewall control
connections. VPN tunnels are not created for the Services included here.
• Shared Secret - Configure shared secret authentication to use for communication with
external gateways that are part of a VPN community. See Configuring a VPN with External
Security Gateways Using Pre-Shared Secret (on page 23).
• Wire Mode - Select to define internal interfaces and communities as trusted and bypass the
firewall for some communication. See Configuring Wire Mode (on page 110).
• Advanced - Configure advanced settings related to IKE, IPsec, and NAT. You can also Reset All
VPN Properties to revert all VPN Community settings to their default values. See Configuring
Advanced IKE Properties (on page 37).

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 17

 Getting Started with Site-to-Site VPN

Defining the VPN Domain for a Gateway

The VPN Domain defines the networks and IP addresses that are included in the VPN community.
It is also called the Encryption Domain. When you create a Check Point gateway object, the VPN
Domain is automatically defined as all IP Addresses behind the gateway, based on the topology
information.
You can manually define the VPN domain to include one or more networks. You must have a
Network object or Network Group object that represents the domain.

To manually define the VPN Domain:

1. In SmartConsole, open a gateway object.
2. Open the Network Management > VPN Domain page.
3. Select Manually defined and:
• Browse to the object list and select an object that represents the domain.
• Browse to the object list and click New > Group or Network to define a new group of
machines or network.
4. Click OK.

Confirming VPN Routing

By default, IPsec VPN uses the main IPv4 Address, defined in the General Properties page of the
Gateway, for the VPN tunnel connection.
If you want to use this IP address for the VPN communication, and it is an external interface, you
do not need additional routing.
If the main IP address is an internal interface, or if you want VPN communication on a different
interface, make sure that:
• The Link Selection settings for the gateway are configured. Choose which gateway links are
used by VPN to route traffic correctly ("Configuring IP Selection by Remote Peer" on page 39).
• VPN Routing is configured to allow the connections. See Network Management in the Gaia
Administration Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54824 for how to
configure routing in Gaia.

Configuring Site to Site VPN Rules in the Access Policy

You must configure rules to allow traffic to and from VPN Communities. Configure rules in
SmartConsole > Security Policies > Access Control. All layers of the Access Control Policy can
contain VPN rules.
To make a rule apply to a VPN Community, the VPN column of the Rule Base must contain one of
these:
• Any - The rules applies to all VPN Communities and to non-VPN related traffic. If you configure
a new VPN Community after the rule was created, the rule also applies to the new VPN
Community.
• One or more specified VPN communities - For example, MyIntranet. Right-click in the VPN
column of a rule and select Specific VPN Communities. The rule applies to the communities
shown in the VPN column.

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 18

 Getting Started with Site-to-Site VPN

Examples:
• This rule allows encrypted traffic between domains of member gateways of "community_X."
Name Source Destination VPN Services &
Applications
Allow * Any *Any MyCommunity * Any
traffic
within
community

• This rule allows traffic from all VPN Communities to the internal network on all services.
Name Source Destination VPN Services &
Applications
Allow all * Any Internal_Network * Any * Any
VPN

• This rule allows traffic between two VPN domains with all services.
Name Source Destination VPN Services &
Applications
Site2site Local_VPN_Domain Local_VPN_Domain Site2Site * Any
VPN
Peer_VPN_Domain Peer_VPN_Domain

Confirming that a VPN Tunnel Opens Successfully

To make sure that a VPN tunnel has successfully opened:
1. Edit the VPN rule and Select Log as the Track option.
2. Open Logs & Monitor and click a new tab.
3. From the bottom of the window, click Tunnel and User Monitoring.
Check Point SmartView Monitor opens.
4. Click the gateway to see IPsec VPN traffic and tunnels opened. A successful connection shows
encrypt, decrypt and key install logs.
Alternatively, search for VPN in SmartConsole to see the relevant logs:
5. Open SmartView Monitor and see that VPN tunnels are up.

Site to Site VPN Administration Guide R80.10 | 19

CHAPTE R 3

Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

In This Section:
Configuring a Meshed Community Between Internally Managed Gateways ............20
Configuring a Star Community Between Internally Managed Gateways ..................21
Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways Using Certificates ...................21
Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways Using Pre-Shared Secret .......23
Firewall Control Connections in VPN Communities ...................................................25
Simplified and Traditional Modes ................................................................................26

Configuring a Meshed Community Between Internally

Managed Gateways
To configure an internally managed VPN meshed community:
1. Install and configure the Security Gateways as described in the R80.10 Installation & Upgrade
Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54829.
2. In SmartConsole, double click on the Security Gateway object.
3. In the General Properties page:
a) Enter the gateway Name.
b) Enter the IPv4 Address and IPv6 Address.
c) In the Network Security tab, Select IPsec VPN.
d) Click Communication and establish trusted communication with the Gateway.
4. In the Network Management page, click Get Interfaces.
a) After the interfaces show in the table, click Edit to open the Interface window.
b) In the Interface window, define the general properties of the interface and the topology of
the network behind it.
5. In the Network Management > VPN Domain page, define the VPN domain one of:
• All IP Addresses behind the Gateway based on Topology information
• Manually defined as an address range, a network, or a group that can be a combination of
address ranges, networks, and even other groups.
(There are instances where the VPN domain is a group which contains only the Security
Gateway itself, for example where the Security Gateway is acting as a backup to a primary
Security Gateway in an MEP environment.)
The network Security Gateway objects are now configured, and need to be added to a VPN
community.
Note - There is nothing to configure on the IPsec VPN page, regarding certificates, because
internally managed Security Gateways automatically receive a certificate from the internal CA.

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 Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

6. Open the Object Explorer (Ctrl+E), and select VPN Communities.

a) Click New > VPN Communities > Meshed Community.
The New Meshed Community window opens.
b) In the Encrypted Traffic page, select Accept all encrypted traffic if you need all traffic
between the Security Gateways to be encrypted. If not, then create appropriate rules in the
Security Policy Rule Base that allows encrypted traffic between community members (step
7).
c) On the Gateways page, add the Security Gateways created in step 1.
A VPN tunnel is now configured.
For information on other options, such as Encryption, Shared Secret, and Advanced, see:
IPsec & IKE (on page 27)
7. If you did not select Accept all encrypted traffic in the Encrypted Traffic page of the
Community, build an access control policy, for example:
Source Destination VPN Service Action
Any Any Meshed community Any Accept

Where "Meshed community" is the VPN community you have just defined.

Configuring a Star Community Between Internally

Managed Gateways
A star VPN community is configured in much the same way as a meshed community, the
difference being the options on the Star Community window:
• On the VPN Routing page - Select To center only.
• On the Gateways page:
• Central Gateways - Add the central Security Gateways.
• Central Gateways - Select Mesh central Security Gateways if you want the central Security
Gateways to communicate.
• Satellite Gateways - Add the satellite Security Gateways.

Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways

Using Certificates
Configuring a VPN with external Security Gateways (those managed by a different Security
Management Server) is more involved than configuring a VPN with internal Security Gateways
(managed by the same Security Management Server). This is because:
• Configuration is performed separately in two distinct systems.
• All details must be agreed and coordinated between the administrators. Details such as the IP
address or the VPN domain topology cannot be detected automatically but have to be supplied
manually by the administrator of the peer VPN Security Gateways.
• The gateways are likely to be using different Certificate Authorities (CAs). Even if the peer VPN
Security Gateways use the Internal CA (ICA), it is still a different CA.
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 Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

There are various scenarios when dealing with externally managed Security Gateways. The
following description tries to address typical cases and assumes that the peers work with
certificates. If this is not the case refer to Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways
Using a Pre-Shared Secret (see "Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways Using
Pre-Shared Secret" on page 23).

Note - Configuring a VPN using PKI and certificates is more secure than using
pre-shared secrets.

To configure VPN using certificates, with the external Security Gateways as satellites
in a star VPN Community:
1. Obtain the certificate of the CA that issued the certificate for the peer VPN Security Gateways,
from the peer administrator. If the peer Security Gateway is using the ICA, you can obtain the
CA certificate using a web browser from:
http://<IP address of peer Security Gateway or Management Server>:18264
2. In SmartConsole, define the CA object for the CA that issued the certificate for the peer (see
"Enrolling with a Certificate Authority" on page 66).
3. Define the CA that will issue certificates for your side if the Certificate issued by ICA is not
appropriate for the required VPN tunnel.
You may have to export the CA certificate and supply it to the peer administrator.
4. Define the Network Object(s) of the Security Gateway(s) that are internally managed. In
particular, be sure to do the following:
• In the General Properties page of the Security Gateway object, select IPsec VPN.
• In the Network Management page, define the Topology.
• In the VPN Domain page, define the VPN Domain. If it does not contain all the IP addresses
behind the Security Gateway, define the VPN domain manually by defining a group or
network of machines and setting them as the VPN Domain.
5. If the ICA certificate is not appropriate for this VPN tunnel, then in the IPsec VPN page,
generate a certificate from the relevant CA (see "Enrolling with a Certificate Authority" on
page 66).
6. Define the Network Object(s) of the externally managed Security Gateway(s).
• If it is not a Check Point Security Gateway, define an Interoperable Device: In Object
Explorer, click New > Network Object > More > Interoperable Device.
• If it is a Check Point Security Gateway, define an Externally Managed VPN Gateway: In
Object Explorer, click New > Network Object > Gateways and Servers > More > Externally
Managed VPN Gateway.
7. Set the various attributes of the peer Security Gateway. In particular, be sure to do the
following:
• For an Externally Managed Check Point Security Gateway: In the General Properties page
of the Security Gateway object, select IPsec VPN.
• Define the Topology.
• Define the VPN Domain using the VPN Domain information obtained from the peer
administrator. If the VPN Domain does not contain all the IP addresses behind the Security
Gateway, define the VPN domain manually by defining a group or network of machines and
setting them as the VPN Domain.

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 Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

• For an Externally Managed Check Point Security Gateway: In the IPsec VPN page, define
the Matching Criteria. Specify that the peer must present a certificate signed by its own CA.
If feasible, enforce details that appear in the certificate as well.
8. Define the Community.
These details assume that a Star Community is used, but you can also use a Meshed
Community. If you are working with a Meshed community, ignore the difference between the
Central Security Gateways and the Satellite Security Gateways.
• Agree with the peer administrator about the various IKE properties and set them in the
Encryption page and the Advanced page of the community object.
• Define the Central Security Gateways. These are usually the internally managed ones. If no
other Community is defined for them, decide whether or not to mesh the central Security
Gateways. If they are already in a Community, do not mesh the central Security Gateways.
• Define the Satellite Security Gateways. These are usually the external ones.
9. Click OK and publish the changes.
10. Define the relevant access rules in the Security Policy.
11. Add the Community in the VPN column, the services in the Service & Applications column, the
desired Action, and the appropriate Track option.
12. Install the Access Control Policy.

Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways

Using Pre-Shared Secret
Configuring VPN with external Security Gateways (those managed by a different Security
Management Server is more involved than configuring VPN with internal Security Gateways
(managed by the same Security Management Server) because:
• Configuration is done separately in two distinct systems.
• All details must be agreed and coordinated between the administrators. Details such as the IP
address or the VPN domain topology cannot be detected automatically but have to be supplied
manually by the administrator of the peer VPN Security Gateways.
There are various scenarios when dealing with externally managed Security Gateways. The
following description tries to address typical cases but assumes that the peers work with
pre-shared secrets. If this is not the case refer to Configuring a VPN with External Security
Gateways Using PKI (see "Configuring a VPN with External Security Gateways Using Certificates"
on page 21).

Note - Configuring a VPN using PKI and certificates is considered more secure than
using pre-shared secrets.

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 Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

To configure a VPN using pre-shared secrets, with the external Security Gateways as
satellites in a star VPN Community:
1. Define the Network Object(s) of the Security Gateways that are internally managed. In
particular, be sure to:
• In the General Properties page of the Security Gateway object, in the Network Security tab,
select IPsec VPN.
• In the Network Management page, define the Topology.
• In the Network Management > VPN Domain page, define the VPN Domain. If it does not
contain all the IP addresses behind the Security Gateway, define the VPN domain manually
by defining a group or network of machines and setting them as the VPN Domain.
2. Define the Network Object(s) of the externally managed Security Gateway(s).
• If it is not a Check Point Security Gateway, define an Interoperable Device: In Object
Explorer click New > Network Object > More > Interoperable Device.
• If it is a Check Point Security Gateway, define an Externally Managed VPN Gateway: In
Object Explorer, click New > Network Object > Gateways and Servers > More > Externally
Managed VPN Gateway.
3. Set the various attributes of the peer Security Gateway. In particular, make sure to configure:
• In the Topology page, define the Topology and the VPN Domain using the VPN Domain
information obtained from the peer administrator.
• If the VPN Domain does not contain all the IP addresses behind the Security Gateway,
define the VPN domain manually by defining a group or network of machines and setting
them as the VPN Domain.
4. Define the Community.
The following details assume that a Star Community was chosen, but a Meshed Community is
an option as well. If you are working with a Mesh community, ignore the difference between
the Central Security Gateways and the Satellite Security Gateways.
• Agree with the peer administrator about the various IKE properties and set them in the
Encryption page and the Advanced page of the community object.
• Define the Central Security Gateways. These will usually be the internally managed ones. If
there is no another Community defined for them, decide whether or not to mesh the central
Security Gateways. If they are already in a Community, do not mesh the central Security
Gateways.
• Define the Satellite Security Gateways. These will usually be the external ones.
5. Publish the changes.
6. Agree on a pre-shared secret with the administrator of the external Community members.
Then, in the Shared Secret page of the community, select Use only Shared Secret for all
external members. For each external peer, enter the pre-shared secret.
7. Define the relevant access rules in the Access Control Policy. Add the Community in the VPN
column, the services in the Services & Applications column, the desired Action, and the
appropriate Track option.
8. Install the Security Policy.

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 Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

Firewall Control Connections in VPN Communities

Check Point Nodes communicate with other Check Point Nodes by means of control connections.
For example, a control connection is used when the Security Policy is installed from the Security
Management Server to a Security Gateway. Also, logs are sent from Security Gateways to the
Security Management Server across control connections. Control connections use Secure Internal
Communication (SIC).
Control connections are allowed using Implied Rules in the Access Control Rule Base. Implied
Rules are added to or removed from the Access Control Rule Base, by selecting or clearing
options in the Firewall page of the SmartConsole Global Properties.
Some administrators prefer not to rely on implied rules, and instead prefer to define explicit rules
in the Access Control Rule Base.

Why Turning off Firewall Implied Rules Blocks Control

Connections
If you turn off implicit rules, you may not be able to install a Policy on a remote Security Gateway.
Even if you define explicit rules in place of the implied rules, you may still not be able to install the
policy:

The administrator wishes to configure a VPN between Security Gateways A and B by configuring
SmartConsole. To do this, the administrator must install a Policy from the Security Management
Server to the Security Gateways.
1. The Security Management Server successfully installs the Policy on Security Gateway A. As far
as gateway A is concerned, Security Gateways A and B now belong to the same VPN
Community. However, B does not yet have this Policy.
2. The Security Management Server tries to open a connection to Security Gateway B in order to
install the Policy.
3. Security Gateway A allows the connection because of the explicit rules allowing the control
connections, and starts IKE negotiation with Security Gateway B to build a VPN tunnel for the
control connection.
4. Security Gateway B does not know how to negotiate with A because it does not yet have the
Policy. Therefore Policy installation on Security Gateway B fails.
The solution for this is to make sure that control connections do not have to pass through a VPN
tunnel.

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 Basic Site to Site VPN Configuration

Allowing Firewall Control Connections Inside a VPN

If you turn off implied rules, you must make sure that control connections are not changed by the
Security Gateways. To do this, add the services that are used for control connections to the
Excluded Services page of the Community object. See sk42815
http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk42815 for details.

Note - Although control connections between the Security Management Server and the
Security Gateway are not encrypted by the community, they are nevertheless encrypted
and authenticated using Secure Internal Communication (SIC).

Discovering Which Services are Used for Control Connections

1. In SmartConsole, select the Access Control Policy.
2. From the toolbar above the policy, select Actions > Implied Rules.
The Implied Policy window opens.
3. In the Global Properties Firewall page, verify that control connections are accepted.
4. Examine the Access Control Rule Base to see what Implied Rules are visible. Note the services
used in the Implied Rules.

Simplified and Traditional Modes

By default, VPN configuration works with Simplified mode. Simplified mode uses VPN
Communities for Site to Site VPN configuration, as described throughout this guide.
Traditional mode is a different, legacy way to configure Site to Site VPN where one of the actions
available in the Security Policy Rule Base is Encrypt. When encrypt is selected, all traffic between
the Security Gateways is encrypted. For details about Traditional Mode, see the R77 VPN
Administration Guide.
In a policy package, all layers must use the same VPN mode.

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CHAPTE R 4

IPsec & IKE

In This Section:
Overview ........................................................................................................................27
IKE DoS Protection .......................................................................................................34
Configuring Advanced IKE Properties .........................................................................37

Overview
In symmetric cryptographic systems, both communicating parties use the same key for encryption
and decryption. The material used to build these keys must be exchanged in a secure fashion.
Information can be securely exchanged only if the key belongs exclusively to the communicating
parties.
The goal of the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) is for both sides to independently produce the same
symmetrical key. This key then encrypts and decrypts the regular IP packets used in the bulk
transfer of data between VPN peers. IKE builds the VPN tunnel by authenticating both sides and
reaching an agreement on methods of encryption and integrity. The outcome of an IKE negotiation
is a Security Association (SA).
This agreement upon keys and methods of encryption must also be performed securely. For this
reason, IKE is composed of two phases. The first phase lays the foundations for the second. Both
IKEv1 and IKEv2 are supported in Security Gateways of version R71 and higher.
Diffie-Hellman (DH) is that part of the IKE protocol used for exchanging the material from which
the symmetrical keys are built. The Diffie-Hellman algorithm builds an encryption key known as a
"shared secret" from the private key of one party and the public key of the other. Since the IPsec
symmetrical keys are derived from this DH key shared between the peers, at no point are
symmetric keys actually exchanged.

IKE Phase I
During IKE Phase I:
• The peers authenticate, either by certificates or via a pre-shared secret. (More authentication
methods are available when one of the peers is a remote access client.)
• A Diffie-Hellman key is created. The nature of the Diffie-Hellman protocol means that both
sides can independently create the shared secret, a key which is known only to the peers.
• Key material (random bits and other mathematical data) as well as an agreement on methods
for IKE phase II are exchanged between the peers.
In terms of performance, the generation of the Diffie-Hellman Key is slow and heavy. The outcome
of this phase is the IKE SA, an agreement on keys and methods for IKE phase II. Figure below
illustrates the process that takes place during IKE phase I.

Note - The exact negotiation stages differ between IKEv1 and IKEv2.

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 IPsec & IKE

IKE Phase II (Quick mode or IPSec Phase)

IKE phase II is encrypted according to the keys and methods agreed upon in IKE phase I. The key
material exchanged during IKE phase II is used for building the IPsec keys. The outcome of phase
II is the IPsec Security Association. The IPsec SA is an agreement on keys and methods for IPsec,
thus IPsec takes place according to the keys and methods agreed upon in IKE phase II.

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 IPsec & IKE

After the IPsec keys are created, bulk data transfer takes place:

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 IPsec & IKE

IKEv1 and IKEv2

IKEv2 is supported inside VPN communities working in Simplified mode.
IKEv2 is configured in the VPN Community Properties window > Encryption. The default setting is
IKEv1 only. IKEv2 is automatically always used for IPv6 traffic. The encryption method
configuration applies to IPv4 traffic only.
For Remote users, the IKE settings are configured in Global Properties > Remote Access > VPN
Authentication and Encryption. IKEv2 is not supported for Remote Access.

Note - IKEv2 is not supported on UTM-1 Edge devices or VSX objects before R75.40VS. If
UTM-1 Edge devices or such VSX objects are included in a VPN Community, the
Encryption setting should be Support IKEv1.

Methods of Encryption and Integrity

Two parameters are decided during the negotiation:
• Encryption algorithm
• Hash algorithm
Parameter IKE Phase 1 (IKE SA) IKE PHASE 2 (IPSec SA)
• AES-128 • AES-128 (default)
Encryption
• AES-256(default) • AES-256
• 3DES • 3DES
• DES • DES
• CAST (IKEv1 only) • DES-40CP (IKEv1 only)
• CAST (IKEv1 only)
• CAST-40 (IKEv1 only)
• NULL
• AES-GCM-128
• AES-GCM-256
• MD5 • MD5
Integrity
• SHA1 (default) • SHA1 (default)
• SHA -256 • SHA -256
• AES-XCBC • AES-XCBC
• SHA -384 • SHA -384

NULL means perform an integrity check only; packets are not encrypted.

Diffie Hellman Groups

The Diffie-Hellman key computation (also known as exponential key agreement) is based on the
Diffie Hellman (DH) mathematical groups. A Security Gateway supports these DH groups during
the two phases of IKE.

Parameter IKE Phase 1 (IKE SA) IKE Phase 2 (IPSec SA)

• Group2 (1024 bits) (default) • Group2 (1024 bits) (default)
Diffie Hellman Groups
• Group1 (768 bits) • Group1 (768 bits)
• Group5 (1536 bits) • Group5 (1536 bits)
• Group14 (2048 bits) • Group14 (2048 bits)
• Group19 (256-bit ECP) • Group19 (256-bit ECP)
• Group20 (384-bit ECP) • Group20 (384-bit ECP)

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 IPsec & IKE

A group with more bits ensures a key that is harder to break, but carries a heavy cost in terms of
performance, since the computation requires more CPU cycles.

Phase I modes
Between Security Gateways, there are two modes for IKE phase I. These modes only apply to
IKEv1:
• Main Mode
• Aggressive Mode
If aggressive mode is not selected, the Security Gateway defaults to main mode, performing the
IKE negotiation using six packets; aggressive mode performs the IKE negotiation with three
packets.
Main mode is preferred because:
• Main mode is partially encrypted, from the point at which the shared DH key is known to both
peers.
• Main mode is less susceptible to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. In main mode, the DH
computation is performed after authentication. In aggressive mode, the DH computation is
performed parallel to authentication. A peer that is not yet authenticated can force processor
intensive Diffie-Hellman computations on the other peer.
Note - Use aggressive mode when a Check Point Security Gateway needs to
negotiate with third party VPN solutions that do not support main mode.

When dealing with remote access, IKE has additional modes:

• Hybrid mode. Hybrid mode provides an alternative to IKE phase I, where the Security Gateway
is allowed to authenticate using certificates and the client via some other means, such as
SecurID. For more information on Hybrid mode, see the Remote Access VPN Administration
Guide.
• Office mode. Office mode is an extension to the IKE protocol. Office Mode is used to resolve
routing issues between remote access clients and the VPN domain. During the IKE negotiation,
a special mode called config mode is inserted between phases I and II. During config mode, the
remote access client requests an IP address from the Security Gateway. After the Security
Gateway assigns the IP address, the client creates a virtual adapter in the Operating System.
The virtual adapter uses the assigned IP address. For more information, see the Remote
Access VPN Administration Guide.

Renegotiating IKE & IPsec Lifetimes

IKE phase I is more processor intensive than IKE phase II, because the Diffie-Hellman keys have
to be produced, and the peers authenticated, each time. For this reason, IKE phase I is performed
less frequently. However, the IKE SA is only valid for a certain period, after which the IKE SA must
be renegotiated. The IPsec SA is valid for an even shorter period, meaning many IKE phase II's
take place.
The period between each renegotiation is known as the lifetime. Generally, the shorter the
lifetime, the more secure the IPsec tunnel (at the cost of more processor intensive IKE
negotiations). With longer lifetimes, future VPN connections can be set up more quickly. By
default, IKE phase I occurs once a day; IKE phase II occurs every hour but the time-out for each
phase is configurable.

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 IPsec & IKE

Configure the frequency of IKE and IPsec Security Associations in SmartConsole: VPN Community
Properties > Advanced.

Perfect Forward Secrecy

The keys created by peers during IKE phase II and used for IPsec are based on a sequence of
random binary digits exchanged between peers, and on the DH key computed during IKE phase I.
The DH key is computed once, then used a number of times during IKE phase II. Since the keys
used during IKE phase II are based on the DH key computed during IKE phase I, there exists a
mathematical relationship between them. For this reason, the use of a single DH key may weaken
the strength of subsequent keys. If one key is compromised, subsequent keys can be
compromised with less effort.
In cryptography, Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) refers to the condition in which the compromise
of a current session key or long-term private key does not cause the compromise of earlier or
subsequent keys. Security Gateways meet this requirement with a PFS mode. When PFS is
enabled, a fresh DH key is generated during IKE phase II, and renewed for each key exchange.
However, because a new DH key is generated during each IKE phase I, no dependency exists
between these keys and those produced in subsequent IKE Phase I negotiations. Enable PFS in
IKE phase II only in situations where extreme security is required.
The supported DH groups for PFS are: 1, 2, 5, 14, 19, and 20. The default is group 2 (1042 bits).
Configure this in VPN Community Properties > Encryption > IKE Security Association (Phase 2) >
Use Perfect Forward Secrecy.

Note - PFS mode is supported only between gateways, not between Security Gateways
and remote access clients.

IP Compression
IP compression is a process that reduces the size of the data portion of the TCP/IP packet. Such a
reduction can cause significant improvement in performance. IPsec supports the Flate/Deflate IP
compression algorithm. Deflate is a smart algorithm that adapts the way it compresses data to
the actual data itself. Whether to use IP compression is decided during IKE phase II. IP
compression is not enabled by default.
IP compression is important for Remote Access client users with slow links.
Security Gateway encryption makes TCP/IP packets appear "mixed up". This kind of data cannot
be compressed and bandwidth is lost as a result. If IP compression is enabled, packets are
compressed before encryption. This has the effect of recovering the lost bandwidth.

Subnets and Security Associations

By default, a VPN tunnel is created for the complete subnets that host computers reside on, and
not just for the host computers involved in the communication.

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 IPsec & IKE

Unique SA Per Pair of Peers

If you disable the Support Key exchange for subnets option on each Security Gateway, you can
create a unique Security Association for a pair of peers.

If the Security Gateway is configured to Support key exchange for subnets but the option is
unsupported on the remote peer, when host A communicates with host C, a Security Association
(SA 1) will be negotiated between host A's subnet and host C's IP address. The same SA is then
used between any host on the 10.10.11.x subnet and Host C.
When host A communicates with host B, a separate Security Association (SA 2) is negotiated
between host A's subnet and host B. As before, the same SA is then used between any host in
10.10.11.x subnet and Host B.

When Support Key exchange for subnets is not enabled on communicating Security Gateways,
then a security association is negotiated between individual IP addresses; in effect, a unique SA
per host.

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 IPsec & IKE

IKE DoS Protection

Understanding DoS Attacks
Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are intended to reduce performance, block legitimate users from
using a service, or even bring down a service. They are not direct security threats in the sense that
no confidential data is exposed, and no user gains unauthorized privileges. However, they
consume computer resources such as memory or CPU.
Generally, there are two kinds of DoS attack. One kind consists of sending malformed (garbage)
packets in the hope of exploiting a bug and causing the service to fail. In the other kind of DoS
attack, an attacker attempts to exploit a vulnerability of the service or protocol by sending
well-formed packets. IKE DoS attack protection deals with the second kind of attack.

IKE DoS Attacks

The IKE protocol requires that the receiving Security Gateway allocates memory for the first IKE
Phase 1 request packet that it receives. The Security Gateway replies, and receives another
packet, which it then processes using the information gathered from the first packet.
An attacker can send many IKE first packets, while forging a different source IP address for each.
The receiving Security Gateway is obliged to reply to each, and assign memory for each. This can
consume all CPU resources, thereby preventing connections from legitimate users.
The attacker sending IKE packets can pretend to be a machine that is allowed to initiate IKE
negotiations, such as a Check Point Security Gateway. This is known as an identified source. The
attacker can also pretend to have an IP address that the receiving Security Gateway does not know
about, such as a Remote Access client, or a Check Point Security Gateway with a dynamic IP
address. This is known as an unidentified source.

Defense Against IKE DoS Attacks

When the number of simultaneous IKE negotiations handled exceeds the accepted threshold, it
concludes that it is either under load or experiencing a Denial of Service attack. In such a case, the
Security Gateway can filter out peers that are the probable source of a potential Denial of Service
attack. The following sections describe different types of defenses against IKE DoS attacks.
IKE DoS protection is not supported for IPv6 addresses.

SmartConsole IKE DoS Attack Protection Settings

To protect against IKE DoS attacks, configure the SmartConsole IKE Denial of Service Protection
settings, in the VPN >Advanced page of the Global Properties. IKE DoS protection is not
supported for IPv6 addresses.
• Support IKE DoS protection from identified source — The default setting for identified
sources is Stateless. If the Security Gateway is under load, this setting requires the peer to
respond to an IKE notification in a way that proves that the IP address of the peer is not
spoofed. If the peer cannot prove this, the Security Gateway does not begin the IKE negotiation.
If the source is identified, protecting using Puzzles is over cautious, and may affect
performance. A third possible setting is None, which means no DoS protection.

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 IPsec & IKE

• Support IKE DoS protection from unidentified source — The default setting for unidentified
sources is Puzzles. If the Security Gateway is under load, this setting requires the peer to solve
a mathematical puzzle. Solving this puzzle consumes peer CPU resources in a way that makes
it difficult to initiate multiple IKE negotiations simultaneously.
For unidentified sources, Stateless protection may not be sufficient because an attacker may
well control all the IP addresses from which the IKE requests appear to be sent. A third
possible setting is None, which means no DoS protection.

Advanced IKE DoS Attack Protection Settings

Advanced IKE DoS attack protection can be configured on the Security Management Server with
GuiDBedit, the Check Point Database Tool. Configure the protection in the Global Properties
shown. IKE DoS protection is not supported for IPv6.

ike_dos_threshold
Values: 0-100. Default: 70. Determines the percentage of maximum concurrent ongoing
negotiations, above which the Security Gateway will request DoS protection. If the threshold is set
to 0, the Security Gateway will always request DoS protection.

ike_dos_puzzle_level_identified_initiator
Values: 0-32. Default: 19. Determines the level of the puzzles sent to known peer Security
Gateways. This attribute also determines the maximum puzzle level a Security Gateway is willing
to solve.

ike_dos_puzzle_level_unidentified_initiator
Values: 0-32. Default: 19. Determines the level of the puzzles sent to unknown peers (such as
Remote Access clients and DAIP Security Gateways). This attribute also determines the
maximum puzzle level that DAIP Security Gateways and Remote Access clients are willing to
solve.

ike_dos_max_puzzle_time_gw
Values: 0-30000. Default: 500. Determines the maximum time in milliseconds a Security Gateway
is willing to spend solving a DoS protection puzzle.

ike_dos_max_puzzle_time_daip
Values: 0-30000. Default: 500. Determines the maximum time in milliseconds a DAIP Security
Gateway is willing to spend solving a DoS protection puzzle.

ike_dos_max_puzzle_time_sr
Values: 0-30000. Default: 5000. Determines the maximum time in milliseconds a client is willing to
spend solving a DoS protection puzzle.

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 IPsec & IKE

ike_dos_supported_protection_sr
Values: None, Stateless, Puzzles. Default: Puzzles. When downloaded to a client, it controls the
level of protection the client is willing to support.
Security Gateways use the ike_dos_protection_unidentified_initiator property (equivalent to the
SmartConsole Global Property: Support IKE DoS Protection from unidentified Source) to decide
what protection to require from remote clients, but / SecureClient clients use the
ike_dos_protection. This same client property is called ike_dos_supported_protection_sr on the
Security Gateway.

Protection After Successful Authentication

You can configure fields in GuiDBedit to protect against IKE DoS attacks from peers who may
authenticate successfully and then attack a Security Gateway. These settings are configured in the
Global Properties table and not per Security Gateway. By default these protections are off. Once
you enter a value, they will be activated.
To limit the amount of IKE Security Associations (SA's) that a user can open, configure the
following fields:

Type of VPN Field Recommended Value

Site to site number_of_ISAKMP_SAs_kept_per_peer 5

Remote user number_of_ISAKMP_SAs_kept_per_user 5

To limit the amount of tunnels that a user can open per IKE, configure the following fields:

Type of VPN Field Recommended Value

Site to site number_of_ipsec_SAs_per_IKE_SA 30

Remote user number_of_ipsec_SAs_per_user_IKE_SA 5

Client Properties
Some Security Gateway properties change name when they are downloaded to Remote Access
VPN Clients. The modified name appears in the Userc.C file, as follows:
Property Names

Property Name on Gateway User.C Property name on Client

ike_dos_protection_unidentified_initiator ike_dos_protection or
(Equivalent to the SmartConsole Global Property: ike_support_dos_protection
Support IKE DoS Protection from unidentified
Source)

ike_dos_supported_protection_sr ike_dos_protection

ike_dos_puzzle_level_unidentified_initiator ike_dos_acceptable_puzzle_level

ike_dos_max_puzzle_time_sr ike_dos_max_puzzle_time

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 IPsec & IKE

Configuring Advanced IKE Properties

IKE is configured in two places:
• On the VPN community network object (for IKE properties).
• On the Security Gateway network object (for subnet key exchange).

VPN Community Object - Encryption Settings

IPv6 automatically works with IKEv2 encryption only. The option that you select here, applies to
IPv4 traffic.

To configure a VPN Community object:

1. In SmartConsole, click Open Object Explorer (Ctrl+E).
2. From the navigation tree, click VPN Communities.
3. Double-click the VPN Community object.
The Community object window opens and shows the Gateways page.
4. From the navigation tree, click Encryption.
5. Configure the settings.
6. Click OK and publish the changes.

Encryption Method
• Encryption Method - For IKE phase I and II.
• IKEv2 only - Only support encryption using IKEv2. Security Gateways in this community
cannot access peer gateways that support IKEv1 only.
• Prefer IKEv2, support IKEv1 - If a peer supports IKEv2, the Security Gateway will use
IKEv2. If not, it will use IKEv1 encryption. This is recommended if you have a community of
older and new Check Point Security Gateways.
• IKEv1 only - IKEv2 is not supported.

Encryption Suite
• Use this encryption suite - Select the methods negotiated in IKE phase 2 and used in IPSec
connections. Select and choose the option for best interoperability with other vendors in your
environment.
 VPN-A or VPN B - See RFC 4308 for more information.
 Suite-B GCM-128 or 256 - See RFC 6379 for more information.
• Custom encryption suite - If you require algorithms other than those specified in the other
options, select the properties for IKE Phase 1, including which Diffie-Hellman group to use.
Also, select properties for IKE Phase 2.
Note - Suite-B GCM-128 and 256 encryption suites are supported on R71.50 gateways and
from R75.40 gateways.
If there is a Dynamic IP Gateway inside the community, R77.30 (or lower) community member
gateways that respond to its IKE negotiation, use the configuration defined in Global Properties >
Remote Access > VPN -Authentication and Encryption.

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 IPsec & IKE

More
• Use aggressive mode (Main mode is the default) - Select only if the peer only supports
aggressive mode. This is only supported with IKEv1.
• Use Perfect Forward Secrecy, and the Diffie-Hellman group - Select if you need extremely
high security.
• Support IP compression - Select to decrease bandwidth consumption and for interoperability
with third party peers configured to use IP Compression.

VPN Community Object - Advanced Settings

Configure these options in the VPN Community object Advanced page:

IKE (Phase 1)
When to renegotiate the IKE Security Associations.

IKE (Phase 2)
When to renegotiate the IPsec security associations. This sets the expiration time of the IPsec
encryption keys.

NAT
Disable NAT inside the VPN community - Select to not apply NAT for the traffic while it passes
through IPsec tunnels in the community.

Reset
Reset all VPN properties to the default.

On the Gateway Network Object

1. On the IPsec VPN > VPN Advanced page, select one of the options in the VPN Tunnel Sharing
section. There are several settings that control the number of VPN tunnels between peer
gateways:
Note - Wire Mode is not supported for IPv6 connections.
• Use the community settings - Create the number of VPN tunnels as defined on the
community Tunnel Management page.
• Custom settings:
 One VPN tunnel per each pair of hosts - A VPN tunnel is created for every session
initiated between every pair of hosts.
 One VPN tunnel per subnet pair - After a VPN tunnel has been opened between two
subnets, subsequent sessions between the same subnets will share the same VPN
tunnel. This is the default setting and is compliant with the IPsec industry standard.
 One VPN tunnel per Gateway pair - One VPN tunnel is created between peer gateways
and shared by all hosts behind each peer gateway.
2. On the Capacity Optimization page, you can maximize VPN throughput by limiting the following
connection parameters:
• Maximum concurrent IKE negotiations
• Maximum concurrent tunnels - For Remote Access tunnels
If you have many employees working remotely, you might want to raise the default values.
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 Link Selection
CHAPTE R 5

Link Selection
In This Section:
Link Selection Overview ...............................................................................................39
Configuring IP Selection by Remote Peer ...................................................................39
Configuring Outgoing Route Selection ........................................................................42
Configuring Source IP Address Settings .....................................................................44
Outgoing Link Tracking ................................................................................................45
Link Selection Scenarios ..............................................................................................45
Service Based Link Selection .......................................................................................48
Trusted Links ................................................................................................................53
On Demand Links (ODL) ...............................................................................................55
Link Selection and ISP Redundancy ............................................................................57
Link Selection with non-Check Point Devices.............................................................59

Link Selection Overview

Link Selection is a method to define which interface is used for incoming and outgoing VPN traffic
as well as the best possible path for the traffic. With the Link Selection mechanisms, the
administrator can choose which IP addresses are used for VPN traffic on each Security Gateway.
Link Selection has many configuration options to enable you to control VPN traffic. These options
include:
• Use probing to choose links according to their availability.
• Use Load Sharing for Link Selection to distribute VPN traffic over available links.
• Use Service Based Link Selection to control bandwidth use.
Configuration settings for remote access clients can be configured together or separately from
the Site-to-Site configuration.

Configuring IP Selection by Remote Peer

There are several methods that can determine how remote peers resolve the IP address of the
local Security Gateway. These settings are configured in Security Gateway Properties > IPsec
VPN > Link Selection. Remote peers can connect to the local Security Gateway with these
settings.

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 Link Selection

Always Use This IP Address:

Configure a certain IP address that is always used. The options are:
• Main address - The VPN tunnel is created with the Security Gateway main IP address,
specified in the IP Address field on the General Properties page of the Security Gateway.
• Selected address from topology table - The VPN tunnel is created with the Security
Gateway using a selected IP address chosen from the drop down menu that lists the IP
addresses configured in the Topology page of the Security Gateway.
• Statically NATed IP - The VPN tunnel is created using a NATed IP address. This address is
not required to be listed in the topology tab.

Calculate IP Based on Network Topology:

The VPN tunnel is created using an IP address of an external interface on the local gateway. The
remote peer selects the first IP address on the list of external interfaces. This method is best
when the main IP address of the local gateway is unknown and the external interfaces change
frequently.

Use DNS Resolving:

This method is required for Dynamically Assigned IP (DAIP) Security Gateways. A VPN tunnel to a
DAIP Security Gateway can only be initiated using DNS resolving since the IP address of the DAIP
Security Gateway cannot be known in advance. If using this method for a non-DAIP Security
Gateway, the IP address must be defined in the Topology tab. Without DNS resolving, a DAIP
Security Gateway can only initiate the first connection between two peers. The second connection
can be initiated by the peer Security Gateway as long as the IP address of the DAIP Security
Gateway has not changed. The options are:
• Full hostname - Enter the full Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). The DNS host name
that is used is "Security Gateway_name.domain_name." For example, if the object name is
"john" and the domain name is "smith.com" then the FQDN will be "john.smith.com."
• Security Gateways name and domain name (specified in global properties) - The Security
Gateway name is derived from the General Properties page of the Security Gateway and
the domain name is derived from the Global Properties page.

Use Probing Redundancy Mode:

When more than one IP address is available on a Security Gateway for VPN, Link Selection may
employ the RDP probing method to determine which link will be used. The RDP probing method is
implemented using a proprietary protocol that uses UDP port 259. This protocol is proprietary to
Check Point and works only between Check Point entities. (Note that it does not comply with RDP
as specified in RFC 908/1151). IP addresses you do not want to be probed (i.e., internal IP
addresses) may be removed from the list of IP’s to be probed. Once a Security Gateway maps the
links' availability, a link selection per connection can be made according to the following
redundancy modes:
• High Availability (default setting)
In High Availability mode the VPN tunnel uses the first IP address to respond, or the primary IP
address if a primary IP is configured and active. If the chosen IP address stops responding, the
connection fails over to another responding IP address. If a primary IP address is configured,
the VPN tunnel will stay on the backup IP address until the primary one becomes available
again.

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 Link Selection

Note that if one time probing is configured, the VPN tunnel will stay on the first chosen IP
address until the next time policy is installed. See ongoing probing and onetime probing
methods below.
• Load Sharing
In Load Sharing mode the encrypted traffic is distributed among all available links. Every new
connection ready for encryption uses the next available link in a round robin manner. When a
link becomes unavailable, all of its connections are distributed among the other available
links. A link's availability is determined using RDP probing.
The peer Security Gateway that responds to the connection will route the reply traffic through
the same route that it was received on, as long as that link is available.
Although the VPN tunnel traffic can be routed through multiple links in Load Sharing mode,
only one VPN tunnel is generated. IKE sessions are arbitrarily routed though one of the
available links.
Load Sharing is supported on Security Gateways of version R71 and higher. If a Security
Gateway of version R71 or higher is configured to use the Load Sharing redundancy mode,
Security Gateways of versions before R71 will use the High Availability redundancy mode when
routing traffic to the R71 or higher Security Gateways.
Load Sharing is supported on all platforms for incoming traffic. For outgoing traffic, VPN
traffic between peers with Load Sharing configuration is not accelerated by IPSO acceleration
devices. Load Sharing is not supported on UTM-1 Edge devices.

Probing Settings:
Additional settings related to probing are set in Link Selection > IP Selection by Remote Peer >
Use probing > Configure > Probing Settings
• Probe all addresses defined in the topology tab - choose to include all addresses defined in
the topology tab for the Security Gateway in the probing
• Probe the following addresses - Specify the addresses that you want to include in the probing.
• Primary address -Optionally, to choose a primary address, select the check box and choose
one of the included IP addresses from the drop down menu as the Primary Address. A primary
IP address is only used with the High Availability probing mode. If Load Sharing is configured,
the primary address is ignored. Enabling a primary IP address has no influence on the IP
selected for outgoing VPN traffic. If the remote Security Gateway connects to a peer Security
Gateway that has a primary IP address defined, then the remote Security Gateway will connect
to the primary address (if active) regardless of network speed (latency) or route metrics.
• Use probing method
Choose one of the following probing methods.
• Using ongoing probing (default setting) - When a session is initiated, all possible
destination IP addresses continuously receive RDP packets. The RDP probing is activated
when a connection is opened and continues as a background process.
• Using one time probing - When a session is initiated, all possible destination IP addresses
receive an RDP session to test the route. These results are used until the next time that a
policy is installed.

Note - UDP RDP packets are not encrypted. The RDP mechanism only tests
connectivity.

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 Link Selection

Last Known Available Peer IP Address

The IP address used by a Security Gateway during a successful IKE negotiation with a peer
Security Gateway, is used by the peer Security Gateway as the destination IP address for the next
IPsec traffic and IKE negotiations that it initiates. This is only the case when the Link Selection
configuration does not use probing.

Configuring Outgoing Route Selection

For outbound traffic, there are different methods that can be used to determine which path to use
when connecting with a remote peer. These settings are configured in Security Gateway
Properties > IPsec VPN > Link Selection.

When Initiating a Tunnel

• Operating system routing table (default setting) - Using this method, the routing table is
consulted for the available route with the lowest metric and best match for the VPN tunnel
traffic.
• Route based probing - This method also consults the routing table for an available route with
the lowest metric and best match. However, before a route is chosen, it is tested for availability
using RDP probing. The Security Gateway then selects the best match (highest prefix length)
active route with the lowest metric. This method is recommended when there is more than one
external interface.
If you selected the IP Selection by Remote Peer setting of Use probing with Load Sharing, it
also affects Route based probing link selection. In this case, Route based probing distributes
the outgoing encrypted traffic among all available links. All possible links to the peer Security
Gateway are derived from the routing table and the link's availability is tested using RDP
probing. Every new connection ready for encryption uses the next available link in a round
robin manner.
Route based probing enables the use of On Demand Links (ODL), which are triggered upon
failure of all primary links. You can run a script to activate an On Demand Link when all other
links with higher priorities become unavailable. For more information, see On Demand Links
("On Demand Links (ODL)" on page 55).
For IKE and RDP sessions, Route based probing uses the same IP address and interface for
responding traffic.
Route based probing is supported on the SecurePlatform, Gaia, Linux, and IPSO platforms.
VPN traffic between peers with Load Sharing probing mode and Route Based probing
configuration will not be accelerated by IPSO acceleration devices.
Note:
The High Availability mechanism is based on:
• resolver_session_interval (30) - Defines for how many seconds the remote peer
status (up or down) stays valid
• resolver_ttl (10) - Defines how many seconds the gateway waits before it decides
that a remote peer is down
Some network protocols (for example, TCP) might timeout in the time between link failure and
the next attempt to resolve. Administrators can decrease these default values. Note that high
resolution frequency can overload the gateway. This configuration also changes the default
resolution timeouts for the MEP mechanism.

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 Link Selection

For L2 links, there must be routes to the peer's encryption domains through the local L2
interface device.

When Responding to a Remotely Initiated Tunnel

When responding to a remotely initiated tunnel, there are two options for selecting the interface
and next hop that are used. These settings are only relevant for IKE and RDP sessions.
These settings are configured in Link Selection > Outgoing Route Selection > Setup > Link
Selection - Responding Traffic window.
• Use outgoing traffic configuration - Select this option to choose an interface using the same
method selected in the Outgoing Route Selection section of the Link Selection page.
• Reply from the same interface - This option sends the returning traffic through the same
interface and next hop IP that it arrived in.
Note - When Route Based Probing is enabled, Reply from the same interface is the
selected method and cannot be changed.

Using Route Based Probing

The local Security Gateway, using RDP probing, considers all possible routes between itself and
the remote peer Security Gateway. The Security Gateway then decides on the most effective route
between the two Security Gateways:

In this scenario, Security Gateway A has two external interfaces, 192.168.10.10 and 192.168.20.10.
Peer Security Gateway B also has two external interfaces: 192.168.30.10 and 192.168.40.10.

For Security Gateway A, the routing table reads:

Destination Netmask Next hop Metric
192.168.40.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.10.20 1

192.168.40.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.20.20 2

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 Link Selection

Destination Netmask Next hop Metric

192.168.30.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.10.20 3

192.168.30.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.20.20 4

For Security Gateway B, the routing table reads:

Destination Netmask Next hop Metric
192.168.20.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.40.20 1

192.168.20.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.30.20 2

192.168.10.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.40.20 3

192.168.10.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.30.20 4

If all routes for outgoing traffic from Security Gateway A are available, the route from
192.168.10.10 to 192.168.40.10 has the lowest metric (highest priority) and is therefore the
preferred route.

Configuring Source IP Address Settings

The source IP address used for outgoing packets can be configured for sessions initiated by the
Security Gateway. These settings are configured in Security Gateway Properties > IPsec VPN >
Link Selection > Outgoing Route Selection > Source IP address settings.
When initiating a VPN tunnel, set the source IP address using one of the following:
• Automatic (derived from the method of IP selection by remote peer) - The source IP address
of outgoing traffic is derived from the method selected in the IP Selection by Remote Peer
section.
• If Main address or Selected address from topology table are chosen in the IP Selection by
Remote Peer section, then the source IP when initiating a VPN tunnel is the IP specified for
that method.
• If Calculate IP based on network topology, Statically NATed IP, Use DNS resolving or Use
probing is chosen in the IP Selection by Remote Peer section, then the source IP when
initiating a VPN tunnel is the IP address of the chosen outgoing interface.
• Manual:
• Main IP address - The source IP is derived from the General Properties page of the
Security Gateway.
• Selected address from topology table - The selected IP from the drop down menu
becomes the source IP.
• IP address of chosen interface - The source IP is the same IP of the interface where the
traffic is being routed through.
These settings are relevant for RDP and IKE sessions. When responding to an IKE session, use the
reply_from_same_IP (default: true) attribute to follow the settings in the Source IP address
settings window or to respond from the same IP.

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 Link Selection

Note - When Route Based Probing is enabled, reply_from_same_IP will be seen

as true.

Outgoing Link Tracking

When Outgoing link tracking is activated on the local Security Gateway, the Security Gateway
sends a log for every new resolving decision performed with one of its remote VPN peers. If Use
Probing is configured on the local Security Gateway for Remote Peer resolving, or if Route Based
Probing is activated on the local Security Gateway, log entries are also created for all resolving
changes. For example, if a link in use becomes unavailable and a new available link is chosen, a
log entry is issued.

Link Selection Scenarios

Link Selection can be used in many environments. This section describes various scenarios and
how Link Selection should be configured in each scenario.

Gateway with a Single External Interface

This is the simplest scenario, where the local Security Gateway has a single external interface for
VPN:

How do peer Security Gateways select an IP address on the local Security Gateway for VPN traffic?
Since there is only one interface available for VPN, to determine how remote peers determine the
IP address of the local Security Gateway, select the following from the IP Selection by Remote
Peer section of the Link Selection page:
• Select Main address or choose an IP address from the Selected address from topology table
drop down menu.
• If the IP address is located behind a static NAT device, select Statically NATed IP.
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 Link Selection

Gateway with Several IP Addresses Used by Different Parties

In this scenario, the local Security Gateway has a point-to-point connection from two different
interfaces. Each interface is used by a different remote party:

The local Security Gateway has two IP addresses used for VPN. One interface is used for VPN with
a peer Security Gateway A and one interface for peer Security Gateway B.
To determine how peer Security Gateways discover the IP address of the local Security Gateway,
enable one-time probing with High Availability redundancy mode. Since only one IP is available
for each peer Security Gateway, probing only has to take place one time.

Gateway with an Interface Behind a Static NAT Device

In this scenario, the local Security Gateway has two external interfaces available for VPN. The
address of interface eth0 is being translated using a NAT device:

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 Link Selection

To determine how peer Security Gateways discover the IP address of the local Security Gateway,
use ongoing probing with High Availability redundancy mode. In order for the Static NAT IP
address to be probed, it must be added to the Probe the following addresses list in the Probing
Settings window.

Utilizing Load Sharing

Depending on your configuration, there are many ways to use Load Sharing to distribute VPN
traffic among available links between the local and peer Security Gateways.

Load Sharing with Multiple External Interfaces on Each End

In the following scenario, the local and peer Security Gateways each have two external interfaces
available for VPN traffic.

To utilize both external interfaces by distributing VPN traffic among all available links, use the
Probing redundancy mode of Load Sharing on both Security Gateways. You can also specify that
only certain external interfaces should be probed by putting only those interfaces in the Probe the
following addresses list in the Probing Settings window. If one link goes down, traffic will
automatically be rerouted through the other link.
To enable this configuration, make sure that your routing table allows packet flow back and forth
between both eth0 interfaces and packet flow back and forth between both eth1 interfaces. Then
Link Selection can reroute the VPN traffic between these available links.

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 Link Selection

Load Sharing with Multiple External Interfaces on One End

In the following scenario, the local Security Gateway has two external interfaces available for VPN
traffic. The peer Security Gateway has one external interface for VPN traffic.

To utilize both external interfaces and distribute VPN traffic between the available links, use the
Probing redundancy mode of Load Sharing on the local Security Gateway. Then the peer Security
Gateway will distribute its outgoing VPN traffic between interfaces eth0 and eth1 of the local
Security Gateway.
If the default, Operating system routing table, setting in the Outgoing Route Selection section is
selected, the local Security Gateway will only use one of its local interfaces for outgoing VPN
traffic; the route with the lowest metric and best match to reach the single IP address of the peer
Security Gateway, according to the routing table.
If you want to distribute the outgoing VPN traffic on both outbound links from the local Security
Gateway as well, select Route Based Probing in the Outgoing Route Selection on the Link
Selection page of the local Security Gateway.

Service Based Link Selection

Service Based Link Selection enables administrators to control outgoing VPN traffic and
bandwidth use by assigning a service or a group of services to a specific interface for outgoing
VPN routing decisions. The encrypted traffic of an outgoing connection is routed through the
configured interface according to the traffic's service. The links to the peer Security Gateway are
derived from the routing table and the link's availability is tested using RDP probing.
If all links through the interface assigned to a specific service stop responding to RDP probing, a
link failover will occur by default, as in any other probing mode. When a link through the assigned
interface is restored, new outgoing connections are assigned to it, while existing connections are
maintained over the backup link until they are completed.

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 Link Selection

It is possible to configure the traffic of a specific service not to fail over. In this case, traffic of the
configured service will only be routed through interfaces assigned to this service, even if these
interfaces stop responding to RDP.
If the same service is assigned to more than one interface, this service's traffic is distributed
between the configured interfaces. Every new outgoing encrypted connection uses the next
available link in a round robin manner.
All traffic from services that are not assigned to a specific interface is distributed among the
remaining interfaces. If all links through these interfaces are down, the traffic is distributed
among the interfaces that are configured for specific services.
Service Based Link Selection configuration requires enabling the following features:
• IP Selection by Remote Peer – Load Sharing probing mode
• Outgoing Route Selection – Route based probing
• Service Based Link Selection configuration file on the management server
Service Based Link Selection is supported on Security Gateways of version R71 and higher. It is
supported on the SecurePlatform, Gaia, Linux, and IPSO platforms. VPN traffic between peers
with Service Based Link Selection configuration is not accelerated by IPSO acceleration devices.
Service Based Link Selection is not supported on UTM-1 Edge devices.

Configuring Service Based Link Selection

To configure Service Based Link Selection:
1. In the Link Selection page, in the IP Selection by Remote Peer section, select:
• Use probing. Redundancy mode
• Load Sharing
2. In the Outgoing Route Selection section, select Route based probing.
Edit the Service Based Link Selection configuration in the
$FWDIR/conf/vpn_service_based_routing.conf configuration file on the management
server.
Fill in each line in the configuration file to specify the target Security Gateway, the interface for
outgoing routing, and the service (or services group) to route through this interface. Use the
names defined in the SmartConsole GUI. Fill in all of the details for each Security Gateway on
which you want to configure Service Based Link Selection.
The fields are:
• Gateway – Security Gateway name (the name of the VPN Security Gateway or the cluster)
• Interface – Interface name
• Service – Service or services group name
• dont_failover – (Optional) If this string is present, traffic of the configured service will only be
routed through interfaces configured for this service and will not fail over to another interface.

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 Link Selection

Service Based Link Selection Scenarios

The following scenarios provide examples of how Service Based Link Selection can be utilized.

Service Based Link Selection with Two Interfaces on Each End

In the scenario below, the local and peer Security Gateways each have two external interfaces for
VPN traffic.

In this example, interface eth1 of both Security Gateways is dedicated to HTTP and FTP traffic. All
other traffic is routed to interface eth0.
If the available link through eth1 stops responding to RDP probing, HTTP and FTP traffic will fail
over to eth0. It is possible to specify that HTTP and FTP traffic should only be routed through eth1
even if the link through eth1 stops responding. Specify this by including the dont_failover flag
when editing the Service Based Link Selection configuration file.
All other traffic that is not HTTP or FTP will be routed through eth0. If the link through eth0 stops
responding to RDP probing, all traffic will be routed through eth1.
The Service Based Link Selection configuration file for this environment should appear as follows:

Gateway Interface Service [dont_failover]

London_GW eth1 http

London_GW eth1 ftp

Paris_GW eth1 http

Paris_GW eth1 ftp

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 Link Selection

Alternatively, in SmartConsole, you can create a Services Group that includes HTTP and FTP
services. In the example below, this group is called http_ftp_grp. Using this group, the Service
Based Link Selection configuration file for this environment should appear as follows:

Gateway Interface Service [dont_failover]

London_GW eth1 http_ftp_grp

Paris_GW eth1 http_ftp_grp

Service Based Link Selection with Multiple Interfaces on Each End

In the following scenario, the local and peer Security Gateways each have three external
interfaces available for VPN.

To utilize all three external interfaces and distribute the VPN traffic among the available links,
Link Selection Load Sharing and Route based probing should be enabled. To control your
bandwidth use, dedicate one or more links to a specific service or services using Service Based
Link Selection. In this scenario, interfaces eth0 and eth1 of both Security Gateways are dedicated
to SIP traffic. SIP traffic is distributed between eth0 and eth1. All other traffic is routed through
eth2.
If either the link through eth0 or the link through eth1 stops responding to RDP probing, SIP traffic
will fail over to the other SIP interface. If the link through eth2 stops responding to RDP probing,
all traffic will be routed though eth0 or eth1.

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 Link Selection

Service Based Link Selection with Two Interfaces on One End

In the following scenario, the local Security Gateway has two external interfaces available for VPN
traffic. The peer Security Gateway has a single external interface for VPN traffic.

To utilize all external interfaces and distribute the VPN traffic among the available links, Link
Selection Load Sharing and Route based probing should be enabled on the local Security Gateway,
London_GW. To control your bandwidth use, dedicate interface eth1 of the local Security Gateway
to HTTP and FTP traffic using Service Based Link Selection. The local Security Gateway will route
outgoing HTTP and FTP connections through interface eth1. All other traffic, not HTTP or FTP, will
be routed through eth0.
In this scenario, HTTP and FTP traffic should not fail over. HTTP and FTP traffic should only be
routed through interface eth1, even if the link through interface eth1 stops responding to RDP
probing. This is configured by specifying the dont_failover flag.
The Service Based Link Selection configuration file for this environment should appear as follows:

Gateway Interface Service [dont_failover]

London_GW eth1 http dont_failover

London_GW eth1 ftp dont_failover

Since the Service Based Link Selection configuration is only relevant for outgoing traffic of the
local Security Gateway, the peer Security Gateway can send HTTP and FTP traffic to either
interface of the local Security Gateway. The outgoing VPN traffic of the peer Security Gateway is
distributed between interfaces eth0 and eth1 of the local Security Gateway.

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Trusted Links
Trusted Links allows you to set an interface as "trusted" for VPN traffic so that traffic sent on that
link will not be encrypted. You may want to set up a trusted link if you are confident that the link is
already encrypted and secure and you do not need a second encryption.
If you configure an interface as trusted, traffic routed through that interface will be sent
unencrypted, while traffic sent through other interfaces will still be encrypted.
Trusted interfaces should be configured symmetrically on the local and peer Security Gateways. If
only one side of the link is configured as trusted for VPN traffic, clear traffic received by a
non-trusted interface will be dropped by the peer Security Gateway.
If you have configured a specific link as trusted for VPN traffic and you are using probing, the
probing method considers all links, including the trusted link, when choosing a link for a
connection.
The probing method chooses the link according to these criteria:
• The configured redundancy mode, High Availability or Load Sharing
• If Service Based Link Selection is configured.
If the trusted link is chosen for a connection, the traffic is not encrypted. If another, non-trusted,
link is chosen, the traffic is encrypted.
In an MEP configuration, trusted links are only supported for connections initiated by a peer
Security Gateway to a MEP Security Gateway. Unencrypted VPN connections routed through a
trusted interface and initiated by a MEP Security Gateway may be dropped by the peer Security
Gateway.
Trusted links are not supported in Traditional mode. In Traditional mode, trusted link settings are
ignored and VPN traffic is always encrypted.
Trusted links are supported on Security Gateways of version R71 and higher.

Note - Trusted links are not supported by IPSO acceleration devices. IPSO
acceleration devices ignore trusted links settings and will encrypt traffic routed
through these links.

Configuring Trusted Links

Use GuiDBedit, the Check Point Database Tool to configure Trusted Links.

To configure a trusted link:

1. In GuiDBedit go to Network objects > network_objects.
2. Select the Security Gateway that you want to edit.
3. Search for the interface that you want to configure as trusted from within the interfaces set.
The interface name appears in the officialname attribute
4. Within the trusted interface set, change the value of the vpn_trusted attribute to true
(default value: false).
5. Configure trusted interfaces symmetrically on the peer Security Gateways. If only one side of
the link is configured as trusted for VPN traffic, clear traffic received by a non-trusted
interface will be dropped by the peer Security Gateway.
6. Save changes.

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 Link Selection

Trusted Links Scenarios

In the following scenario, both the local and peer Security Gateways have two external interfaces
available for VPN traffic. Interface eth1 on both Security Gateways has been configured as a
trusted interface. Therefore traffic sent from eth1 of the local Security Gateway will be sent
unencrypted and will be accepted by interface eth1 of the peer Security Gateway, and vice versa.

If the probing redundancy mode is High Availability and the trusted link is configured as the
Primary IP address, the trusted link will be used for VPN traffic. If the trusted link stops
responding to RDP probing, the link through Interface eth0 will be used for VPN traffic and traffic
will be encrypted.
If the probing redundancy mode is Load Sharing, the VPN traffic will be distributed between the
available links. Connections routed through interface eth0 will be encrypted while connections
routed through the trusted link will not be encrypted.

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 Link Selection

Using Trusted Links with Service Based Link Selection

In the following scenario, the local and peer Security Gateways have two external interfaces
available for VPN traffic. Interface eth1 on both Security Gateways is configured as a trusted
interface for VPN traffic since encryption is not needed on that link. In addition, interface eth1 of
both Security Gateways is dedicated to SIP traffic using Service Based Link Selection.

SIP traffic is routed through the trusted link between the two eth1 interfaces and will not be
encrypted. If the trusted link stops responding to RDP probing, SIP traffic will be routed through
the eth0 interfaces and will be encrypted.
All other traffic that is not SIP is encrypted and routed through the interface eth0 link. However, if
interface eth0 stops responding to RDP probing, all the traffic will be routed through the trusted
link and will not be encrypted.

On Demand Links (ODL)

Route based probing enables use of an On Demand Link (ODL), which is triggered upon failure of
all primary links. When a failure is detected, a custom script is used to activate the ODL and
change the appropriate routing information. The ODL's metric must be set to be larger than a
configured minimum in order for it to be considered an ODL.

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 Link Selection

The Security Gateway has two external links for Internet connectivity: one to an ISP, the other to
an ISDN dialup. The ISDN dialup connection is configured as an On Demand Link.
On the Security Gateway, the Route Based Probing mechanism probes all of the non-On Demand
Links and selects the active link with the lowest metric. In this case, it probed the ISP link. A script
is run to activate the On Demand Link when all other links with higher priorities become
unavailable. When the link becomes available again, a shutdown script is run automatically and
the connection continues through the link with the ISP.

Note - On Demand Links are probed only once using a single RDP session. Fail over
between On Demand Links is not supported.

Configuring On Demand Links

You can enable On Demand Links only if you enabled Route Based Probing. Configure On Demand
Links commands in GuiDBedit, the Check Point Database Tool.

Property Description
use_on_demand_links Enables on-demand links. The default is FALSE. Change to
TRUE.

on_demand_metric_min Defines the minimum metric level for an on-demand link. This
value must be equal to or higher than the configured minimum
metric.

on_demand_initial_script The name of the on-demand script, which runs when all
not-on-demand routes stop responding. Put the script in the
$FWDIR/conf directory.

on_demand_shutdown_script This script is run when the failed links become available. Put the
script in the $FWDIR/conf directory.

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 Link Selection

If you do not want to use GuiDBedit, you can configure the use_on_demand_links and
on_demand_metric_min commands in SmartConsole:
1. In SmartConsole, click Menu > Global Properties > Advanced > Configure.
2. In VPN Advanced Properties, click Link Selection.
3. Click use_on_demand_links to enable On Demand Links.
4. Set the minimum metric level for an On Demand Link next to the on_demand_metric_min
command.

Link Selection and ISP Redundancy

ISP Redundancy enables reliable Internet connectivity by allowing a single or clustered Security
Gateway to connect to the Internet via redundant ISP connections. As part of standard VPN
installation, it offers two modes of operation:
• Load Sharing mode
• Primary/Backup mode

Configuring Link Selection and ISP Redundancy

Configure Link Selection and ISP Redundancy in the Other > ISP Redundancy page of the Gateway
object:
• Load Sharing mode connects to both ISPs while sharing the load of outgoing connections
between the ISPs according to a designated weight assignment. New connections are
randomly assigned to a link. If a link fails, all new outgoing connections are directed to the
active link. This configuration effectively increases the WAN bandwidth while providing
connectivity protection. The assigned ISP Links weight is only supported for firewall traffic.
• Primary/Backup mode connects to an ISP through the primary link, and switches to a backup
ISP if the primary ISP link fails. When the primary link is restored, new outgoing connections
are assigned to it, while existing connections are maintained over the backup link until they are
complete.
The settings configured in the ISP Redundancy window are by default, applied to the Link
Selection page and will overwrite any pre-existing configuration. The following settings carry over:
• When ISP Redundancy is configured, the default setting in the Link Selection page is Use
ongoing probing. However, Link Selection only probes the ISPs configured in the ISP
Redundancy window. This enables connection failover of the VPN tunnel if connectivity to one
of the Security Gateway interfaces fails.
• If the ISP Redundancy mode is Load Sharing, the Probing redundancy mode in the Link
Selection page is also Load Sharing.
• If the ISP Redundancy mode is Primary/Backup, the Probing redundancy mode in the Link
Selection page is High Availability.
• The Primary ISP link of the ISP redundancy is set as the Primary Address of the Link
Selection probing. The Primary Address is set under: IP Selection by Remote Peer > Use
Probing > Configure (or View if the settings are derived from the ISP Redundancy settings).
If you do not want the ISP Redundancy settings to affect the Link Selection settings, on the ISP
Redundancy page, clear the check box that says Apply settings to VPN traffic and configure the
required VPN settings on the Link Selection page. This may apply when you want to route VPN
traffic differently than the firewall traffic. For example, if you want to use Load Sharing for firewall
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 Link Selection

traffic and High Availability for VPN traffic, or if you want to use different primary ISPs for firewall
and VPN traffic.

Link Selection and ISP Redundancy

In the following scenario, the local Security Gateway maintains links to ISPs A and B, both of which
provide connectivity to the Internet using ISP Redundancy.

In the Topology > ISP Redundancy window, configure the ISP Redundancy settings, such as ISP
Links and Redundancy mode. The ISP Redundancy settings are applied by default to VPN traffic.
The derived Link Selection settings are visible in the IPsec VPN > Link Selection window.

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 Link Selection

In the following scenario, the Apply settings to VPN traffic on the ISP Redundancy page was
cleared and there are different setting configured for Link Selection and ISP Redundancy.

In this scenario:
• Security Gateways A, B, and C each have two interfaces configured as ISP links.
• ISP Redundancy is configured on Security Gateway A.
• Security Gateway A should use ISP 1 in order to connect to Security Gateway B and ISP 2 in
order to connect to Security Gateway C. If one of the ISP links becomes unavailable, the other
ISP should be used.
In this scenario, the administrator of Security Gateway A needs to:
• Clear the Apply settings to VPN traffic box in the ISP Redundancy window.
• Reconfigure the Outgoing Route Selection to Route Based Probing in the Link Selection
window.
• Configure the routing table so that ISP 1 is the highest priority for peer Security Gateway B and
ISP 2 has the highest priority for peer Security Gateway C.

Link Selection with non-Check Point Devices

RDP probing, the probing method used for certain Link Selection features, is proprietary to Check
Point and only works between Check Point entities. It is not supported with non-Check Point
devices.
Since RDP probing is not active on non-Check Point gateways, the following results apply if a
Check Point Security Gateway sends VPN traffic to a non-Check Point gateway:
• Use probing cannot be used by locally managed Check Point Security Gateways to determine
the IP address of non-Check Point devices. Any of the other methods available from the IP
Selection by Remote Peer section can be used.

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 Link Selection

• Load Sharing and Service Based Link Selection do not work with non-Check Point gateways. If
Load Sharing or Service Based Link Selection is enabled on the local Security Gateway, but the
peer is a non-Check Point device, the local Security Gateway will only use one link to the
non-Check Point device: the best match (highest prefix length) link with the lowest metric.
• If Route based probing is selected as the Outgoing Route Selection method, for VPN traffic to
a non-Check Point device, the local Security Gateways will always use the best match (highest
prefix length) link with the lowest metric.

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CHAPTE R 6

Public Key Infrastructure

In This Section:
Need for Integration with Different PKI Solutions ......................................................61
Supporting a Wide Variety of PKI Solutions ................................................................62
Special Considerations for PKI ....................................................................................69
Configuration of PKI Operations ..................................................................................70
Configuring OCSP .........................................................................................................74

Need for Integration with Different PKI Solutions

X.509-based PKI solutions provide the infrastructure that enables entities to establish trust
relationships between each other based on their mutual trust of the Certificate Authority (CA). The
trusted CA issues a certificate for an entity, which includes the entity's public key. Peer entities
that trust the CA can trust the certificate — because they can verify the CA's signature — and rely
on the information in the certificate, the most important of which is the association of the entity
with the public key.
IKE standards recommend the use of PKI in VPN environments, where strong authentication is
required.
A Security Gateway taking part in VPN tunnel establishment must have an RSA key pair and a
certificate issued by a trusted CA. The certificate contains details about the module's identity, its
public key, CRL retrieval details, and is signed by the CA.
When two entities try to establish a VPN tunnel, each side supplies its peer with random
information signed by its private key and with the certificate that contains the public key. The
certificate enables the establishment of a trust relationship between the Security Gateways; each
gateway uses the peer Security Gateway public key to verify the source of the signed information
and the CA's public key to validate the certificate's authenticity. In other words, the validated
certificate is used to authenticate the peer.
Every deployment of Check Point Security Management Server includes an Internal Certificate
Authority (ICA) that issues VPN certificates for the VPN modules it manages. These VPN
certificates simplify the definition of VPNs between these modules.
Situations can arise when integration with other PKI solutions is required, for example:
• A VPN must be established with a Security Gateway managed by an external Security
Management Server. For example, the peer Security Gateway belongs to another organization
which utilizes Check Point products, and its certificate is signed by its own Security
Management Server ICA.
• A VPN must be established with a non-Check Point VPN entity. In this case, the peer's
certificate is signed by a third-party CA.
• An organization may decide, for whatever reason, to use a third party CA to generate
certificates for its Security Gateways.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

Supporting a Wide Variety of PKI Solutions

Check Point Security Gateways support many different scenarios for integrating PKI in VPN
environments.
• Multiple CA Support for Single VPN Tunnel – Two Security Gateways present a certificate
signed by different ICAs.
• Support for non-ICA CAs – In addition to ICA, Security Gateways support the following
Certificate Authorities:
• External ICA - The ICA of another Security Management Server
• Other OPSEC certified PKI solutions
• CA Hierarchy – CAs are typically arranged in a hierarchical structure where multiple CAs are
subordinate to a root authority CA. A subordinate CA is a Certificate Authority certified by
another Certificate Authority. Subordinate CA's can issue certificates to other, more
subordinate CAs, forming a certification chain or hierarchy.

PKI and Remote Access Users

The Check Point Suite supports certificates not only for Security Gateways but for users as well.
For more information, see Introduction to Remote Access VPN for information about user
certificates.

PKI Deployments and VPN

Following are some sample CA deployments:
• Simple Deployment - internal CA
• CA of an external Security Management Server
• CA services provided over the Internet
• CA on the LAN

Simple Deployment – Internal CA

When the VPN tunnel is established between Security Gateways managed by the same Security
Management Server, each peer has a certificate issued by the Security Management Server's ICA.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

CA of An External Security Management Server

If a Check Point Security Gateway is managed by an external Security Management Server (for
example, when establishing a VPN tunnel with another organization's VPN modules), each peer
has a certificate signed by its own Security Management Server's ICA.

Security Management Server A issues certificates for Security Management Server B that issues
certificates for Security Gateway B.

CA Services Over the Internet

If the certificate of a Security Gateway is issued by a third party CA accessible over the Internet, CA
operations such as registration or revocation are usually performed through HTTP forms. CRLs
are retrieved from an HTTP server functioning as a CRL repository.

Security Gateways A and B receive their certificates from a PKI service provider accessible via the
web. Certificates issued by external CA's may be used by Security Gateways managed by the same
Security Management Server to verification.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

CA Located on the LAN

If the peer VPN Security Gateway certificate is issued by a third party CA on the LAN, the CRL is
usually retrieved from an internal LDAP server, as shown:

Trusting An External CA
A trust relationship is a crucial prerequisite for establishing a VPN tunnel. However, a trust
relationship is possible only if the CA that signs the peer's certificate is "trusted." Trusting a CA
means obtaining and validating the CA's own certificate. Once the CA's Certificate has been
validated, the details on the CA's certificate and its public key can be used to both obtain and
validate other certificates issued by the CA.
The Internal CA (ICA) is automatically trusted by all modules managed by the Security
Management Server that employs it. External CAs (even the ICA of another Check Point Security
Management Server) are not automatically trusted, so a module must first obtain and validate an
external CA's certificate. The external CA must provide a way for its certificate to be imported into
the Security Management Server.
If the external CA is:
• The ICA of an external Security Management Server, see the R80.10 Security Management
Server Administration Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54842 for
further information
• An OPSEC Certified CA, use the CA options on the Servers and OSPEC Applications tab to
define the CA and obtain its certificate

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 Public Key Infrastructure

Subordinate Certificate Authorities

A subordinate CA is a Certificate Authority certified by another Certificate Authority. Subordinate
CAs can issue certificates to other, more subordinate CAs, in this way forming a certification chain
or hierarchy. The CA at the top of the hierarchy is the root authority or root CA. Child Certificate
Authorities of the root CA are referred to as Subordinate Certificate Authorities.
With the CA options on the Servers and OSPEC Applications tab, you can define either a
Certificate Authority as either Trusted or Subordinate. Subordinate CAs are of the type OPSEC,
and not trusted.

Enrolling a Managed Entity

Enrollment means requesting and obtaining a certificate from a CA, for an entity.
The process of enrollment begins with the generation of a key pair. A certificate request is then
created out of the public key and additional information about the module. The type of the
certificate request and the rest of the enrollment process depends on the CA type.
The case of an internally managed Security Gateway is the simplest, because the ICA is located on
the Security Management Server machine. The enrollment process is completed automatically.
To obtain a certificate from an OPSEC Certified CA, Security Management Server takes the module
details and the public key and encodes a PKCS#10 request. The request (which can include
SubjectAltName for OPSEC certificates and Extended Key Usage extensions) is delivered to the CA
manually by the administrator. Once the CA issues the certificate the administrator can complete
the process by importing the certificate to the Security Management Server.
A certificate can also be obtained for the Security Gateway using Automatic Enrollment. With
Automatic Enrollment, you can automatically issue a request for a certificate from a trusted CA for
any Security Gateway in the community. Automatic Enrollment supports the following protocols:
• SCEP
• CMPV1
• CMPV2
Note - During SCEP enrollment, some HTTP requests may be larger than 2K, and may
be dropped by the HTTP protocol inspection mechanism if enabled (Web Intelligence >
HTTP Protocol Inspection > HTTP Format Sizes). A change of the default value will be
required to enable these HTTP requests. If enrollment still fails, enrollment must be
done manually. For more information, see the R80.10 Threat Prevention Administration
Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54828.

Validation of a Certificate
When an entity receives a certificate from another entity, it must:
1. Verify the certificate signature, i.e. verify that the certificate was signed by a trusted CA. If the
certificate is not signed directly by a trusted CA, but rather by a subsidiary of a trusted CA, the
path of CA certificates is verified up to the trusted CA.
2. Verify that the certificate chain has not expired.
3. Verify that the certificate chain is not revoked. A CRL is retrieved to confirm that the serial
number of the validated certificate is not included among the revoked certificates.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

In addition, VPN verifies the validity of the certificate's use in the given situation, confirming that:
• The certificate is authorized to perform the required action. For example, if the private key is
needed to sign data (e.g., for authentication) the KeyUsage extension on the certificate – if
present – is checked to see if this action is permitted.
• The peer used the correct certificate in the negotiation. When creating a VPN tunnel with an
externally managed module, the administrator may decide that only a certificate signed by a
specific CA from among the trusted CAs can be accepted. (Acceptance of certificates with
specific details such as a Distinguished Name is possible as well).

Revocation Checking
There are two available methods useful in determining the status of a certificate:
1. CRL
2. Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)

Enrolling with a Certificate Authority

A certificate is automatically issued by the ICA for all internally managed entities that are VPN
capable. That is, after the administrator has checked selected IPsec VPN in the Network Security
tab of the General Properties page for network objects.
The process for obtaining a certificate from an OPSEC PKI or External Check Point CA is identical.

Manual Enrollment with OPSEC Certified PKI

To create a PKCS#10 Certificate Request:

1. Create the CA object (see "Trusting an OPSEC Certified CA" on page 70).
2. Open the IPsec VPN tab of the relevant Network Object.
3. In the Certificate List field click Add.
The Certificate Properties window is displayed.
4. Enter the Certificate Nickname
The nickname is only an identifier and has no bearing on the content of the certificate.
5. From the CA to enroll from drop-down box, select the direct OPSEC CA/External Check Point
CA that will issue the certificate.
Note - The list displays only those subordinate CA's that lead directly to a trusted CA and the
trusted CAs themselves. If the CA that issues the certificate is a subordinate CA that does not
lead directly to a trusted CA, the subordinate CA will not appear in the list.
6. Choose the appropriate method for Key Pair creation and storage (see "Distributed Key
Management and Storage" on page 69).
7. Click Generate.
The Generate Certificate Properties window is displayed.
8. Enter the appropriate DN.
The final DN that appears in the certificate is decided by the CA administrator.
If a Subject Alternate Name extension is required in the certificate, check the Define
Alternate Name check box.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

Adding the object IP as Alternate name extension can be configured as a default setting by
selecting in Menu > Global Properties > Advanced > Configure > Certificates and PKI
properties, the options:
add_ip_alt_name_for_opsec_certs
add_ip_alt_name_for_ICA_certs
The configuration in this step is also applicable for Internal CAs.
9. Click OK.
The public key and the DN are then used to DER-encode a PKCS#10 Certificate Request.
10. After the Certificate Request is ready, click View.
The Certificate Request View window appears with the encoding.
11. Copy the whole text in the window and deliver it to the CA.
The CA administrator must now complete the task of issuing the certificate. Different CAs
provide different ways of doing this, such as an advanced enrollment form (as opposed to the
regular form for users). The issued certificate may be delivered in various ways, for example
email. After the certificate has arrived, it needs to be stored:
a) In Object Explorer (Ctrl+E), go to the Servers category and select the CA object.
b) Open the OPEC PKI tab, click Get and browse to the location in which the certificate was
saved.
c) Select the appropriate file and verify the certificate details.
d) Close object and save.

Automatic Enrollment with the Certificate Authority

On the OPSEC PKI tab of the CA object, make sure Automatically enroll certificate is selected and
SCEP or CMP are chosen as the connecting protocol. Then:
1. On the relevant network object, open the VPN tab.
2. In the Certificates List section, click Add...
The Certificate Properties window opens.
3. Enter a Certificate Nickname (any string used as an identifier)
4. From the drop-down menu, select the CA that issues the certificate.
Note - The menu shows only trusted CAs and subordinate CAs that lead directly to a trusted
CA. If the CA that issues the certificate is a subordinate CA that does not lead directly to a
trusted CA, it is not in the menu.
5. Select a method for key pair generation and storage.
6. Click Generate, and select Automatic enrollment.
The Generate Keys and Get Automatic Enrollment Certificate window opens.
• Supply the Key Identifier and your secret authorization code.
• Click OK.
7. When the certificate appears in the Certificates List on the network objects VPN page, click
View and either Copy to Clipboard or Save to File the text in the Certificate Request View
window.
8. Send the request to CA administrator.
Different Certificate Authorities provide different means for doing this, for example an
advanced enrollment form on their website. The issued certificate can be delivered in various
ways, such as email. Once you have received the certificate, save it to disk.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

9. On the VPN tab of the network object, select the appropriate certificate in the Certificates List,
and click Complete...
10. Browse to the folder where you stored the issued certificate, select the certificate and verify
the certificate details.
11. Close the network object and Save.

Enrolling through a Subordinate CA

When enrolling through a subordinate CA:
• Supply the password of the subordinate CA which issues the certificate, not the CA at the top of
the hierarchy
• The subordinate CA must lead directly to a trusted CA

CRL
VPN can retrieve the CRL from either an HTTP server or an LDAP server. If the CRL repository is
an HTTP server, the module uses the URL published in the CRL Distribution Point extension on
the certificate and opens an HTTP connection to the CRL repository to retrieve the CRL.
If the CRL repository is an LDAP server, VPN attempts to locate the CRL in one of the defined
LDAP account units. In this scenario, an LDAP account unit must be defined. If the CRL
Distribution Point extension exists, it publishes the DN of the CRL, namely, the entry in the
Directory under which the CRL is published or the LDAP URI. If the extension does not exist, VPN
attempts to locate the CRL in the entry of the CA itself in the LDAP server.

OCSP
Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) enables applications to identify the state of a certificate.
OCSP may be used for more timely revocation information than is possible with CRLs and may
also be used to obtain additional status information. When OCSP client issues a status request to
an OCSP server, acceptance of the certificate in question is suspended until the server provides a
response.
In order to use OCSP, the root CA must be configured to use this method instead of CRL. This
setting is inherited by the subordinate CA's.

CRL Prefetch-Cache
Since the retrieval of CRL can take a long time (in comparison to the entire IKE negotiation
process), VPN stores the CRLs in a CRL cache so that later IKE negotiations do not require
repeated CRL retrievals.
The cache is pre-fetched:
• every two hours
• on policy installation
• when the cache expires
If the pre-fetch fails, the previous cache is not erased.

Note - The ICA requires the use of a CRL cache.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

An administrator can shorten the lifetime of a CRL in the cache or even to cancel the use of the
cache. If the CRL Cache operation is canceled, the CRL must be retrieved for each subsequent IKE
negotiation, thus considerably slowing the establishment of the VPN tunnel. Because of these
performance implications, we recommend that you only disable CRL caching when the level of
security demands continuous CRL retrieval.

Special Considerations for the CRL Pre-fetch Mechanism

The CRL pre-fetch mechanism makes a "best effort" to obtain the most up to date list of revoked
certificates. However, after the cpstop, cpstart commands have been executed, the cache is no
longer updated. The Security Gateway continues to use the old CRL for as long as the old CRL
remains valid (even if there is an updated CRL available on the CA). The pre-fetch cache
mechanism returns to normal functioning only after the old CRL expires and a new CRL is
retrieved from the CA.
In case there is a requirement that after cpstop, cpstart the CRL's will be updated immediately,
proceed as follows:
• After executing cprestart, run crl_zap to empty the cache, or:
• In the SmartConsole Menu > Global Properties > Advanced > Configure > Certificates and PKI
properties select: flush_crl_cache_file_on_install.
When a new policy is installed, the cache is flushed and a new CRL will be retrieved on demand.

CRL Grace Period

Temporary loss of connection with the CRL repository or slight differences between clocks on the
different machines may cause valid of CRLs to be considered invalid—and thus the certificates to
be invalid as well. VPN overcomes this problem by supplying a CRL Grace Period. During this
period, a CRL is considered valid even if it is not valid according to the CLR validity time.

Special Considerations for PKI

Using the Internal CA vs. Deploying a Third Party CA
The Internal CA makes it easy to use PKI for Check Point applications such as site-to-site and
remote access VPNs. However, an administrator may prefer to continue using a CA that is already
functioning within the organization, for example a CA used to provide secure email, and disk
encryption.

Distributed Key Management and Storage

Distributed Key Management (DKM) provides an additional layer of security during the key
generation phase. Instead of the Security Management Server generating both public and private
keys and downloading them to the module during a policy installation, the management server
instructs the module to create its own public and private keys and send (to the management
server) only its public key. The private key is created and stored on the module in either a
hardware storage device, or via software that emulates hardware storage. Security Management
Server then performs certificate enrollment. During a policy installation, the certificate is
downloaded to the module. The private key never leaves the module.
Local key storage is supported for all CA types.
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 Public Key Infrastructure

DKM is supported for all enrollment methods, and can be configured as a default setting by
selecting in Global Properties > SmartConsole Customization > Configure > Certificates and PKI
properties, the option: use_dkm_cert_by_default

Note - Generating certificates for Edge devices does not support DKM and will be
generated locally on the management even if use_dkm_cert_by_default is
configured.

Configuration of PKI Operations

Trusting a CA – Step-By-Step
This section describes the procedures for obtaining a CA's own certificate, which is a prerequisite
for trusting certificates issued by a CA.
In order to trust a CA, a CA server object has to be defined. The following sections deal with the
various configuration steps required in different scenarios.

Trusting an ICA
A VPN module automatically trusts the ICA of the Security Management Server that manages it.
No further configuration is required.

Trusting an Externally Managed CA

An externally managed CA is the ICA of another Security Management Server. The CA certificate
has to be supplied and saved to disk in advance. To establish trust:
1. In Object Explorer (Ctrl+E), click New > Server > More > Trusted CA.
The Certificate Authority Properties window opens.
2. Enter a Name for the CA object
3. Go to the OPSEC PKI tab and click Get...
4. Browse to where you saved the peer CA certificate and select it.
The certificate details are shown. Verify the certificate's details. Display and validate the SHA-1
and MD5 fingerprints of the CA certificate.
5. Click OK.

Trusting an OPSEC Certified CA

The CA certificate has to be supplied and saved to the disk in advance.

Note - In case of SCEP automatic enrollment, you can skip this stage and fetch the
CA certificate automatically after configuring the SCEP parameters.

The CA's Certificate must be retrieved either by downloading it using the CA options in the
Certificate Authority object, or by obtaining the CA's certificate from the peer administrator in
advance.

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 Public Key Infrastructure

Then define the CA object according to the following steps:

1. In Object Explorer (Ctrl+E), click New > Server > More > Trusted CA or Subordinate CA.
The Certificate Authority Properties window opens.
2. Enter a Name for the CA object.
3. On the OPSEC PKI tab:
• For automatic enrollment, select automatically enroll certificate.
• From the Connect to CA with protocol, select the protocol used to connect with the
certificate authority, either SCEP, CMPV1 or CMPV2.
Note - For entrust 5.0 and later, use CMPV1
4. Click Properties.
• If you chose SCEP as the protocol, in the Properties for SCEP protocol window, enter the
CA identifier (such as example.com) and the Certification Authority/Registration Authority
URL.
• If you chose cmpV1 as the protocol, in the Properties for CMP protocol - V1 window, enter
the appropriate IP address and port number. (The default port is 829).
• If you chose cmpV2 as the protocol, in the Properties for CMP protocol -V2 window, decide
whether to use direct TCP or HTTP as the transport layer.
Note - If Automatic enrollment is not selected, then enrollment will have to be performed
manually.
5. Choose a method for retrieving CRLs from this CA.
If the CA publishes CRLs on HTTP server choose HTTP Server(s). Certificates issued by the CA
must contain the CRL location in an URL in the CRL Distribution Point extension.
If the CA publishes CRL on LDAP server, choose LDAP Server(s). In this case, you must define
an LDAP Account Unit as well. See the Security Management Server Administration Guide for
more details about defining an LDAP object.
Make sure that CRL retrieval is checked in the General tab of the LDAP Account Unit
Properties window.
Certificates issued by the CA must contain the LDAP DN on which the CRL resides in the CRL
distribution point extension.
6. Click Get.
7. If SCEP is configured, it will try to connect to the CA and retrieve the certificate. If not, browse
to where you saved the peer CA certificate and select it.
VPN reads the certificate and displays its details. Verify the certificate's details. Display and
validate the SHA-1 and MD5 fingerprints of the CA certificate.
8. Click OK.
9. Install the Access Control Policy on the Security Gateway.

Certificate Revocation (All CA Types)

A certificate issued by the Internal Certificate Authority it is revoked when the certificate object is
removed. Otherwise, certificate revocation is controlled by the CA administrator using the options
on the Advanced tab of the CA object. In addition, the certificate must be removed from the
Security Gateway.
A certificate cannot be removed if the Security Management Server infers from other settings that
the certificate is in use, for example, that the Security Gateway belongs to one or more VPN
communities and this is the only certificate of the Security Gateway.
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 Public Key Infrastructure

To remove the certificate:

1. Open the IPsec VPN tab of the relevant Security Gateway.
2. In the Repository of Certificates Available to the Gateway, select the appropriate certificate
and click Remove.

Certificate Recovery and Renewal

When a certificate is revoked or becomes expired, it is necessary to create another one or to
refresh the existing one.

Recovery and Renewal with Internal CA

Removal of a compromised or expired certificate automatically triggers creation of a new
certificate, with no intervention required by the administrator. To manually renew a certificate use
the Renew... button on the VPN page of the Security Gateway object.

Note - A Security Gateway can have only one certificate signed by one CA. When the new
certificate is issued, you will be asked to replace the existing certificate signed by the
same CA.

CA Certificate Rollover
CA Certificate Rollover is a VPN feature that enables rolling over the CA certificates used to sign
client and Security Gateway certificates for VPN traffic, without risk of losing functionality at
transition.
To achieve a gradual CA certificate rollover, CA Certificate Rollover enables VPN support for
multiple CA certificates generated by third-party OPSEC-compliant CAs, such as Microsoft
Windows CA. By using multiple CA certificates, you can gradually rollover client and Security
Gateway certificates during a transitional period when client and Security Gateway certificates
signed by both CA certificates are recognized.
When a certificate is added to a CA that already has a certificate, the new certificate is defined as
Additional and receives an index number higher by one than the highest existing certificate index
number. The original certificate is defined as Main.
Only additional certificates can be removed. CA Certificate Rollover provides tools for adding and
removing certificates, and for changing the status of a certificate from additional to main and from
main to additional.
CA Certificate Rollover is for rolling over CA certificates with different keys. To add a CA certificate
using the same key as the existing CA certificate (for example, to extend its expiration date), just
Get the certificate from the OPSEC PKI tab of the CA properties, and do not use CA Certificate
Rollover.

Managing a CA Certificate Rollover

By using multiple CA certificates, you can gradually rollover client and Security Gateway
certificates during a transitional period when client and Security Gateway certificates signed by
both CA certificates are recognized.
This section describes a recommended workflow for the most common scenario. For full details
of the CLI commands, see CA Certificate Rollover CLI (on page 73).

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 Public Key Infrastructure

Before you begin:

In SmartConsole, define a third-party OPSEC-compliant CA, such as Microsoft Windows CA, that is
capable of generating multiple CA certificates. Generate the main CA certificate and define it in
SmartConsole.

To roll over with a new CA certificate:

1. Generate from the third-party CA a second CA certificate in DER format (PEM is not
supported), with different keys than the previous CA certificate. Copy the certificate to the
Security Management Server.
2. Log into the Security Management Server, and stop Check Point processes:
cpstop
3. Back up the Security Management Server database:
mcc backup
4. Add the new CA certificate to the Security Management Server database’s definitions for the
third-party CA:
mcc add <CA> <CertificateFile>
5. <CA> is the name of the CA as defined in the Security Management Server database.
<CertificateFile> is the certificate filename or path.
6. The new CA certificate should now be defined as additional #1. Make sure with mcc lca or
mcc show ("CA Certificate Rollover CLI" on page 73).
7. Start Check Point processes:
cpstart
8. Install policy on all Security Gateways.
Use the new additional CA certificate to sign client certificates.
For performance reasons, as long as most clients are still using certificates signed by the old CA
certificate, you should leave the new CA certificate as the additional one and the old certificate as
the main one. As long as the new CA certificate is not the main CA certificate, do not use it to sign
any Security Gateway certificates.

CA Certificate Rollover CLI

CA Certificate Rollover uses the VPN Multi-Certificate CA command set, as detailed in this section.
VPN Multi-Certificate CA configuration commands should not be run when SmartConsole or
Database Tool are logged in to the Security Management Server, or when Check Point processes
are running.
To see usage instructions in the CLI, run the following without arguments:
mcc

Adding Matching Criteria to the Validation Process

While certificates of an externally managed VPN entity are not handled by the local Security
Management Server, you can still configure a peer to present a particular certificate when
creating a VPN tunnel:
1. Open the VPN page of the externally managed VPN entity.
2. Click Matching Criteria...
3. Choose the desired characteristics of the certificate the peer is expected to present, including:
• The CA that issued it
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 Public Key Infrastructure

• The exact DN of the certificate

• The IP address that appears in the Subject Alternate Name extension of the certificate.
(This IP address is compared to the IP address of the VPN peer itself as it appears to the
VPN module during the IKE negotiation.)
• The e-mail address appearing in the Subject Alternate Name extension of the certificate

CRL Cache Usage

To cancel or modify the behavior of the CRL Cache:
1. Open the Advanced Tab of the Certificate Authority object.
2. To enable the CRL cache, check Cache CRL on the Security Gateway.
The cache should not be disabled for the ICA. In general, it is recommended that the cache be
enabled for all CA types. The cache should be disabled (for non-ICAs) only if stringent security
requirements mandate continual retrieval of the CRL.
Note - The ICA requires the use of a CRL cache, and should never be disabled.
3. If CRL Cache is enabled, choose whether a CRL is deleted from the cache when it expires or
after a fixed period of time (unless it expires first). The second option encourages retrieval of a
CRL more often as CRLs may be issued more frequently than the expiry time. By default a CRL
is deleted from the cache after 24 hours.
See: CRL Prefetch-Cache (on page 68) for information about CRL caching.

Modifying the CRL Pre-Fetch Cache

The behavior of the Pre-fetch catch can be altered via the Global properties:
1. Go to Menu > Global Properties > Advanced > Configure > Certificates and PKI properties
2. Select Certificates and PKI Properties.

Configuring CRL Grace Period

Set the CRL Grace Period values by selecting Policy > Global Properties > VPN > Advanced. The
Grace Period can be defined for both the periods before and after the specified CRL validity period.

Configuring OCSP
To use OCSP, you must configure the CA object to use the OCSP revocation information method
instead of the CRL method.
Use GuiDBedit to change the value of the field ocsp_validation to true. When set to true, the CA
uses OCSP to make sure that certificates are valid. This is configured on the root CA and is
inherited by the subordinate CAs.

To configure a CA to use OCSP, in GuiDBedit:

See sk37803 http://supportcontent.checkpoint.com/solutions?id=sk37803 for detailed
instructions.

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CHAPTE R 7

Domain Based VPN

In This Section:
Overview of Domain-based VPN ..................................................................................75
VPN Routing and Access Control .................................................................................76
Configuring VPN Routing in Domain Based VPN ........................................................76

Overview of Domain-based VPN

Domain Based VPN controls how VPN traffic is routed between Security Gateways within a
community. To route traffic to a host behind a Security Gateway, you must first define the VPN
domain for that Security Gateway. Configuration for VPN routing is done with SmartConsole or in
the VPN routing configuration files on the Security Gateways.
In this figure, one of the host machines behind Security Gateway A tries to connect to a host
computer behind Security Gateway B. For technical or policy reasons, Security Gateway A cannot
establish a VPN tunnel with Security Gateway B. With VPN Routing, Security Gateways A and B can
establish VPN tunnels through Security Gateway C.

Item Description
A Security Gateway A

B Security Gateway B

C Security Gateway C

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 Domain Based VPN

VPN Routing and Access Control

VPN routing connections are subject to the same access control rules as any other connection. If
VPN routing is correctly configured but a Security Policy rule exists that does not allow the
connection, the connection is dropped. For example: a Security Gateway has a rule which forbids
all FTP traffic from inside the internal network to anywhere outside. When a peer Security
Gateway opens an FTP connection with this Security Gateway, the connection is dropped.
For VPN routing to succeed, a single rule in the Security Policy Rule Base must cover traffic in
both directions, inbound and outbound, and on the central Security Gateway. To configure this
rule, see Configuring the 'Accept VPN Traffic Rule (see "Configuring the 'Accept VPN Traffic Rule'"
on page 77).

Configuring VPN Routing in Domain Based VPN

Configure most common VPN routing scenarios through a VPN star community in SmartConsole.
You can also configure VPN routing between Security Gateways in the Security Management
Server configuration file $FWDIR/conf/vpn_route.conf.
You can only configure VPN routing between Security Gateways that belong to a VPN community.

Configuring VPN Routing for Security Gateways in SmartConsole

To configure a VPN Routing in a star community in SmartConsole:
1. On the Star Community window, in the:
a) Center Gateways section, select the Security Gateway that functions as the "Hub".
b) Satellite Gateways section, select Security Gateways as the "spokes", or satellites.
2. On the VPN Routing page, Enable VPN routing for satellites section, select one of these
options:
• To center and to other Satellites through center - This allows connectivity between the
Security Gateways, for example if the spoke Security Gateways have dynamically assigned
IP addresses, and the Hub is a Security Gateway with a static IP address.
• To center, or through the center to other satellites, to internet and other VPN targets -
This allows connectivity between the Security Gateways as well as the ability to inspect all
communication passing through the Hub to the Internet.
3. Create an appropriate Access Control Policy rule. Remember: one rule must cover traffic in
both directions.
4. NAT the satellite Security Gateways on the Hub if the Hub is used to route connections from
Satellites to the Internet.

Configuration in the VPN Configuration File

For more granular control over VPN routing, edit the vpn_route.conf file in the conf directory of
the Security Management Server.
The configuration file, vpn_route.conf, is a text file that contains the name of network objects. The
format is: Destination, Next hop, Install on Security Gateway (with tabbed spaces separating the
elements).

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 Domain Based VPN

Consider a simple VPN routing scenario consisting of Center gateway (hub) and two Satellite
gateways (spokes). All machines are controlled from the same Security Management Server, and
all the Security Gateways are members of the same VPN community. Only Telnet and FTP services
are to be encrypted between the Satellites and routed through the Center:

Although this can be done easily in a VPN star community, the same goal can be achieved by
editing vpn_route.conf:

Destination Next hop router interface Install on

Spoke_B_VPN_Dom Hub_C Spoke_A

Spoke_A_VPN_Dom Hub_C Spoke_B

In this instance, Spoke_B_VPN_Dom is the name of the network object group that contains spoke
B's VPN domain. Hub C is the name of the Security Gateway enabled for VPN routing.
Spoke_A_VPN_Dom is the name of the network object that represents Spoke A's encryption
domain. For an example of how the file appears:

Configuring the 'Accept VPN Traffic Rule'

In SmartConsole:
1. Double click on a Star or Meshed Community.
2. On the Encrypted Traffic page, select Accept all encrypted traffic.
3. In a Star community, choose between accepting encrypted traffic on Both center and satellite
gateways or Satellite gateways only.
4. Click OK.

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 Domain Based VPN

Configuring Multiple Hubs

Consider two Hubs, A and B. Hub A has two spokes, spoke_A1, and spoke_A2. Hub B has a
single spoke, spoke_B. In addition, Hub A is managed from Security Management Server A, while
Hub B is managed via Security Management Server B:

For the two VPN star communities, based around Hubs A and B:
• Spokes A1 and A2 need to route all traffic going outside of the VPN community through Hub A
• Spokes A1 and A2 also need to route all traffic to one another through Hub A, the center of
their star community
• Spoke B needs to route all traffic outside of its star community through Hub B
A_community is the VPN community of A plus the spokes belonging to A. B_community is the VPN
community. Hubs_community is the VPN community of Hub_A and Hub_B.

Configuring VPN Routing and Access Control on Security Management

Server A
The vpn_route.conf file on Security Management Server 1 looks like this:

Destination Next hop router interface Install on

Spoke_B_VPN_Dom Hub_A A_Spokes

Spoke_A1_VPN_Dom Hub_A Spoke_A2

Spoke_A2_VPN_Dom Hub_A Spoke _A1

Spoke_B_VPN_Dom Hub_B Hub_A

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 Domain Based VPN

Spokes A1 and A2 are combined into the network group object "A_spokes". The appropriate rule in
the Security Policy Rule Base looks like this:

Source Destination VPN Service Action

Any Any A_Community Any Accept
B_Community
Hubs_Community

Configuring VPN Routing and Access Control on Security Management

Server B
The vpn_route.conf file on Security Management Server 2 looks like this:

Destination Next hop router interface Install On

Spoke_A1_VPN_Dom Hub_B Spoke_B

Spoke_A2_VPN_Dom Hub_B Spoke_B

Spoke_A1_VPN_Dom Hub_A Hub_B

Spoke_A2_VPN_Dom Hub_A Hub_B

The appropriate rule in the Security Policy Rule Base looks like this:

Source Destination VPN Service Action

Any Any B_Community Any Accept
A_Community
Hubs_Community

For both vpn_route.conf files:

• "A_Community" is a star VPN community comprised of Hub_A, Spoke_A1, and Spoke_A2
• "B_Community" is a star VPN community comprised of Hub_B and Spoke_B
• "Hubs-Community" is a meshed VPN community comprised of Hub_A and Hub_B (it could also
be a star community with the central Security Gateways meshed).

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CHAPTE R 8

Route Based VPN

In This Section:
Overview of Route-based VPN .....................................................................................80
VPN Tunnel Interface (VTI) ...........................................................................................81
Using Dynamic Routing Protocols ...............................................................................82
Configuring Numbered VTIs.........................................................................................82
VTIs in a Clustered Environment .................................................................................84
Configuring VTIs in a Clustered Environment .............................................................84
Enabling Dynamic Routing Protocols on VTIs .............................................................88
Configuring VTIs in a Gaia Environment ......................................................................91
Configuring Anti-Spoofing on VTIs...............................................................................91
Configuring Unnumbered VTIs.....................................................................................91
Routing Multicast Packets Through VPN Tunnels ......................................................92

Overview of Route-based VPN

The use of VPN Tunnel Interfaces (VTI) is based on the idea that setting up a VTI between peer
Security Gateways is similar to connecting them directly.
A VTI is an operating system level virtual interface that can be used as a Security Gateway to the
VPN domain of the peer Security Gateway. Each VTI is associated with a single tunnel to a Security
Gateway. The tunnel itself with all of its properties is defined, as before, by a VPN Community
linking the two Security Gateways. Configure the peer Security Gateway with a corresponding VTI.
The native IP routing mechanism on each Security Gateway can then direct traffic into the tunnel
as it would for other interfaces.
All traffic destined to the VPN domain of a peer Security Gateway is routed through the
"associated" VTI. This infrastructure allows dynamic routing protocols to use VTIs. A dynamic
routing protocol daemon running on the Security Gateway can exchange routing information with
a neighboring routing daemon running on the other end of an IPsec tunnel, which appears to be a
single hop away.
Route Based VPN can only be implemented between two Security Gateways within the same
community.

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 Route Based VPN

VPN Tunnel Interface (VTI)

A VPN Tunnel Interface is a virtual interface on a Security Gateway that is related to a VPN tunnel
and connects to a remote peer. You create a VTI on each Security Gateway that connects to the VTI
on a remote peer. Traffic routed from the local Security Gateway via the VTI is transferred
encrypted to the associated peer Security Gateway.

In this scenario:
• There is a VTI connecting Cluster GWA and GWb
• There is a VTI connecting Cluster GWA and GWc
• There is a VTI connecting GWb and GWc
A virtual interface behaves like a point-to-point interface directly connected to the remote peer.
Traffic between network hosts is routed into the VPN tunnel using the IP routing mechanism of
the Operating System. Security Gateway objects are still required, as well as VPN communities
(and access control policies) to define which tunnels are available. However, VPN encryption
domains for each peer Security Gateway are no longer necessary. The decision whether or not to
encrypt depends on whether the traffic is routed through a virtual interface. The routing changes
dynamically if a dynamic routing protocol (OSPF/BGP) is available on the network.
When a connection that originates on GWb is routed through a VTI to GWc (or servers behind GWc)
and is accepted by the implied rules, the connection leaves GWb in the clear with the local IP
address of the VTI as the source IP address. If this IP address is not routable, return packets will
be lost.
The solution for this issue is:
• Configure a static route on GWb that redirects packets destined to GWc from being routed
through the VTI
• Not including it in any published route
• Adding route maps that filter out GWc's IP addresses

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 Route Based VPN

Having excluded those IP addresses from route-based VPN, it is still possible to have other
connections encrypted to those addresses (i.e. when not passing on implied rules) by using
domain based VPN definitions.
The VTI can be configured in two ways:
• Numbered
• Unnumbered

Numbered VTI
You configure a local and remote IP address for each numbered VPN Tunnel Interface (VTI). For
each Security Gateway, you configure a local IP address, a remote address, and the local IP
address source for outbound connections to the tunnel. The remote IP address must be the local
IP address on the remote peer Security Gateway. More than one VTI can use the same IP Address,
but they cannot use an existing physical interface IP address.

Unnumbered VTI
For unnumbered VTIs, you define a proxy interface for each Security Gateway. Each Security
Gateway uses the proxy interface IP address as the source for outbound traffic. Unnumbered
interfaces let you assign and manage one IP address for each interface. Proxy interfaces can be
physical or loopback interfaces.

Using Dynamic Routing Protocols

VTIs allow the ability to use Dynamic Routing Protocols to exchange routing information between
Security Gateways. The Dynamic Routing Protocols supported on Gaia are:
• BGP4
• OSPFv2
• RIPv1
• RIPv2

Configuring Numbered VTIs

Route Based VPN can only be implemented between two Security Gateways within the same
community.

Enabling Route Based VPN

If you configure a Security Gateway for Domain Based VPN and Route Based VPN, Domain Based
VPN takes precedence by default. To force Route Based VPN to take priority, you must create a
dummy (empty) group and assign it to the VPN domain.

To force Route-Based VPN to take priority:

1. In the Gateways & Servers view, edit a Check Point Security Gateway.
2. Go to the Network Management > VPN Domain page.
3. Select Manually define.
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 Route Based VPN

4. Click New > Group > Simple Group.

5. Enter a Name and click OK.

Configuring Numbered VTIs

Using the new VPN Command Line Interface (VPN Shell), the administrator creates a VPN Tunnel
Interface on the enforcement module for each peer Security Gateway, and "associates" the
interface with a peer Security Gateway. The VPN Tunnel Interface may be numbered or
unnumbered. For more information on the VPN Shell, see VPN Shell.
Every numbered VTI is assigned a local IP Address and a remote IP Address. Prior to
configuration, a range of IP Addresses must be configured to assign to the VTIs.

A VTI connects:
• Cluster GWA and GWb
• Cluster GWA and GWc
• GWb and GWc
The devices in this scenario are:
ClusterXL:
• Cluster GWA
• member_GWA1
• member_GWA2
VPN Modules:
• GWb
• GWc
IP Configurations:
• Cluster GWA
• member_GWA1
• External Unique IP eth0: 170.170.1.1/24
• External VIP eth0: 170.170.1.10/24
• Sync Interface eth1: 5.5.5.1/24
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 Route Based VPN

• IP of VTI vt-GWb: Local: 10.0.1.11, Remote: 10.0.0.2

• VIP of VTI vt-GWb: 10.0.1.10
• IP of VTI vt-GWc: Local: 10.0.1.21, Remote: 10.0.0.3
• VIP of VTI vt-GWc: 10.0.1.20
• member_GWA2
• External Unique IP eth0: 170.170.1.2/24
• External VIP eth0: 170.170.1.10/24
• Sync Interface eth1: 5.5.5.1/24
• IP of VTI vt-GWb: Local: 10.0.1.12, Remote: 10.0.0.2
• VIP of VTI vt-GWb: 10.0.1.10
• IP of VTI vt-GWc: Local: 10.0.1.22, Remote: 10.0.0.3
• VIP of VTI vt-GWc: 10.0.1.20
• GWb
• External Unique IP eth0: 180.180.1.1/24
• IP of VTI vt-ClusterGWa: Local: 10.0.0.2, Remote: 10.0.1.10
• IP of VTI vt-GWc: Local: 10.0.0.2, Remote: 10.0.0.3
• GWc
• External Unique IP eth0: 190.190.1.1/24
• IP of VTI vt-ClusterGWa: Local: 10.0.0.3, Remote: 10.0.1.20
• IP of VTI vt-GWb: Local: 10.0.0.3, Remote: 10.0.0.2

VTIs in a Clustered Environment

When configuring numbered VTIs in a clustered environment, a number of issues need to be
considered:
• Each member must have a unique source IP address.
• Every interface on each member requires a unique IP address.
• All VTIs going to the same remote peer must have the same name.
• Cluster IP addresses are required.

Configuring VTIs in a Clustered Environment

The following sample configurations use the same Security Gateway names and IP addresses
used referred to in: Numbered VTIs (see "Configuring Numbered VTIs" on page 83)
Configuring member_GWA1
--------- Access the VPN shell Command Line Interface
[member_GWa2]# vpn shell
? - This help
.. - Go up one level
quit - Quit
[interface ] - Manipulate tunnel interfaces

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 Route Based VPN

[show ] - Show internal data

[tunnels ] - Manipulate tunnel data
--------- Add vt-GWb
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.1.12 10.0.0.2 GWb
Interface 'vt-GWb' was added successfully to the system
--------- Add vt-GWc
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.1.22 10.0.0.3 GWc
Interface 'vt-GWc' was added successfully to the system
---------- Verify configuration
VPN shell:[/] > /show/interface/detailed all
vt-GWb Type:numbered MTU:1500
inet addr:10.0.1.12 P-t-P:10.0.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWb Peer ID:180.180.1.1 Status:attached

vt-GWc Type:numbered MTU:1500

inet addr:10.0.1.22 P-t-P:10.0.0.3 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWc Peer ID:190.190.1.1 Status:attached

VPN shell:[/] > /quit

[member_GWa2]# ifconfig vt-GWb
vt-GWb Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.1.12 P-t-P:10.0.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)

[member_GWa2]# ifconfig vt-GWc

vt-GWc Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.1.22 P-t-P:10.0.0.3 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)
Configuring member_GWA2
--------- Access the VPN shell Command Line Interface
[member_GWa2]# vpn shell
? - This help
.. - Go up one level
quit - Quit .
[interface ] - Manipulate tunnel interfaces
[show ] - Show internal data
[tunnels ] - Manipulate tunnel data
--------- Add vt-GWb
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.1.12 10.0.0.2 GWb
Interface 'vt-GWb' was added successfully to the system
--------- Add vt-GWc
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.1.22 10.0.0.3 GWc
Interface 'vt-GWc' was added successfully to the system
---------- Verify configuration
VPN shell:[/] > /show/interface/detailed all
vt-GWb Type:numbered MTU:1500
inet addr:10.0.1.12 P-t-P:10.0.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWb Peer ID:180.180.1.1 Status:attached

vt-GWc Type:numbered MTU:1500

inet addr:10.0.1.22 P-t-P:10.0.0.3 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWc Peer ID:190.190.1.1 Status:attached

VPN shell:[/] > /quit

[member_GWa2]# ifconfig vt-GWb
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vt-GWb Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr

inet addr:10.0.1.12 P-t-P:10.0.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)

[member_GWa2]# ifconfig vt-GWc

vt-GWc Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.1.22 P-t-P:10.0.0.3 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)

When configuring a VTI in a clustered environment and an interface name is not specified, a name
is provided. The default name for a VTI is "vt-[peer Security Gateway name]". For example, if the
peer Security Gateway's name is Server_2, the default name of the VTI is 'vt-Server_2'. For peer
Security Gateways that have names that are longer than 12 characters, the default interface name
is the last five characters plus a 7 byte hash of the peer name calculated to the give the interface a
unique name.
After configuring the VTIs on the cluster members, you must configure in the SmartConsole the
VIP of these VTIs.
In SmartConsole:
1. In the Gateways & Servers view, edit the Check Point Cluster.
2. In Network Management window, click Get Interfaces.
The VTIs are shown in the Topology column as Point to point.
Interfaces are members of the same VTI if these criteria match:
• Remote peer name
• Remote IP address
• Interface name
3. Configure the VTI VIP. Select the interface and click Edit. Edit the interface in the General page
of the interface object.
4. Click OK and install policy.
Configuring GWb
--------- Access the VPN shell Command Line Interface
[GWb]# vpn shell
? - This help
.. - Go up one level
quit - Quit
[interface ] - Manipulate tunnel interfaces
[show ] - Show internal data
[tunnels ] - Manipulate tunnel data
--------- Add vt-GWa
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.0.2 10.0.1.10 GWa
Interface 'vt-GWa' was added successfully to the system
--------- Add vt-GWc
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.3 GWc
Interface 'vt-GWc' was added successfully to the system
---------- Verify configuration
VPN shell:[/] > /show/interface/detailed all
vt-GWa Type:numbered MTU:1500
inet addr:10.0.0.2 P-t-P:10.0.1.10 Mask:255.255.255.255

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Peer:GWa Peer ID:170.170.1.10 Status:attached

vt-GWc Type:numbered MTU:1500

inet addr:10.0.0.2 P-t-P:10.0.0.3 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWc Peer ID:190.190.1.1 Status:attached

VPN shell:[/] > /quit

[GWb]# ifconfig vt-GWa
vt-GWa Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.0.2 P-t-P:10.0.1.10 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)

[GWb]# ifconfig vt-GWc

vt-GWc Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.0.2 P-t-P:10.0.0.3 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)
Configuring GWc
--------- Access the VPN shell Command Line Interface
[GWc]# vpn shell
? - This help
.. - Go up one level
quit - Quit
[interface ] - Manipulate tunnel interfaces
[show ] - Show internal data
[tunnels ] - Manipulate tunnel data
--------- Add vt-GWa
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.0.3 10.0.1.20 GWa
Interface 'vt-GWa' was added successfully to the system
--------- Add vt-GWb
VPN shell:[/] > /interface/add/numbered 10.0.0.3 10.0.0.2 GWb
Interface 'vt-GWb' was added successfully to the system
---------- Verify configuration
VPN shell:[/] > /show/interface/detailed all
vt-GWa Type:numbered MTU:1500
inet addr:10.0.0.3 P-t-P:10.0.1.20 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWa Peer ID:170.170.1.10 Status:attached

vt-GWb Type:numbered MTU:1500

inet addr:10.0.0.3 P-t-P:10.0.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
Peer:GWb Peer ID:180.180.1.1 Status:attached

VPN shell:[/] > /quit

[GWc]# ifconfig vt-GWa
vt-GWa Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.0.3 P-t-P:10.0.1.20 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)

[GWc]# ifconfig vt-GWb

vt-GWb Link encap:IPIP Tunnel HWaddr
inet addr:10.0.0.3 P-t-P:10.0.0.2 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
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 Route Based VPN

RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:36 (36.0 b)

Enabling Dynamic Routing Protocols on VTIs

Using the example:

The following tables illustrate how the OSPF dynamic routing protocol is enabled on VTIs both for
single members and for cluster members using SecurePlatform. Note that the network
commands for single members and cluster members are not the same.
For more information on advanced routing commands and syntaxes, see the Check Point
Advanced Routing Suite - Command Line Interface book.
To learn about enabling dynamic routing protocols on VTIs in Gaia environments, see VPN Tunnel
Interfaces in the R80.10 Gaia Administration Guide
http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54824.
When peering with a Cisco GRE enabled device, a point to point GRE tunnel is required. Use the
following command to configure the tunnel interface definition:

ip ospf network point-to-point

--------- Launch the Dynamic Routing Module
[member_GWa1]# expert
Enter expert password:

You are in expert mode now.

[Expert@member_GWa1]# cligated
localhost>enable
localhost#configure terminal
--------- Enable OSPF and provide an OSPF router ID
localhost(config)#router ospf 1
localhost(config-router-ospf)#router-id 170.170.1.10
--------- Define interfaces/IP's on which OSPF runs (Use the cluster IP as
defined in topology) and the area ID for the interface/IP
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.1.10 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.1.20 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
--------- Redistribute kernel routes (this is only here as an example, please
see the dynamic routing book for more specific commands concerning
redistribution of routes)
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localhost(config-router-ospf)#redistribute kernel
localhost(config-router-ospf)#exit
localhost(config)#exit
-------- Write configuration to disk
localhost#write memory
IU0 999 Configuration written to '/etc/gated.ami'
localhost#quit

Dynamic Routing on member_GWA2

--------- Launch the Dynamic Routing Module
[member_GWa2]# expert
Enter expert password:

You are in expert mode now.

[Expert@member_GWa2]# cligated
localhost>enable
localhost#configure terminal
--------- Enable OSPF and provide an OSPF router ID
localhost(config)#router ospf 1
localhost(config-router-ospf)#router-id 170.170.1.10
--------- Define interfaces/IP's on which OSPF runs (Use the cluster IP as
defined in topology) and the area ID for the interface/IP
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.1.10 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.1.20 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
--------- Redistribute kernel routes (this is only here as an example, please
see the dynamic routing book for more specific commands concerning
redistribution of routes)
localhost(config-router-ospf)#redistribute kernel
localhost(config-router-ospf)#exit
localhost(config)#exit
-------- Write configuration to disk
localhost#write memory
IU0 999 Configuration written to '/etc/gated.ami'
localhost#quit

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 Route Based VPN

Dynamic Routing on GWb

--------- Launch the Dynamic Routing Module
[GWb]# expert
Enter expert password:

You are in expert mode now.

[Expert@GWb]# cligated
localhost>enable
localhost#configure terminal
--------- Enable OSPF and provide an OSPF router ID
localhost(config)#router ospf 1
localhost(config-router-ospf)#router-id 180.180.1.1
--------- Define interfaces/IP's on which OSPF runs (Use the cluster IP as
defined in topology) and the area ID for the interface/IP
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.1.10 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.0.3 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
--------- Redistribute kernel routes (this is only here as an example, please
see the dynamic routing book for more specific commands concerning
redistribution of routes)
localhost(config-router-ospf)#redistribute kernel
localhost(config-router-ospf)#exit
localhost(config)#exit
-------- Write configuration to disk
localhost#write memory
IU0 999 Configuration written to '/etc/gated.ami'
localhost#quit

Dynamic Routing on GWC

--------- Launch the Dynamic Routing Module
[GWc]# expert
Enter expert password:

You are in expert mode now.

[Expert@GWc]# cligated
localhost>enable
localhost#configure terminal
--------- Enable OSPF and provide an OSPF router ID
localhost(config)#router ospf 1
localhost(config-router-ospf)#router-id 190.190.1.1
--------- Define interfaces/IP's on which OSPF runs (Use the cluster IP as
defined in topology) and the area ID for the interface/IP
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.1.20 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
localhost(config-router-ospf)#network 10.0.0.2 0.0.0.0 area 0.0.0.0
--------- Redistribute kernel routes (this is only here as an example, please
see the dynamic routing book for more specific commands concerning
redistribution of routes)
localhost(config-router-ospf)#redistribute kernel
localhost(config-router-ospf)#exit
localhost(config)#exit
-------- Write configuration to disk
localhost#write memory
IU0 999 Configuration written to '/etc/gated.ami'
localhost#quit

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Configuring VTIs in a Gaia Environment

To learn how to configure VTIs in Gaia environments, see VPN Tunnel Interfaces in the R80.10 Gaia
Administration Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54824.

Note - For VTIs between Gaia gateways and Cisco GRE gateways: You must manually
configure hello/dead packet intervals at 10/40 on the Gaia gateway, or at 30/120 on the
peer gateway. If not, OSPF will not get into Full state.

Configuring Anti-Spoofing on VTIs

In SmartConsole:
1. In the Gateways & Servers view, edit a Check Point Security Gateway.
2. Go to the Network Management page.
3. Click Get Interfaces to read the interface information on the Security Gateway computer.
4. Select an interface, and click Edit.
5. In the Topology section of the General page, click Modify.
6. In the IP Addresses behind peer Security Gateway that are within reach of this interface
section, select:
• Not Defined to accept all traffic.
• Specific to choose a particular network. The IP addresses in this network will be the only
addresses accepted by this interface.
7. In the Perform Anti-Spoofing based on interface topology section, select Don't check packets
from to ensure Anti-Spoofing checks do not take place for addresses from certain internal
networks coming into the external interface. Define a network object that represents those
internal networks with valid addresses, and from the drop-down list, select that network
object.
Objects selected in the Don't check packets from drop-down menu are disregarded by the
Anti-Spoofing enforcement mechanism.
8. Under Spoof Tracking select Log, and click OK.

Configuring Unnumbered VTIs

Working with unnumbered interfaces eliminates the need to assign two IP addresses per interface
(the local IP, and the remote IP Address), and the need to synchronize this information among the
peers.
If the VPN Tunnel Interface is unnumbered, local and remote IP addresses are not configured.
This interface is associated with a proxy interface from which the virtual interface inherits an IP
address. Traffic initiated by the Security Gateway and routed through the virtual interface will have
the physical interface's IP Address as the source IP.

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To configure unnumbered VTIs for Gaia:

1. In Gaia WebUI, select Interface Management > Network Interfaces.
2. Click Add > VPN Tunnel.
3. In the Add/Edit window that opens, configure these parameters:
• VPN Tunnel ID - an integer from 1 to 99, and Gaia automatically adds vpnt prefix to the
Tunnel ID
• Remote Peer Name - alpha-numeric Peer ID, as defined for the Remote Peer Name in the
VPN community. You must define the two peers in the VPN community before you define
the VTI.
• VPN Tunnel Type - select Unnumbered
• Local Address - leave empty for unnumbered VTI
• Remote Address - leave empty for unnumbered VTI
• Physical Device - the name of the local peer interface (the loopback interface can also be
configured as the local peer interface)

Routing Multicast Packets Through VPN Tunnels

Multicast is used to transmit a single message to a select group of recipients. IP Multicasting
applications send one copy of each datagram (IP packet) and address it to a group of computers
that want to receive it. This technique addresses datagrams to a group of receivers (at the
multicast address) rather than to a single receiver (at a unicast address). The network is
responsible for forwarding the datagrams to only those networks that need to receive them. PIM is
required for this feature and it is only available on SecurePlatform Pro and IPSO.
For more about Multicasting, see "Multicast Access Control" in the R80.10 Security Management
Administration Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54842.
Multicast traffic can be encrypted and forwarded across VPN tunnels that were configured using
VPN tunnel interfaces (virtual interfaces associated with the same physical interface). All
participant Security Gateways, both on the sending and receiving ends, must have a virtual
interface for each VPN tunnel and a multicast routing protocol must be enabled on all participant
Security Gateways.
For more about virtual interfaces, see Configuring a Virtual Interface Using the VPN Shell.
To enable multicast service on a Security Gateway functioning as a rendezvous point, add a rule to
the security policy of that Security Gateway to allow only the specific multicast service to be
accepted unencrypted, and to accept all other services only through the community.
Corresponding access rules enabling multicast protocols and services should be created on all
participating Security Gateways. For example:

Source Destination VPN Service Action Track

Multicast_ Multicast_ Any Traffic igmp accept log
Gateways Gateways
pim

Sample_Host Multicast_Group_ Sample_ Multicast_ accept log

Address Community Service_Group

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CHAPTE R 9

Tunnel Management
In This Section:
Overview of Tunnel Management ................................................................................93
Permanent Tunnels ......................................................................................................93
VPN Tunnel Sharing .....................................................................................................96
Configuring Tunnel Features .......................................................................................97

Overview of Tunnel Management

The VPN tunnel transports data securely. You can manage the types of tunnels and the number of
tunnels with these features:
• Permanent Tunnels - Keeps VPN tunnels active to allow real-time monitoring capabilities.
• VPN Tunnel Sharing - Provides greater interoperability and scalability between Security
Gateways. It also controls the number of VPN tunnels created between peer Security
Gateways.
See the status of all VPN tunnels in SmartView Monitor. For details see Monitoring Tunnels in the
Logging and Monitoring Administration Guide.

Permanent Tunnels
As companies have become more dependent on VPNs for communication to other sites,
uninterrupted connectivity has become more crucial than ever before. Therefore it is essential to
make sure that the VPN tunnels are kept up and running. Permanent Tunnels are constantly kept
active and as a result, make it easier to recognize malfunctions and connectivity problems.
Administrators can monitor the two sides of a VPN tunnel and identify problems without delay.
Each VPN tunnel in the community may be set to be a Permanent Tunnel. Since Permanent
Tunnels are constantly monitored, if the VPN tunnel is down, then a log, alert, or user defined
action, can be issued. A VPN tunnel is monitored by periodically sending "tunnel test" packets. As
long as responses to the packets are received the VPN tunnel is considered "up." If no response is
received within a given time period, the VPN tunnel is considered "down." Permanent Tunnels can
only be established between Check Point Security Gateways. The configuration of Permanent
Tunnels takes place on the community level and:
• Can be specified for an entire community. This option sets every VPN tunnel in the community
as permanent.
• Can be specified for a specific Security Gateway. Use this option to configure specific Security
Gateways to have permanent tunnels.
• Can be specified for a single VPN tunnel. This feature allows configuring specific tunnels
between specific Security Gateways as permanent.

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Permanent Tunnels in a MEP Environment

In a Multiple Entry Point (MEP) environment, VPN tunnels that are active are rerouted from the
predefined primary Security Gateway to the backup Security Gateway if the primary Security
Gateway becomes unavailable. When a Permanent Tunnel is configured between Security
Gateways in a MEP environment where RIM is enabled, the satellite Security Gateways see the
center Security Gateways as "unified." As a result, the connection will not fail but will fail over to
another center Security Gateway on a newly created permanent tunnel. For more information on
MEP see Multiple Entry Point VPNs (see "Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs" on page 115).

Tunnel Testing for Permanent Tunnels

Check Point uses a proprietary protocol to test if VPN tunnels are active, and supports any
site-to-site VPN configuration. Tunnel testing requires two Security Gateways, and uses UDP port
18234. Check Point tunnel testing protocol does not support 3rd party Security Gateways.

Terminating Permanent Tunnels

Once a Permanent Tunnel is no longer required, the tunnel can be shut down. Permanent Tunnels
are shut down by deselecting the configuration options to make them active and re-installing the
policy.

Dead Peer Detection

In addition to Tunnel Testing, Dead Peer Detection (DPD) is a different method to test if VPN
tunnels are active. Dead Peer Detection does support 3rd party Security Gateways and supports
permanent tunnels with interoperable devices based on IKEv1/IKEv2 DPD (IKEv1 DPD is based on
RFC 3706). It uses IPsec traffic patterns to minimize the number of messages required to confirm
the availability of a peer.
The tunnel testing mechanism is the recommended keepalive mechanism for Check Point to
Check Point VPN gateways because it is based on IPsec traffic and requires an IPsec established
tunnel. DPD is based on IKE encryption keys only.
DPD has two modes:
• DPD responder mode - Requires an R77.10 or higher gateway managed by an R77 or higher
management server.
• Permanent tunnel mode based on DPD - Requires an R77.10 or higher gateway managed by
an R77.10 or higher management.

DPD Responder Mode

In this mode the Check Point gateway sends the IKEv1 DPD Vendor ID to peers from which the
DPD Vendor ID was received.

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 Tunnel Management

To enable DPD Responder Mode:

1. Run on each gateway:
ckp_regedit -a SOFTWARE/CheckPoint/VPN1 forceSendDPDPayload -n 1
2. Enable the keep_IKE_SAs property in GuiDBedit to prevent a problem where the Check Point
gateway deletes IKE SAs:
a) In SmartConsole, go to Menu > Global Properties > Advanced > Advanced Configuration
> VPN advanced properties > VPN IKE properties.
b) Change keep_IKE_SAs to true.

To disable DPD Responder Mode:

1. Run on each gateway:
ckp_regedit -d SOFTWARE/CheckPoint/VPN1 forceSendDPDPayload
Note - Enable the keep_IKE_SAs property in GuiDBedit to prevent a problem where the Check
Point gateway deletes IKE SAs. The DPD mechanism is based on IKE SA keys. In some situations,
the Check Point gateway deletes IKE SAs and a peer, usually a 3rd Party gateway, sends DPD
requests without response and concludes that the Check Point gateway is down. The peer can
then delete the IKE and IPsec keys, which causes encrypted traffic from the Check Point gateway
to be dropped by the remote peer.

Permanent Tunnel Mode Based on DPD

DPD can monitor remote peers with the permanent tunnel feature. All related behavior and
configurations of permanent tunnels are supported.
To configure DPD for a permanent tunnel, the permanent tunnel must be in the VPN community.
After you configure the permanent tunnel, configure Permanent Tunnel mode Based on DPD.
There are different possibilities for permanent tunnel mode:
• tunnel_test (default) - The permanent tunnel is monitored by tunnel test (as in earlier
versions). It works between Check Point gateways only. Keepalive packets are always sent.
• dpd - The active DPD mode. A peer receives DPD requests at regular intervals (10 seconds).
DPD requests are only sent when there is no traffic from the peer.
• passive - The passive DPD mode. Peers do not send DPD requests to this peer. Tunnels with
passive peers are monitored only if there is IPsec traffic and incoming DPD requests.
Note: To use this mode for only some gateways, enable the forceSendDPDPayload registry
key on Check Point remote peers.

To enable DPD monitoring:

On each VPN gateway in the VPN community, configure the tunnel_keepalive_method property, in
GuiDBedit. This includes 3rd Party gateways. (You cannot configure different monitor mechanisms
for the same gateway).
1. In GuiDBedit, go to Network Objects > network_objects > <gateway> > VPN.
2. For the Value, select a permanent tunnel mode.
3. Save.
4. Install policy on the gateways.

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 Tunnel Management

Optional Configuration
• IKE Initiation Prevention - By default, when a valid IKE SA is not available, a DPD request
message triggers a new IKE negotiation. To prevent this behavior, set the property
dpd_allowed_to_init_ike to false.
Edit the property in GuiDBedit under Network Objects > network_objects > <gateway Name>
> VPN.
• Delete IKE SAs for dead peer - Based on RFC 3706, a VPN gateway has to delete IKE SAs from
a dead peer. This functionality is enabled, by default.
To disable this feature, set the DPD_DONT_DEL_SA environment variable to 0:
• To do this temporarily, run:
cpstop
export DPD_DONT_DEL_SA=0
cpstart
• To do this permanently:
(i) Add this line to the $CPDIR/tmp/.CPprofile.sh file:
DPD_DONT_DEL_SA=0 ; export DPD_DONT_DEL_SA
(ii) Reboot
Note: To re-enable the feature, remove the DPD_DONT_DEL_SA environment variable.

VPN Tunnel Sharing

For a VPN community, the VPN tunnel sharing configuration is set on the Tunnel Management
page of the Community Properties window.
For a specific Security Gateway, the configuration is set on the VPN Advanced page of the Security
Gateway properties window.
VPN Tunnel Sharing provides greater interoperability and scalability by controlling the number of
VPN tunnels created between peer Security Gateways. Configuration of VPN Tunnel Sharing can
be set on both the VPN community and Security Gateway object.
• One VPN Tunnel per each pair of hosts - A VPN tunnel is created for every session initiated
between every pair of hosts.
• One VPN Tunnel per subnet pair- Once a VPN tunnel has been opened between two subnets,
subsequent sessions between the same subnets will share the same VPN tunnel. This is the
default setting and is compliant with the IPsec industry standard.
• One VPN Tunnel per Security Gateway pair- One VPN tunnel is created between peer Security
Gateways and shared by all hosts behind each peer Security Gateway.
In case of a conflict between the tunnel properties of a VPN community and a Security Gateway
object that is a member of that same community, the "stricter" setting is followed. For example, a
Security Gateway that was set to One VPN Tunnel per each pair of hosts and a community that
was set to One VPN Tunnel per subnet pair, would follow One VPN Tunnel per each pair of hosts.
Tunnel test is a proprietary Check Point protocol used to see if VPN tunnels are active. Tunnel
testing requires two Security Gateways and uses UDP port 18234. Third party gateways do not
support tunnel testing.

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 Tunnel Management

Configuring Tunnel Features

To configure Tunnel Management options:
1. In SmartConsole, click Object Explorer (Ctrl+E)
2. Click New > VPN Community and choose Star Community or Meshed community.
3. Click Tunnel Management. and configure the tunnel settings:
• Permanent Tunnels (on page 93)
• Tracking Options (on page 98)
• VPN Tunnel Sharing (on page 96)

Permanent Tunnels
In the Star Community or Meshed community object, on the Tunnel Management page, select Set
Permanent Tunnels. These are the options:
• On all tunnels in the community
• On all tunnels of specific Security Gateways
• On specific tunnels in the community
To configure all tunnels as permanent, select On all tunnels in the community. Clear this option
to terminate all Permanent Tunnels in the community.

To configure on all tunnels of specific Security Gateways:

1. Select On all tunnels of specific gateways and click Select Gateways.
The Select Gateway window is displayed.
To terminate Permanent Tunnels connected to a specific Security Gateway, highlight the
Security Gateway and click Remove.
2. To configure the Tracking options for a specific Security Gateway, highlight a Security Gateway
and click Gateway Tunnel Properties.

To configure on specific tunnels in the community:

1. Select On specific tunnels in the community and click Select Permanent Tunnels.
The Select Permanent Tunnels window opens.
2. Double click in the white cell that intersects the Security Gateways where a permanent tunnel
is required.
The Tunnel Properties window is displayed.
3. Click Set these tunnels to be permanent tunnels.
To terminate the Permanent Tunnel between these two Security Gateways, clear Set these
tunnels to be permanent tunnels.
4. Click OK.

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 Tunnel Management

Advanced Permanent Tunnel Configuration

In SmartConsole:
1. Click Menu > Global Properties.
The Global Properties window shows.
2. Select Advanced > Configure.
The Advanced configuration window shows.
3. Click VPN Advanced Properties > Tunnel Management to see the five attributes that may be
configured to customize the amount of tunnel tests sent and the intervals in which they are
sent:
• life_sign_timeout - Set the amount of time the tunnel test or DPD runs without a
response before the peer host is declared 'down.'
• life_sign_transmitter_interval - Set the time between tunnel tests or DPD.
• life_sign_retransmissions_count - When a tunnel test does not receive a reply, another
test is resent to confirm that the peer is 'down.' The Life Sign Retransmission Count is set
to how many times the tunnel test is resent without receiving a response.
• life_sign_retransmissions_interval - Set the time between the tunnel tests that are
resent after it does not receive a response from the peer.
• cluster_status_polling_interval - (Relevant for HA Clusters only) - Set the time between
tunnel tests between a primary Security Gateway and a backup Security Gateway. The
tunnel test is sent by the backup Security Gateway. When there is no reply, the backup
Security Gateway will become active.

Tracking Options
You can configure alerts to stay updated on the status of permanent VPN tunnels.

To configure logs and alerts for VPN tunnel status:

1. In the properties of the VPN Community, open the Tunnel Management page.
2. In Tunnel down track, select the alert when a tunnel is down.
3. In Tunnel up track, select the alert when a tunnel is up.
The alerts are configured for the tunnels that are defined as permanent, based on the settings
on the page.
See status of all VPN tunnels in SmartView Monitor.

To open SmartView Monitor:

1. Open SmartConsole > Logs & Monitor.
2. Click New Tab.
3. Click Tunnel & User Monitoring.
For more details, see Monitoring Tunnels in the R80.10 Logging and Monitoring Administration
Guide.

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CHAPTE R 10

Route Injection Mechanism

In This Section:
Overview of Route Injection ..........................................................................................99
Automatic RIM ..............................................................................................................99
Custom Scripts ...........................................................................................................101
Injecting Peer Security Gateway Interfaces ..............................................................102
Configuring RIM ..........................................................................................................103
Configuring RIM on Gaia.............................................................................................104

Overview of Route Injection

Route Injection Mechanism (RIM) enables a Security Gateway to use dynamic routing protocols to
propagate the encryption domain of a VPN peer Security Gateway to the internal network and then
initiate back connections. When a VPN tunnel is created, RIM updates the local routing table of the
Security Gateway to include the encryption domain of the VPN peer.

Note - Route Injection is not currently supported for IPv6.

RIM can only be enabled when permanent tunnels are configured for the community. Permanent
tunnels are kept alive by tunnel test packets. When a Security Gateway fails to reply, the tunnel
will be considered 'down.' As a result, RIM will delete the route to the failed link from the local
routing table, which triggers neighboring dynamic routing enabled devices to update their routing
information accordingly. This will result in a redirection of all traffic destined to travel across the
VPN tunnel, to a pre-defined alternative path.
There are two possible methods to configure RIM:
• Automatic RIM - RIM automatically injects the route to the encryption domain of the peer
Security Gateways.
• Custom Script - Specify tasks for RIM to perform according to specific needs.
Route injection can be integrated with MEP functionality (which route return packets back through
the same MEP Security Gateway). For more information on MEP, see Multiple Entry Point VPNs
(see "Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs" on page 115).

Automatic RIM
Automatic RIM can be enabled using the GUI when the operating system on the Security Gateway
is SecurePlatform, IPSO or Linux. Although a custom script can be used on these systems, no
custom-written scripts are required.

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 Route Injection Mechanism

In this scenario:

• Security Gateways 1 and 2 are both RIM and have a dynamic routing protocol enabled.
• R1 and R4 are enabled routers.
• When a VPN tunnel is created, RIM updates the local routing tables of Security Gateway 1 and
Security Gateway 2 to include the encryption domain of the other Security Gateway.
• Should the VPN tunnel become unavailable, traffic is redirected to the leased line.
The routing tables for the Security Gateways and routers read as follows. Entries in bold represent
routes injected into the Security Gateways local routing tables by RIM:

For Security Gateway 1:

Destination Netmask Security Gateway Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.10.2 1

192.168.21.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.2 1

192.168.11.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.10.1 1

Security Gateway 2:
Destination Netmask Security Gateway Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.20.2 1

192.168.11.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.20.2 1

192.168.21.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.20.1 1

R1 (behind Security Gateway 1):

Destination Netmask Security Gateway Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.10.2 1

192.168.21.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.10.2 1

192.168.21.0 255.255.255.0 10.10.10.2 2

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 Route Injection Mechanism

R4 (behind Security Gateway 2):

Destination Netmask Security Gateway Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.20.2 1

192.168.11.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.20.2 1

192.168.11.0 255.255.255.0 10.10.10.1 2

Custom Scripts
Custom scripts can be run on any Security Gateway in the community. These scripts are executed
whenever a tunnel changes its state, i.e. goes "up" or "down." Such an event, for example, can be
the trigger that initiates a dial-up connection.
A script template custom_rim (with a .sh or .bat extension depending on the operating system) is
provided in the $FWDIR/Scripts directory.
Sample customized script:

#!/bin/sh

# This script is invoked each time a tunnel is configured with the RIM option
# and the tunnel changed state.
#
# You may add your custom commands to be invoked here.

# Parameters read from command line.

RIM_PEER_Security Gateway=$1
RIM_NEW_STATE=$2
RIM_HA_STATE=$3
RIM_FIRST_TIME=$4
RIM_PEER_ENC_NET=$5

case "${RIM_NEW_STATE}" in
up)
# Place your action for tunnels that came up
;;
down)
# Place your action for tunnel that went down
;;
esac

Where:
• RIM_PEER_Security Gateway: Peer Security Gateway
• RIM_NEW_STATE: Change in the state of the Security Gateway, i.e. up or down.
• RIM_HA_STATE: State of a single Security Gateway in a cluster (i.e., standby or active).
• RIM_FIRST_TIME: The script is executed separately for each network within the peer's
encryption domain. Although the script might be executed multiple times on a peer, this
parameter will only be transferred to the script with the value of '1' the first time the script
runs on the peer. The value '1' indicates that this is the first time this script is being executed.
The next time the script is executed, it is transferred with the value of '0' and the parameter is
disregarded. For example, you may send an email alert to the system administrator the
moment a tunnel goes down.

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 Route Injection Mechanism

• RIM_PEER_ENC_NET: VPN domain of the VPN peer.

Injecting Peer Security Gateway Interfaces

The RIM_inject_peer_interfaces flag is used to inject into the routing tables the IP addresses of
the peer Security Gateway in addition to the networks behind the Security Gateway.
For example, after a VPN tunnel is created, RIM injects into the local routing tables of both
Security Gateways, the encryption domain of the peer Security Gateway. However, when RIM
enabled Security Gateways communicate with a Security Gateway that has Hide NAT enabled, the
peer's interfaces need to be injected as well.
In this scenario:

• Security Gateways A and B are both RIM enabled and Security Gateway C has Hide NAT
enabled on the external interface ("hiding" all the IP addresses behind it).
• Host 1, behind Security Gateway C, initiates a VPN tunnel with Host 2, through Security
Gateway A.
• Router 3 holds routes to all the hosts behind Security Gateway C. Router 3 however, does not
have the Hide NAT IP address of Security Gateway C and as a result, cannot properly route
packets back to host 1.
This solution for routing the packets back properly is twofold:
1. Select the flag RIM_inject_peer_interfaces in the Global Properties page. This flag will inject
router 3 with all of the IP addresses of Security Gateway C including the Hide NAT address.
2. Configure the router not to propagate the information injected to other Security Gateways. If
the router is not configured properly, using the previous example, could result in Security
Gateway B routing traffic to Security Gateway C through Security Gateway A.

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 Route Injection Mechanism

Configuring RIM
Configuring RIM in a Star Community
1. Open the Star Community > Tunnel Management page.
2. In the Permanent Tunnels section, select Set Permanent Tunnels. The following Permanent
Tunnel (see "Permanent Tunnels" on page 93) modes are then made available:
• On all tunnels in the community
• On all tunnels of specific Security Gateways
• On specific tunnels in the community
When choosing tunnels, keep in mind that RIM can only be enabled on tunnels that have been
configured to be permanent (see "Configuring Tunnel Features" on page 97). On all tunnels in the
community must be selected if MEP is enabled on the community.
1. Select Enable Route Injection Mechanism (RIM).
2. Click Settings...
The Star Community Settings window opens
Decide if:
• RIM should run automatically on the central or satellite Security Gateways (Gaia,
SecurePlatform, or IPSO only).
• A customized script should be run on central or satellite Security Gateways whenever a
tunnel changes its states (goes up or down).
You can also configure the tracking options (on page 98).
3. If a customized script is run, edit custom_rim (.sh or .bat) script in the $FWDIR/Scripts
directory on each of the Security Gateways.

Configuring RIM in a Meshed Community:

1. Open the Meshed Community properties > Tunnel Management page.
2. In the Permanent Tunnels section, select Set Permanent Tunnels. The following Permanent
Tunnel modes are then made available:
• On all tunnels in the community
• On all tunnels of specific Security Gateways
• On specific tunnels in the community
For more information on these options, see Permanent Tunnels (on page 93).
When choosing tunnels, keep in mind that RIM can only be enabled on tunnels that have been
configured to be permanent. To configure permanent tunnels, see Configuring Tunnel Features
(on page 97).
1. Select Enable Route Injection Mechanism (RIM).
2. Click Settings.
The Route Injection Mechanism Settings window opens.

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 Route Injection Mechanism

Decide if:
• RIM should run automatically on the Security Gateways (SecurePlatform, IPSO or Linux
only).
• A customized script should be run on the Security Gateway whenever a tunnel changes its
state (goes up or down).
For tracking options, see Tracking Options (on page 104).
3. If a customized script is run, edit custom_rim (.sh or .bat) script in the $FWDIR/Scripts
directory on each of the Security Gateways.

Enabling the RIM_inject_peer_interfaces flag

To enable the RIM_inject_peer_interfaces flag:
1. In SmartConsole, click Menu > Global Properties.
2. Go to Advanced > Configure.
The Advanced Configuration window opens
3. Click VPN Advanced Properties > Tunnel Management.
4. Select RIM_inject_peer_interfaces.
5. Click OK.

Tracking Options
Several types of alerts can be configured to keep administrators up to date on the status of
Security Gateways. The Tracking settings can be configured on the Community object, in the
Tunnel Management > Enable Route Injection Mechanism > Settings page. The options are Log,
Popup Alert, Mail Alert, SNMP Trap Alert, and User Defined Alert.

Configuring RIM on Gaia

In Gaia, the Route Injection Mechanism adds routes directly to the kernel. For the routes to
remain in the Kernel, you must configure this option.

To set kernel routes using the CLI:

1. Run: set kernel-routes on.
2. Run: save config.

To set kernel routes using the WebUI:

1. In the tree view, click Advanced Routing > Routing Options.
2. In the Kernel Options area, select the Kernel Routes option.
3. Click Apply.

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 Route Injection Mechanism

Gaia Gateways in a Star VPN Community

For RIM to work, the Gaia gateways in a star VPN community must publish the routes of the
satellite networks to the router. For Gaia gateways to publish routes, run these CLI commands on
all gateways at the center of the community:
1. set routemap <Routemap Name> id <ID Number>
For example:
set routemap RIM id 5
2. set routemap <Routemap Name> id <ID Number> match protocol kernel
For example:
set routemap RIM id 5 match protocol kernel
3. Set ospf export-routemap <Routemap Name> preference 1 on
For example:
set ospf export-routemap RIM preference 1 on
4. set routemap <Routemap Name> id <ID Number> allow
For example:
set routemap RIM id 5 allow
5. set routemap <Routemap Name> id <ID Number> on
For example:
set routemap RIM2 id 10 on
6. set routemap <Routemap Name> id <ID Number> match nexthop <IP of OSPF
Interface of the other RIM GW> on
For example:
set routemap RIM2 id 10 match nexthop <10.16.50.3> on
7. set routemap <Routemap Name> id <ID Number> restrict
For example:
set routemap RIM2 id 10 restrict
8. set ospf import-routemap <Routemap Name> preference 1 on
For example:
set ospf import-routemap RIM2 preference 1 on
9. save config

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CHAPTE R 11

Wire Mode
In This Section:
Overview of Wire Mode ...............................................................................................106
Wire Mode Scenarios ..................................................................................................106
Special Considerations for Wire Mode ......................................................................109
Configuring Wire Mode ...............................................................................................110

Overview of Wire Mode

Wire Mode improves connectivity by allowing existing connections to fail over successfully by
bypassing firewall enforcement. Traffic within a VPN community is, by definition, private and
secure. In many cases, the firewall and the rule on the firewall concerning VPN connections is
unnecessary. Using Wire Mode, the firewall can be bypassed for VPN connections by defining
internal interfaces and communities as "trusted".
When a packet reaches a Security Gateway, the Security Gateway asks itself two questions
regarding the packet(s):
Is this information coming from a "trusted" source?
Is this information going to a "trusted" destination?
If the answer to both questions is yes, and the VPN Community to which both Security Gateways
belong is designated as "Wire Mode enabled," stateful inspection is not enforced and the traffic
between the trusted interfaces bypasses the firewall. Since no stateful inspection takes place, no
packets can be discarded. The VPN connection is no different from any other connection along a
dedicated wire. This is the meaning of "Wire Mode." Since stateful inspection no longer takes
place, dynamic routing protocols (which do not survive state verification in non-wire mode
configuration) can now be deployed. Wire Mode thus facilitates Route Based VPN (on page 80).

Wire Mode Scenarios

Wire mode can be used to improve connectivity and performance in different infrastructures. This
section describes scenarios that benefit from the implementation of wire mode.

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 Wire Mode

Wire Mode in a MEP Configuration

In this scenario:

• Security Gateway M1 and Security Gateway M2 are both wire mode enabled and have trusted
internal interfaces.
• The community where Security Gateway M1 and Security Gateway M2 reside, is wire mode
enabled.
• Host 1, residing behind Security Gateway S1 is communicating through a VPN tunnel with Host
2 residing behind Security Gateway M1.
• MEP ("Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs" on page 115) is configured for Security Gateway M1
and Security Gateway M2 with Security Gateway M1 being the primary Security Gateway and
Security Gateway M2 as the backup.
In this case, if Security Gateway M1 goes down, the connection fails over to Security Gateway M2. A
packet leaving Host 2 will be redirected by the router behind Security Gateway M1 to Security
Gateway M2 since Security Gateway M2 is designated as the backup Security Gateway. Without
wire mode, stateful inspection is enforced at Security Gateway M2 and the connection is dropped.
Packets that come into a Security Gateway whose session was initiated through a different
Security Gateway, are considered "out-of-state" packets. Since Security Gateway M2's internal
interface is "trusted," and wire mode in enabled on the community, no stateful inspection is
performed and Security Gateway M2 will successfully continue the connection without losing any
information.

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 Wire Mode

Wire Mode with Route Based VPN

In this scenario:

• Wire mode is enabled on Center Security Gateway C (without an internal trusted interface
specified).
• The community is wire mode enabled.
• Host 1 residing behind Satellite Security Gateway A wishes to open a connection through a VPN
tunnel with Host 2 behind Satellite Security Gateway B.
In a satellite community, Center Security Gateways are used to route traffic between Satellite
Security Gateways within the community.
In this case, traffic from the Satellite Security Gateways is only rerouted by Security Gateway C
and cannot pass through Security Gateway C's firewall. Therefore, stateful inspection does not
need to take place at Security Gateway C. Since wire mode is enabled on the community and on
Security Gateway C, making them trusted, stateful inspection is bypassed. Stateful inspection,
however, does take place on Security Gateways A and B.

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 Wire Mode

Wire Mode Between Two VPN Communities

In this scenario:

• Security Gateway A belongs to Community 1.

• Security Gateway B belongs to Community 2.
• Security Gateway C belongs to Communities 1 and 2.
• Wire mode is enabled on Center Security Gateway C (without an internal trusted interface
specified).
• Wire mode is enabled on both communities.
• Host 1 residing behind Satellite Security Gateway A wishes to open a connection through a VPN
tunnel with Host 2 behind Satellite Security Gateway B.
Wire mode can also be enabled for routing VPN traffic between two Security Gateways which are
not members of the same community. Security Gateway C is a member of both communities and
therefore recognizes both communities as trusted. When host 1 behind Security Gateway A
initiates a connection to host 2 behind Security Gateway B, Security Gateway C is used to route
traffic between the two communities. Since the traffic is not actually entering Security Gateway C,
there is no need for stateful inspection to take place at that Security Gateway. Stateful inspection,
however, does take place on Security Gateways A and B.

Special Considerations for Wire Mode

Wire mode is supported on SecurePlatform and Gaia platforms. It does not work with IPv6.

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 Wire Mode

Configuring Wire Mode

Wire mode is configured in two places:
1. Community Properties (meshed or star)
2. Security Gateway Properties

Enabling Wire Mode on a VPN Community

1. In SmartConsole, open the Object Explorer, select the VPN community to be configured and
click Edit.
2. Open the Wire Mode page.
3. To enable Wire Mode on the community, select Allow uninspected encrypted traffic between
Wire mode interfaces of the Community members.
4. To enable Wire Mode Routing, select Wire Mode Routing - Allow members to route
uninspected encrypted traffic in VPN routing configurations.

Enabling Wire Mode on a Specific Security Gateway

1. In SmartConsole, open the Gateways & Servers view, select the relevant Security Gateway and
click Edit.
2. Open the IPsec VPN > VPN Advanced page.
3. To enable Wire Mode on the Security Gateway, select Support Wire Mode (and Wire mode
routing...)
4. Click Add to include the interfaces to be trusted by the selected Security Gateway.
5. Select Log Wire mode traffic to log wire mode activity.

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CHAPTE R 12

Directional VPN Enforcement

In This Section:
Overview of Directional VPN ......................................................................................111
Directional Enforcement within a Community ..........................................................111
Configurable Objects in a Direction ...........................................................................112
Directional Enforcement between Communities......................................................112
Configuring Directional VPN Within a Community ...................................................113
Configuring Directional VPN Between Communities ...............................................114

Overview of Directional VPN

When a VPN community is selected in the VPN column of the Security Policy Rule Base, the
source and destination IP addresses can belong to any of the Security Gateways in the community.
In other words, the traffic is bidirectional; any of the Security Gateways can be the source of a
connection, any of the Security Gateways can be the destination endpoint. But what if the
administrator (in line with the company's security policy) wished to enforce traffic in one direction
only? Or to allow encrypted traffic to or from Security Gateways not included in the VPN
community? To enable enforcement within VPN communities, VPN implements Directional VPN.
Directional VPN specifies where the source address must be, and where the destination address
must be. In this way, enforcement can take place:
• Within a single VPN community
• Between VPN communities

Directional Enforcement within a Community

The figure shows a simple meshed VPN community called MyIntranet. VPN traffic within the
MyIntranet Mesh is bidirectional; that is, either of the Security Gateways (or the hosts behind the
Security Gateways in the VPN domains) can be the source or destination address for a connection.

Source Destination VPN Service Action Track

Any Any MyIntranet => MyIntranet telnet accept log
MyIntranet =>internal_clear
internal_clear => MyIntranet

Any Any MyIntranet telnet accept log

The match conditions are represented by a series of compound objects. The match conditions
enforce traffic in the following directions:
• To and from the VPN Community via VPN routing (MyIntranet => MyIntranet)
• From the Community to the local VPN domains (MyIntranet =>internal_clear)
• From the local VPN domains to the VPN community (internal_clear => MyIntranet)

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 Directional VPN Enforcement

Configurable Objects in a Direction

The table shows all the objects that can be configured in a direction, including three new objects
created for Directional VPN:

Name of Object Description

Remote Access Remote Access community
Site2SiteVPN Regular Star/Mesh community

Any Traffic Any traffic

All_GwToGw All Site2Site communities

All_Communities All Site2Site and RemoteAccess communities

External_clear For traffic outside the VPN community

Internal_clear For traffic between local domains within the community

Note - Clear text connections originating from the following objects are not subject to
enforcement:
• Any Traffic
• External_clear
• Internal_clear
There is no limit to the number of VPN directions that can be configured on a single rule. In
general, if you have many directional enforcements, consider replacing them with a standard
bidirectional condition.

Directional Enforcement between Communities

VPN Directional Enforcement can take place between two VPN communities. In this case, one
gateway must be configured as a member of both communities and the enforcement point
between them. Every other peer gateway in both communities must have a route entry to the
enforcement point gateway in its vpn_route.conf file.

To add a route entry to the enforcement point gateway:

On the management module of each gateway in the community (except for the enforcement point
gateway), add an entry in the $FWDIR/conf/vpn_route.conf file:

Destination Next hop router interface Install on

<destination_community_obj> <enforcement_point_gw> <managed_FW_object>

These are the variable in the entry:

• destination_community_obj - a network object for the combined encryption domain of
the community
• enforcement_point_gw - the gateway that is a member of both communities and transfers
the encrypted traffic between them

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 Directional VPN Enforcement

• managed_FW_object - all community members that are managed by the management

module
In the example below, Washington is a Mesh community, and London is a VPN Star.

The directional VPN rule below must be configured for the enforcement point gateway in the
Access Control Policy Rule Base:

Source Destination VPN Services & Action

Applications
Any Any Washington => London Any accept

The rule is applied to all VPN traffic that passes through the enforcement point gateway between
the Washington and London communities. If a connection is opened from a source in the
Washington Mesh, and the destination is in the London Star, the connection is allowed. Otherwise,
the connection is denied.

Note - The Directional Enforcement applies only to the first packet of a connection. If the
connection is permitted, the following packets of this connection are also permitted,
including the packets in the opposite direction.

Configuring Directional VPN Within a Community

To configure Directional VPN within a community:
1. In the Global Properties > VPN > Advanced page, select Enable VPN Directional Match in VPN
Column.
2. In the VPN column of the appropriate rule, select Directional Match Condition.
The New Directional Match Condition window opens.
3. In the Traffic reaching from drop-down box, select the object for Internal_clear (the source).
4. In the Traffic leaving to drop-down box, select the relevant community object (the destination).
5. Add another directional match in which the relevant community object is both the source and
destination.
This allows traffic from the local domain to the community, and within the community.
6. Click OK.

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 Directional VPN Enforcement

Configuring Directional VPN Between Communities

To configure Directional VPN between communities:
1. In the Global Properties > VPN > Advanced page, select Enable VPN Directional Match in VPN
Column.
2. In the VPN column of the appropriate rule, select Directional Match Condition.
The New Directional Match Condition window opens.
3. In the Traffic reaching from drop-down box, select the source of the connection.
4. In the Traffic leaving to drop-down box, select the destination of the connection
5. Click OK.

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CHAPTE R 13

Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

In This Section:
Overview of MEP .........................................................................................................115
Explicit MEP ................................................................................................................116
Implicit MEP ................................................................................................................122
Routing Return Packets .............................................................................................125
Special Considerations ...............................................................................................126
Configuring MEP .........................................................................................................126

Overview of MEP
Multiple Entry Point (MEP) is a feature that provides a High Availability and Load Sharing solution
for VPN connections. A Security Gateway on which the VPN module is installed provides a single
point of entry to the internal network. It is the Security Gateway that makes the internal network
"available" to remote machines. If a Security Gateway should become unavailable, the internal
network too, is no longer available. A MEP environment has two or more Security Gateways both
protecting and enabling access to the same VPN domain, providing peer Security Gateways with
uninterrupted access.

VPN High Availability Using MEP or Clustering

Both MEP and Clustering are ways of achieving High Availability and Load Sharing. However:
• Unlike the members of a ClusterXL Security Gateway Cluster, there is no physical restriction
on the location of MEP Security Gateways. MEP Security Gateways can be geographically
separated machines. In a cluster, the clustered Security Gateways need to be in the same
location, directly connected via a sync interface.
• MEP Security Gateways can be managed by different Security Management Server; cluster
members must be managed by the same Security Management Server.
• In a MEP configuration there is no "state synchronization" between the MEP Security
Gateways. In a cluster, all of the Security Gateways hold the "state" of all the connections to
the internal network. If one of the Security Gateways fails, the connection passes seamlessly
over (performs failover) to another Security Gateway, and the connection continues. In a MEP
configuration, if a Security Gateway fails, the current connection is lost and one of the backup
Security Gateways picks up the next connection.
• In a MEP environment, the decision which Security Gateway to use is taken on the remote side;
in a cluster, the decision is taken on the Security Gateway side.

Implementation
MEP is implemented via a proprietary Probing Protocol (PP) that sends special UDP RDP packets
to port 259 to discover whether an IP is reachable. This protocol is proprietary to Check Point and
does not conform to RDP as specified in RFC 908/1151.

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 Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

Note - These UDP RDP packets are not encrypted, and only test the availability of a
peer.

The peer continuously probes or polls all MEP Security Gateways in order to discover which of the
Security Gateways are "up", and chooses a Security Gateway according to the configured selection
mechanism. Since RDP packets are constantly being sent, the status of all Security Gateways is
known and updated when changes occur. As a result, all Security Gateways that are "up" are
known.
There are two available methods to implement MEP:
• Explicit MEP - Only Star communities with more than one central Security Gateway can enable
explicit MEP, providing multiple entry points to the network behind the Security Gateways.
When available, Explicit MEP is the recommended method.
• Implicit MEP - Implicit MEP is supported in all scenarios where fully or partially overlapping
encryption domains exist or where Primary-Backup Security Gateways (on page 124) are
configured. When upgrading from a version prior to NGX (R60) where Implicit MEP was already
configured, the settings previously configured will remain.

Explicit MEP
In a site to site Star VPN community, explicit MEP is configured in the VPN community object.
When MEP is enabled, the satellites consider the "unified" VPN domain of all the Security
Gateways as the VPN domain for each Security Gateway. This unified VPN domain is considered
the VPN domain of each Security Gateway:

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 Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

In the figure, a Star VPN community has two central Security Gateways, M1 and M2 (for which
MEP has been enabled) and three satellite Security Gateways — S1, S2, and S3. When S2 opens a
connection with host-1 (which is behind M1 and M2), the session will be initiated through either M1
or M2. Priority amongst the MEP Security Gateways is determined by the MEP entry point
selection mechanism.
If M2 is the selected entry point and becomes unavailable, the connection to host-1 fails over to
M1. Returning packets will be rerouted using RIM or IP Pool NAT. For more information about
returning packets, see Routing Return Packets (on page 125).
There are four methods used to choose which of the Security Gateways will be used as the entry
point for any given connection:
• Select the closest Security Gateway to source (First to respond)
• Select the closest Security Gateway to destination (By VPN domain)
• Random Selection (for Load distribution)
• Manually set priority list (MEP rules)
If either "By VPN domain" or "Manually set priority list" is selected, then Advanced options provide
additional granularity.

MEP Selection Methods

• First to Respond, in which the first Security Gateway to reply to the peer Security Gateway is
chosen. An organization would choose this option if, for example, the organization has two
Security Gateways in a MEP configuration - one in London, the other in New York. It makes
sense for peers located in England to try the London Security Gateway first and the NY Security
Gateway second. Being geographically closer to the peers in England, the London Security
Gateway will be the first to respond, and becomes the entry point to the internal network. See:
First to Respond (on page 123).
• VPN Domain, is when the destination IP belongs to a particular VPN domain, the Security
Gateway of that domain becomes the chosen entry point. This Security Gateway becomes the
primary Security Gateway while other Security Gateways in the MEP configuration become its
backup Security Gateways. See: By VPN Domain (on page 119).
• Random Selection, in which the remote peer randomly selects a Security Gateway with which
to open a VPN connection. For each IP source/destination address pair, a new Security
Gateway is randomly selected. An organization might have a number of machines with equal
performance abilities. In this case, it makes sense to enable load distribution. The machines
are used in a random and equal way. See: Random Selection (on page 120).
• Manually set priority list, Security Gateway priorities can be set manually for the entire
community or for individual satellite Security Gateways. See: Manually Set Priority List (on
page 120).

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First to Respond
When there is no primary Security Gateway, all Security Gateways share "equal priority". When all
Security Gateways share equal priority:

• Remote peers send RDP packets to all the Security Gateways in the MEP configuration.
• The first Security Gateway to respond to the probing RDP packets gets chosen as the entry
point to network. The idea behind first to respond is proximity. The Security Gateway which is
"closer" to the remote peer responds first.
• A VPN tunnel is opened with the first to respond. All subsequent connections pass through the
chosen Security Gateway.
• If the Security Gateway ceases to respond, a new Security Gateway is chosen.

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By VPN Domain
Before you enable MEP, each IP address belongs to a specific VPN domain. With By VPN Domain,
the Security Gateway of that domain becomes the chosen entry point. In the figure, the VPN Star
community has two central MEP Security Gateways (M1 and M2, each of which have their own VPN
domains), and remote satellite S1.

Host-2 (in the VPN domain of satellite S1 initiates a connection with host-1. The connection can be
directed through either M1 or M2. However, host-1 is within M2's original VPN domain. For this
reason, M2 is considered the Security Gateway "closest" to the destination IP Address. M2 is
therefore considered the primary Security Gateway and M1 the backup Security Gateway for
Host-1. If there were additional Security Gateways in the center, these Security Gateways would
also be considered as backup Security Gateways for M2.
If the VPN domains have fully or partially overlapping encryption domains, then more than one
Security Gateway will be chosen as the "closest" entry point to the network. As a result, more than
one Security Gateway will be considered as "primary." When there are more than one primary or
backup Security Gateways available, the Security Gateway is selected using an additional selection
mechanism. This advanced selection mechanism can be either (See Advanced Settings (on page
122)):
• First to Respond
• Random Selection (for load distribution)
For return packets you can use RIM on the center Security Gateways. If RIM is also enabled, set a
metric with a lower priority value for the leased line than the VPN tunnel. The satellite S1 might
simultaneously have more than one VPN tunnel open with the MEP Security Gateways, for
example M2 as the chosen entry point for host-1 and M1 as the chosen entry point for host-3.
While both M1 and M2 will publish routes to host-1 and host-3, the lower priority metric will
ensure the leased line is used only when one of the Security Gateways goes down.

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Random Selection
Using this method, a different Security Gateway is randomly selected as an entry point for
incoming traffic. Evenly distributing the incoming traffic through all the available Security
Gateways can help prevent one Security Gateway from becoming overwhelmed with too much
incoming traffic.
The Security Gateways are probed with RDP packets, as in all other MEP configurations, to create
a list of responding Security Gateways. A Security Gateway is randomly chosen from the list of
responding Security Gateways. If a Security Gateway stops responding, another Security Gateway
is (randomly) chosen.
A new Security Gateway is randomly selected for every source/destination IP pair. While the
source and destination IP's remain the same, the connection continues through the chosen
Security Gateway.
In such a configuration, RIM is not supported. IP Pool NAT must be enabled to ensure return
packets are correctly routed through the chosen Security Gateway.

Manually Set Priority List

The Security Gateway that will be chosen (from the central Security Gateways in the star
community) as the entry point to the core network can be controlled by manually setting a priority
per source Security Gateway. Each priority constitutes a MEP Rule:

In the figure, three MEP members (M1, M2, M3) provide entry points to the network for three
satellite Security Gateways (S1, S2, S3). Satellite S1 can be configured to try the Security Gateways
in the following order: M1, M2, M3, giving the highest priority to M1, and the lowest priority to M3.
Satellite S2 can be configured to try the Security Gateways in the following order: M2, M3 (but not
to try M1).

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Each of these priorities constitutes a MEP rule in the MEP manual priority list window:

Item Description
1 Default MEP Rule

2 First MEP Rule

3 Second MEP Rule

The MEP manual priority list window is divided into the default rule, and rules which provide
exceptions to the default rule. The default MEP rule takes effect when:
• No MEP rules are defined
• When the source of the connection cannot be found in the Exception priority rules
The Exception priority rules section contains three priority levels: primary, secondary, and
tertiary. While there are only three priority levels,
• The same priority can be assigned to several central Security Gateways
• The same rule can be assigned to several satellite Security Gateways
• A priority level can be left blank
In the second MEP rule below:

Central Security Gateways M3 and M1 have equal priority. The same rule is being applied to
satellites S2 and S3.

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When more than one Security Gateway is assigned the same priority level, which Security Gateway
will be chosen is resolved according to the Advanced settings. See Advanced Settings (on page
122).

Advanced Settings
In some instances, more than one Security Gateway is available in the center with no obvious
priority between them. For example — as shown in the second example of the second MEP rule,
above — more than one Security Gateway is assigned "second" priority. In this scenario, Advanced
options are used to decide which Security Gateway is chosen: First to Respond, or Random
Selection. (Choose Random selection to enable load balancing between the Security Gateways.)
When "manually set priority list" is the MEP selection mechanism, RIM is supported. RIM can be
configured with "manually set priority list" because the "random selection" mechanism available
on the Advanced button is different from the random selection mechanism used for MEP.
For the "random selection" mechanism employed for MEP, a different Security Gateway is
selected for each IP source/destination pair. For the random selection mechanism available from
the Advanced button, a single MEP entry point is randomly selected and then used for all
connections, and does not change according to source/destination pair. Load distribution is
therefore achieved since every satellite Security Gateway is randomly assigned a Security Gateway
as its entry point. This makes it possible to enable RIM at the same time.

Tracking
If the tracking option is enabled for MEP, the following information is logged by each satellite
Security Gateway:
• The resolved peer Security Gateway (a Security Gateway in the MEP)
• The priority of the resolved Security Gateway (primary, secondary, tertiary)
• Whether the resolved Security Gateway is responding
For example, in the scenario shown in the Manually Set Priority List (on page 120) section,
satellite S1 opens a connection to the VPN domain that includes Security Gateways M1, M2, and
M3. M1 is the resolved peer. If tracking is enabled, the log reads:
Resolved peer for tunnel from S1 to the MEP that contains M1, M2, and M3,
is: M1 (Primary Security Gateway, responding).

Implicit MEP
There are three methods to implement implicit MEP:
• First to Respond, in which the first Security Gateway to reply to the peer Security Gateway is
chosen. An organization would choose this option if, for example, the organization has two
Security Gateways in a MEP configuration - one in London, the other in New York. It makes
sense for VPN-1 peers located in England to try the London Security Gateway first and the NY
Security Gateway second. Being geographically closer to VPN peers in England, the London
Security Gateway is the first to respond, and becomes the entry point to the internal network.
See: First to Respond (on page 123).
• Primary-Backup, in which one or multiple backup Security Gateways provide "high availability"
for a primary Security Gateway. The remote peer is configured to work with the primary
Security Gateway, but switches to the backup Security Gateway if the primary goes down. An

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organization might decide to use this configuration if it has two machines in a MEP
environment, one of which is stronger than the other. It makes sense to configure the stronger
machine as the primary. Or perhaps both machines are the same in terms of strength of
performance, but one has a cheaper or faster connection to the Internet. In this case, the
machine with the better Internet connection should be configured as the primary. See:
Primary-Backup Security Gateways (on page 124).
• Load Distribution, in which the remote VPN peer randomly selects a Security Gateway with
which to open a connection. For each IP source/destination address pair, a new Security
Gateway is randomly selected. An organization might have a number of machines with equal
performance abilities. In this case, it makes sense to enable load distribution. The machines
are used in a random and equal way. See: Random Selection (on page 120).
Implicit MEP is supported if the Security Gateways with overlapping encryption domains are in the
same community. If they are located in different communities, only one of the Security Gateways
will be used for this encryption domain.

Note - When upgrading from a version prior to NGX R60 where Implicit MEP was
already configured, the settings previously configured will remain.

First to Respond
When there is no primary Security Gateway, all Security Gateways share "equal priority." When all
Security Gateway's share "equal priority":
• Remote VPN peers send RDP packets to all the Security Gateways in the MEP configuration.
• The first Security Gateway to respond to the probing RDP packets gets chosen as the entry
point to network. The idea behind first to respond is "proximity". The Security Gateway which is
"closer" to the remote VPN peer responds first.
• A VPN tunnel is opened with the first to respond. All subsequent connections pass through the
chosen Security Gateway.
• If the Security Gateway ceases to respond, a new Security Gateway is chosen.
In a star community, RDP packets are sent to the Security Gateways and the first to respond is
used for routing only when:
There is more than one center Security Gateway, and
One of the following VPN routing options was selected:
• To center and to other satellites through center
• To center, or through the center to other satellites, to internet and other VPN targets
This setting is found on the Community Properties > VPN Advanced > VPN Routing page.

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In this scenario:

• MEP is not enabled on the community

• First to respond method is used
• Security Gateway X accesses VPN domain A through Security Gateway A
• Security Gateway X accesses VPN domain B through Security Gateway B
• Security Gateway X accesses VPN domain C through Security Gateway A or B
In a star community, RDP packets are sent to the Security Gateways and the first to respond is
used for routing when:
There is more than one center Security Gateway, and
One of the following VPN routing options was selected:
• To center and to other satellites through center
• To center, or through the center to other satellites, to internet and other VPN targets
This setting is found on the Community Properties > VPN Advanced > VPN Routing page.

Primary-Backup Security Gateways

Backup Security Gateways provide redundancy for primary Security Gateways. If the primary
Security Gateway fails, connections go through the backup.
The first Security Gateway is configured as the "primary," and the second Security Gateway as the
"backup." If the primary Security Gateway fails, for whatever reason, the remote VPN peer detects
that the link has gone down and works through the backup Security Gateway. The backup gateway
inherits the complete VPN domain of the primary. Failover within an existing connection is not
supported; the current connection is lost.
When the primary Security Gateway is restored, new connections go through the primary Security
Gateway while connections that already exist will continue to work through the backup Security
Gateway.

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 Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

Note - When using the Primary-Backup Security Gateways method, the encryption
domains should not overlap

Load Distribution
To prevent any one Security Gateway from being flooded with connections, the connections can be
evenly shared amongst all the Security Gateways to distribute the load. When all Security
Gateways share equal priority (no primary) and are MEP to the same VPN domain, it is possible to
enable load distribution between the Security Gateways. The Security Gateways are probed with
RDP packets, as in all other MEP configurations, to create a list of responding Security Gateways.
A Security Gateway is randomly chosen from the list of responding Security Gateways. If a Security
Gateways stops responding, a new Security Gateway is (randomly) chosen.
A new Security Gateway is randomly selected for every source/destination IP pair. While the
source and destination IP's remain the same, the connection continues through the chosen
Security Gateway.

Routing Return Packets

To make sure return packets are routed correctly, the MEP Security Gateway can make use of
either:
• IP pool NAT (static NAT) or
• Route Injection Mechanism

IP Pool Network Address Translation (NAT)

IP pool NAT is a type of NAT in which source IP addresses from remote VPN domains are mapped
to an IP address drawing from a pool of registered IP addresses. In order to maintain symmetric
sessions using MEP Security Gateways, the MEP Security Gateway performs NAT using a range of
IP addresses dedicated to that specific Security Gateway and should be routed within the internal
network to the originating Security Gateway. When the returning packets reach the Security
Gateway, the Security Gateway restores the original source IP address and forwards the packets
to the source.

RIM
Route Injection Mechanism (RIM) enables a Security Gateway to use a dynamic routing protocol to
propagate the encryption domain of a VPN peer Security Gateway to the internal network. When a
VPN tunnel is created, RIM updates the local routing table of the Security Gateway to include the
encryption domain of the VPN peer.
When a tunnel to a MEP Security Gateway goes down, the Security Gateway removes the
appropriate "return route" from its own local routing table. This change is then distributed
backwards to the routers behind the Security Gateway.
RIM is based both on the ability of the Security Gateway to update its local routing table, and the
presence of the a dynamic routing protocol to distribute the change to the network behind the
Security Gateway. There is little sense in enabling RIM on the Security Gateway if a dynamic
routing protocol is not available to distribute changes.
When MEP is enabled, RIM can be enabled only if permanent tunnels are enabled for the whole
community. In a MEP configuration RIM is available when using the First to Respond, Manual set
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priority list, and VPN Domain mechanisms. In the first two options, satellite Security Gateways
"see" the center Security Gateways as unified as if one tunnel is connecting them. As a result, only
the chosen MEP Security Gateway will inject the routes. In VPN Domain MEP, it could be that all
MEP Security Gateways will inject the routes, which requires configuring the routers behind the
MEP Security Gateways to return packets to the correct Security Gateway.
RIM is not available when Random Selection is the selected entry point mechanism.
For more information on RIM, see Route Injection Mechanism (on page 99).

Special Considerations
1. If one of the central Security Gateways is an externally managed Security Gateway:
• The VPN domain of the central Security Gateways will not be automatically inherited by an
externally managed Security Gateway
• The RIM configuration will not be automatically downloaded
2. UTM-1 Edge Security Gateways cannot be configured as a MEP Security Gateway but can
connect to MEP Security Gateways.
3. DAIP Security Gateways require DNS resolving in order to be configured as MEP Security
Gateways.

Configuring MEP
To configure MEP, decide on:
1. The MEP method
• Explicit MEP - See Explicit MEP (on page 116).
• Implicit MEP - See Implicit MEP (on page 122).
2. If required, method for returning reply packets:
• IP pool NAT
• RIM - To configure RIM, see Configuring RIM (on page 103).

Configuring Explicit MEP

Explicit MEP is only available in Site-to-Site Star VPN communities where multiple central
Security Gateways are defined.

To configure MEP:
1. Open the Star Community object and go to the MEP page.
2. Select Enable center gateways as MEP.
3. Select an entry point mechanism:
• First to respond
• By VPN domain
• Random selection
• Manual priority list

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 Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

If you select By VPN domain or Manually set priority list, in the Advanced, section choose
First to respond or Random selection to resolve how more than one Security Gateway with
equal priority should be selected.
If you select Manually set priority list, click Set to create a series of MEP rules.
4. Select a Tracking option, if required.

Configuring Implicit MEP

Configuring Implicit First to Respond
When more than one Security Gateway leads to the same (overlapping) VPN domain, they are in a
MEP configuration. The first Security Gateway to respond is chosen. To configure first to respond,
define that part of the network that is shared by all the Security Gateways into a single group and
assign that group as the VPN domain.
Before you start, make sure that Load Distribution is not enabled:
1. In SmartConsole, go to Menu > Global Properties > VPN > Advanced.
2. Clear the Enable load distribution for Multiple Entry Points option.

To configure First to Respond MEP:

1. For each Security Gateway in the VPN domain, run vpn overlap_encdom.
2. In SmartConsole, create a host group and assign all these Security Gateways to it.
3. In each Security Gateway object go to the Network Management > VPN Domain page,
4. Select Manually defined.
5. Select the host group of MEP gateways that you defined in step 2.
6. Click OK.
7. Install the Access Control Policy on all Security Gateways.

Configuring Implicit Primary-Backup

Configure the VPN Domain that includes the Primary gateway and another domain that includes
only the backup gateway. Configure each gateway as either the Primary gateway or a backup
gateway.

To configure the primary gateway:

1. Open Global Properties window > VPN > Advanced, select Enable Backup Gateway.
2. In the Object Explorer, click New > Network Group and create a group of gateways to act as
backup gateways.
3. Edit the Primary gateway object and open the IPsec VPN page.
4. Select Use Backup Gateways, and select the group of backup gateways.
This gateway is the primary gateway for this VPN domain.

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 Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

5. For each backup gateway, make a VPN domain that does not include IP addresses that are in
the Primary VPN domain or the other backup domains.
If the backup gateway already has a VPN domain, you must make sure that its IP addresses do
not overlap with the other VPN domains.
a) Create a group of IP addresses not in the other domains, or a group that consists of only
the backup gateway.
b) In the backup network object, go to the Network Management > VPN Domain section,
select Manually defined.
c) Select the group.
6. Click OK.
7. Install the policy.

Configuring Implicit Load Distribution

To configure implicit MEP for random gateway selection:
1. Click Menu > Global Properties.
2. Open the VPN > Advanced page.
3. Select Enable load distribution for Multiple Entry Point configurations (Site to Site
connections).
4. Define the same VPN domain for all the gateways:
a) Create a group of the gateways.
b) In each gateway network object, go to the Network Management > VPN Domain page, and
select Manually defined.
c) Select the group.
5. Click OK.
6. Install the Access Control Policy.

Configuring IP Pool NAT

To configure IP pool NAT for site to site VPN:
1. In Menu > Global Properties, open the NAT page, and click Enable IP Pool NAT.
2. Set tracking options for address exhaustion and for address allocation and release.
3. For each Security Gateway, create a network object that represents the IP pool NAT addresses
for that Security Gateway. The IP pool can be a network, group, or address range. For
example:
• Open the Object Explorer (Ctrl+E) and click New > Network Object > Address Range >
Address Range. The New Address Range window opens.
• On the General tab, enter the first IP and last IP of the address range.
• Click OK.

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 Multiple Entry Point (MEP) VPNs

4. On the Security Gateway object where IP pool NAT translation is performed, in the NAT > IP
Pool NAT page, select either
• Allocate IP Addresses from, and select the address range you created, OR
• Define IP Pool addresses on Security Gateway interfaces. If you choose this option, you
need to define the IP Pool on each required interface, in the Interface Properties window,
IP Pool NAT tab.
5. In the IP Pool NAT page, select either (or all):
• Use IP Pool NAT for VPN clients connections
• Use IP Pool NAT for Security Gateway to Security Gateway connections
• Prefer IP Pool NAT over Hide NAT
6. Click Advanced...
• Decide after how many minutes unused addressees are returned to the IP pool.
• Click OK twice.
7. Edit the routing table for each internal router, so that packets with an IP address assigned
from the NAT pool are routed to the appropriate Security Gateway.

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CHAPTE R 14

Resolving Connectivity Issues

In This Section:
IPsec NAT-Traversal ..................................................................................................130

IPsec NAT-Traversal
NAT-T (NAT traversal or UDP encapsulation) makes sure that IPsec VPN connections stay open
when traffic goes through gateways or devices that use NAT.
When an IP packet passes through a network address translator device, it is changed in a way that
is not compatible with IPsec. To protect the original IPsec encoded packet, NAT traversal
encapsulates it with an additional layer of UDP and IP headers.
For IPsec to work with NAT traversal, these protocols must be allowed through the NAT
interface(s):
• IKE - UDP port 500
• IPsec NAT-T - UDP port 4500
• Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) - IP protocol number 50
• Authentication Header (AH) - IP protocol number 51

Configuring NAT-Traversal
To configure NAT-T for site-to-site VPN:
1. Open the Gateway Properties of a gateway that has IPsec VPN enabled.
2. Select IPsec VPN > VPN Advanced.
3. Make sure that Support NAT traversal (applies to Remote Access and Site to Site
connections) is selected.
NAT-Traversal is enabled by default when a NAT device is detected.

Advanced NAT-T Configuration

These variables are defined for each gateway and control NAT-T for site-to-site VPN:

Item Description Default Value

offer_nat_t_initator Initiator sends NAT-T traffic true

offer_nat_t_responder_for_known_g Responder accepts NAT-T traffic from true

w known gateways

force_nat_t Force NAT-T even if there is no NAT-T false

device

The variables can be viewed or changed in GuiDBedit under:

TABLE > Network Objects > network_objects > <gateway_object> > VPN.

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 VPN Command Line Interface

APPENDIX A

VPN Command Line Interface

In This Appendix
VPN Commands ..........................................................................................................131

VPN Commands
These commands relate to VPN and are also documented in the R80.10 Command Line Interface
Reference Guide http://downloads.checkpoint.com/dc/download.htm?ID=54840.
VPN Command Line interface

Command Description
VPN This command and subcommands are used for working with various
aspects of VPN. VPN commands executed on the command line
generate status information regarding VPN processes, or are used to
stop and start specific VPN services.

vpn compreset This command resets the compression/decompression statistics to

zero.

vpn compstat This command displays compression/decompression statistics.

vpn crl_zap This command is used to erase all Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)
from the cache.

vpn crlview This command retrieves the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) from
various distribution points and displays it for the user.

vpn debug This command instructs the VPN daemon to write debug messages to
the log file: $FWDIR/log/vpnd.elg.

vpn drv This command installs the VPN kernel (vpnk) and
connects it to the Firewall kernel (fwk), attaching the
VPN driver to the Firewall driver.

vpn export_p12 This command exports information contained in the network objects
database and writes it in the PKCS#12 format to a file with the p12
extension.

vpn macutil This command is related to Remote Access VPN, specifically Office
mode, generating a MAC address per remote user. This command is
relevant only when allocating IP addresses via DHCP.

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 VPN Command Line Interface

Command Description

vpn mep_refresh This command causes all MEP tunnels to fail-back to the best
available gateway, providing that backup stickiness has been
configured.

vpn nssm_toplogy This command generates and uploads a topology (in NSSM format) to
a IPSO NSSM server for use by IPSO clients.

vpn overlap_encdom This command displays all overlapping VPN domains. Some IP
addresses might belong to two or more VPN domains. The command
alerts for overlapping encryption domains if one or both of the
following conditions exist:
• The same VPN domain is defined for both Security Gateways
• If the gateway has multiple interfaces, and one or more of the
interfaces has the same IP address and netmask.

vpn sw_topology This command downloads the topology for a SofaWare Security
Gateway.

vpn ver This command displays the VPN major version number and build
number.

vpn tu This command launches the TunnelUtil tool which is used to control
VPN tunnels.

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