Remote Access IPsec VPNs

About Remote Access IPsec VPNs

Remote access VPNs allow users to connect to a central site through a secure connection over a TCP/IP network. The Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol, also called IKE, is the negotiation protocol that lets the IPsec client on the remote PC and the ASA agree on how to build an IPsec Security Association. Each ISAKMP negotiation is divided into two sections called Phase1 and Phase2.

Phase 1 creates the first tunnel to protect later ISAKMP negotiation messages. Phase 2 creates the tunnel that protects data travelling across the secure connection.

To set the terms of the ISAKMP negotiations, you create an ISAKMP policy. It includes the following:

  • An authentication method, to ensure the identity of the peers.

  • An encryption method, to protect the data and ensure privacy.

  • A Hashed Message Authentication Codes (HMAC) method to ensure the identity of the sender and to ensure that the message has not been modified in transit.

  • A Diffie-Hellman group to set the size of the encryption key.

  • A time limit for how long the ASA uses an encryption key before replacing it.

A transform set combines an encryption method and an authentication method. During the IPsec security association negotiation with ISAKMP, the peers agree to use a particular transform set to protect a particular data flow. The transform set must be the same for both peers.

A transform set protects the data flows for the ACL specified in the associated crypto map entry. You can create transform sets in the ASA configuration, and then specify a maximum of 11 of them in a crypto map or dynamic crypto map entry. For more overview information, including a table that lists valid encryption and authentication methods, see Create an IKEv1 Transform Set or IKEv2 Proposal.

You can configure the ASA to assign an IPv4 address, an IPv6 address, or both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address to an AnyConnect client by creating internal pools of addresses on the ASA or by assigning a dedicated address to a local user on the ASA.

The endpoint must have the dual-stack protocol implemented in its operating system to be assigned both types of addresses. In both scenarios, when no IPv6 address pools are left but IPv4 addresses are available or when no IPv4 address pools are left but IPv6 addresses are available, connection still occurs. The client is not notified; however, so the administrator must look through the ASA logs for the details.

Assigning an IPv6 address to the client is supported for the SSL protocol.

About Mobike and Remote Access VPNs

Mobile IKEv2 (mobike) extends ASA RA VPNs to support mobile device roaming. This support means the end-point IP address for a mobile device’s IKE/IPSEC security association (SA) can be updated rather than deleted when the device moves from its current connection point to another.

Mobike is available by default on ASAs since version 9.8(1), meaning Mobike is “always on.” Mobike is enabled for each SA only when the client proposes it and the ASA accepts it. This negotiation occurs as part of the IKE_AUTH exchange.

After the SA is established with mobike support as enabled, client can change its address anytime and notify the ASA using the INFORMATIONAL exchange with UPDATE_SA_ADDRESS payload indicating the new address. The ASA will process this message and update the SA with the new client IP address.


Note

You can use the show crypto ikev2 sa detail command to determine whether mobike is enabled for all current SAs.

The current Mobike implementation supports the following:

  • IPv4 addresses only

  • Changes in NAT mappings

  • Path connectivity and outage detection, by means of optional Return Routability checking

  • Active/standby failover

  • VPN load balancing

If the Return Routability Check (RRC) feature is enabled, an RRC message is sent to the mobile client to confirm the new IP address before the SA is updated.

Licensing Requirements for Remote Access IPsec VPNs for 3.1


Note

This feature is not available on No Payload Encryption models.

IPsec remote access VPN using IKEv2 requires an AnyConnect Plus or Apex license, available separately. IPsec remote access VPN using IKEv1 and IPsec site-to-site VPN using IKEv1 or IKEv2 uses the Other VPN license that comes with the base license. See Cisco ASA Series Feature Licenses for maximum values per model.

Restrictions for IPsec VPN

  • Firewall Mode Guidelines-Supported only in routed firewall mode. Transparent mode is not supported.

  • Failover Guidelines IPsec-VPN sessions are replicated in Active/Standby failover configurations only. Active/Active failover configurations are not supported.

Configure Remote Access IPsec VPNs

This section describes how to configure remote access VPNs.

Configure Interfaces

An ASA has at least two interfaces, referred to here as outside and inside. Typically, the outside interface is connected to the public Internet, while the inside interface is connected to a private network and is protected from public access.

To begin, configure and enable two interfaces on the ASA. Then assign a name, IP address and subnet mask. Optionally, configure its security level, speed and duplex operation on the security appliance.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter interface configuration mode from global configuration mode.

interface {interface}

Example:

hostname(config)# interface ethernet0
hostname(config-if)#
Step 2

Set the IP address and subnet mask for the interface.

ip address ip_address [mask] [standby ip_address]

Example:

hostname(config)# interface ethernet0
hostname(config-if)# ip address 10.10.4.200 255.255.0.0
Step 3

Specify a name for the interface (maximum of 48 characters). You cannot change this name after you set it.

nameif name

Example:

hostname(config-if)# nameif outside
hostname(config-if)#
Step 4

Enable the interface. By default, interfaces are disabled.shutdown

Example:

hostname(config-if)# no shutdown
hostname(config-if)#

Configure ISAKMP Policy and Enabling ISAKMP on the Outside Interface

Procedure

Step 1

Specify the authentication method and the set of parameters to use during IKEv1 negotiation.

Priority uniquely identifies the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) policy and assigns a priority to the policy. Use an integer from 1 to 65,534, with 1 being the highest priority and 65,534 the lowest.

In the steps that follow, we set the priority to 1.

Step 2

Specify the encryption method to use within an IKE policy.

crypto ikev1 policy priority encryption
{aes | aes-192 | aes-256 | des | 3des}

Example:

hostname(config)#
 crypto ikev1 policy 1 encryption 3des

hostname(config)#
Step 3

Specify the hash algorithm for an IKE policy (also called the HMAC variant).

crypto ikev1 policy priority hash {md5 | sha}

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto ikev1 policy 1 hash sha
hostname(config)#
Step 4

Specify the Diffie-Hellman group for the IKE policy—the crypto protocol that allows the IPsec client and the ASA to establish a shared secret key.

crypto ikev1 policy priority group
{1 | 2 | 5| }

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto ikev1 policy 1 group 2
hostname(config)#
Step 5

Specify the encryption key lifetime—the number of seconds each security association should exist before expiring.

crypto ikev1 policy priority lifetime {seconds}

The range for a finite lifetime is 120 to 2147483647 seconds. 
Use 0 seconds for an infinite lifetime.

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto ikev1 policy 1 lifetime 43200
hostname(config)#
Step 6

Enable ISAKMP on the interface named outside.

crypto ikev1 enable interface-name

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto ikev1 enable outside
hostname(config)#
Step 7

Save the changes to the configuration.

write memory

Configure an Address Pool

The ASA requires a method for assigning IP addresses to users. This section uses address pools as an example.

Procedure

Create an address pool with a range of IP addresses, from which the ASA assigns addresses to the clients.

ip local pool poolname first-address—last-address [mask mask]

The address mask is optional. However, You must supply the mask value when the IP addresses assigned to VPN clients belong to a non-standard network and the data could be routed incorrectly if you use the default mask. A typical example is when the IP local pool contains 10.10.10.0/255.255.255.0 addresses, since this is a Class A network by default. This could cause routing issues when the VPN client needs to access different subnets within the 10 network over different interfaces.

Example:

hostname(config)# ip local pool testpool 192.168.0.10-192.168.0.15
hostname(config)#

Add a User

Procedure

Create a user, password, and privilege level.

username name {nopassword | password password [mschap | encrypted | nt-encrypted]} 
[privilege priv_level]

Example:

Hostname(config)# username testuser password 12345678

Create an IKEv1 Transform Set or IKEv2 Proposal

This section shows how to configure a transform set (IKEv1) or proposal (IKEv2), which combines an encryption method and an authentication method.

The following steps show how to create both an IKEv1 and an IKEv2 proposal.

Procedure

Step 1

Configure an IKEv1 transform set that specifies the IPsec IKEv1 encryption and hash algorithms to be used to ensure data integrity.

crypto ipsec ikev1 transform-set transform-set-name encryption-method [authentication]

Use one of the following values for encryption:

  • esp-aes to use AES with a 128-bit key.

  • esp-aes-192 to use AES with a 192-bit key.

  • esp-aes-256 to use AES with a 256-bit key.

  • esp-des to use 56-bit DES-CBC.

  • esp-3des to use triple DES algorithm.

  • esp-null to not use encryption.

Use one of the following values for authentication:

  • esp-md5-hmac to use the MD5/HMAC-128 as the hash algorithm.

  • esp-sha-hmac to use the SHA/HMAC-160 as the hash algorithm.

  • esp-none to not use HMAC authentication.

Example:

To configure an IKEv1 transform set: 

hostname(config)# crypto ipsec transform set FirstSet esp-3des esp-md5-hmac
Step 2

Configure an IKEv2 proposal set that specifies the IPsec IKEv2 protocol, encryption, and integrity algorithms to be used.

esp specifies the Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) IPsec protocol (currently the only supported protocol for IPsec).

crypto ipsec ikev2 ipsec-proposal proposal_name

protocol {esp} {encryption {des | 3des | aes | aes-192 | aes-256 | null} | integrity {md5 | sha-1}

Use one of the following values for encryption:

  • des to use 56-bit DES-CBC encryption for ESP.

  • 3des (default) to use the triple DES encryption algorithm for ESP.

  • aes to use AES with a 128-bit key encryption for ESP.

  • aes-192 to use AES with a 192-bit key encryption for ESP.

  • aes-256 to use AES with a 256-bit key encryption for ESP.

  • null to not use encryption for ESP.

Use one of the following values for integrity:

  • md5 specifies the md5 algorithm for the ESP integrity protection.

  • sha-1 (default) specifies the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) SHA-1, defined in the U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), for ESP integrity protection.

To configure an IKEv2 proposal: 

hostname(config)# crypto ipsec ikev2 ipsec-proposal secure_proposal
hostname(config-ipsec-proposal)# protocol esp encryption des integrity md5

Define a Tunnel Group

A tunnel group is a collection of tunnel connection policies. You configure a tunnel group to identify AAA servers, specify connection parameters, and define a default group policy. The ASA stores tunnel groups internally.

There are two default tunnel groups in the ASA system: DefaultRAGroup, which is the default remote-access tunnel group, and DefaultL2Lgroup, which is the default LAN-to-LAN tunnel group. You can change these groups, but do not delete them. The ASA uses these groups to configure default tunnel parameters for remote access and LAN-to-LAN tunnel groups when there is no specific tunnel group identified during tunnel negotiation.

Procedure

Step 1

Create an IPsec remote access tunnel-group (also called connection profile).

tunnel-group name type type

Example:

hostname(config)# tunnel-group testgroup type ipsec-ra
hostname(config)#
Step 2

Enter tunnel group general attributes mode where you can enter an authentication method.

tunnel-group name general-attributes

Example:

hostname(config)# tunnel-group testgroup general-attributes
hostname(config-tunnel-general)#
Step 3

Specify an address pool to use for the tunnel group.

address-pool [(interface name)] address_pool1 [...address_pool6]

Example:

hostname(config-general)# address-pool testpool
Step 4

Enter tunnel group ipsec attributes mode where you can enter IPsec-specific attributes for IKEv1 connections.

tunnel-group name ipsec-attributes

Example:

hostname(config)# tunnel-group testgroup ipsec-attributes
hostname(config-tunnel-ipsec)#
Step 5

(Optional) Configure a pre-shared key (IKEv1 only). The key can be an alphanumeric string from 1-128 characters.

The keys for the adaptive security appliance and the client must be identical. If a Cisco VPN Client with a different preshared key size tries to connect, the client logs an error message indicating it failed to authenticate the peer.

ikev1 pre-shared-key key

Example:

hostname(config-tunnel-ipsec)# pre-shared-key 44kkaol59636jnfx

Create a Dynamic Crypto Map

Dynamic crypto maps define policy templates in which not all the parameters are configured. This lets the ASA receive connections from peers that have unknown IP addresses, such as remote access clients.

Dynamic crypto map entries identify the transform set for the connection. You can also enable reverse routing, which lets the ASA learn routing information for connected clients, and advertise it via RIP or OSPF.

Perform the following task:

Procedure

Step 1

Create a dynamic crypto map and specifies an IKEv1 transform set or IKEv2 proposal for the map.

  • For IKEv1, use this command:

    crypto dynamic-map dynamic-map-name seq-num set ikev1 transform-set transform-set-name

  • For IKEv2, use this command:

    crypto dynamic-map dynamic-map-name seq-num set ikev2 ipsec-proposal proposal-name

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map dyn1 1 set ikev1 transform-set FirstSet
hostname(config)#
hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map dyn1 1 set ikev2 ipsec-proposal secure_proposal
hostname(config)#
Step 2

(Optional) Enable Reverse Route Injection for any connection based on this crypto map entry.

crypto dynamic-map dynamic-map-name dynamic-seq-num set reverse-route

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map dyn1 1 set reverse route
hostname(config)#

Create a Crypto Map Entry to Use the Dynamic Crypto Map

Create a crypto map entry that lets the ASA use the dynamic crypto map to set the parameters of IPsec security associations.

In the following examples for this command, the name of the crypto map is mymap, the sequence number is 1, and the name of the dynamic crypto map is dyn1, which you created in the previous section.

Procedure

Step 1

Create a crypto map entry that uses a dynamic crypto map.

crypto map map-name seq-num ipsec-isakmp dynamic dynamic-map-name

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto map mymap 1 ipsec-isakmp dynamic dyn1
Step 2

Apply the crypto map to the outside interface.

crypto map map-name interface interface-name

Example:

hostname(config)# crypto map mymap interface outside
Step 3

Saves the changes to the configuration.

write memory

Configuration Examples for Remote Access IPsec VPNs

The following example shows how to configure a remote access IPsec/IKEv1 VPN: 


hostname(config)# crypto ikev1 policy 10 
hostname(config-ikev1-policy)# authentication pre-share
hostname(config-ikev1-policy)# encryption aes-256
hostname(config-ikev1-policy)# hash sha
hostname(config-ikev1-policy)# group 2
hostname(config)# crypto ikev1 enable outside
hostname(config)# ip local pool POOL 192.168.0.10-192.168.0.15
hostname(config)# username testuser password 12345678
hostname(config)# crypto ipsec ikev1 transform set AES256-SHA 
esp-aes-256 esp-sha-hmac
hostname(config)# tunnel-group RAVPN type remote-access
hostname(config)# tunnel-group RAVPN general-attributes
hostname(config-general)# address-pool POOL
hostname(config)# tunnel-group RAVPN ipsec-attributes
hostname(config-ipsec)# ikev1 pre-shared-key ravpnkey
hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map DYNMAP 1 set ikev1 
transform-set AES256-SHA
hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map DYNMAP 1 set reverse-route
hostname(config)# crypto map CMAP 1 ipsec-isakmp dynamic DYNMAP
hostname(config)# crypto map CMAP interface outside

The following example shows how to configure a remote access IPsec/IKEv2 VPN: 


hostname(config)# crypto ikev2 policy 1 
hostname(config-ikev2-policy)# group 2
hostname(config-ikev2-policy)# integrity sha512
hostname(config-ikev2-policy)# prf sha512
hostname(config)# crypto ikev2 enable outside
hostname(config)# ip local pool POOL 192.168.0.10-192.168.0.15
hostname(config)# username testuser password 12345678
hostname(config)# crypto ipsec ikev2 ipsec-proposal  AES256-SHA512 
hostname(config-ipsec-proposal)# protocol esp encryption  aes-256
hostname(config-ipsec-proposal)# protocol esp integrity sha-512 
hostname(config)# tunnel-group RAVPN type remote-access
hostname(config)# tunnel-group RAVPN general-attributes
hostname(config-general)# address-pool POOL
hostname(config)# tunnel-group RAVPN ipsec-attributes
hostname(config-tunnel-ipsec)# ikev2 local-authentication 
pre-shared-key localravpnkey
hostname(config-tunnel-ipsec)# ikev2 remote-authentication 
pre-shared-key remoteravpnkey
hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map DYNMAP 1 set ikev2 
ipsec-proposal AES256-SHA512
hostname(config)# crypto dynamic-map DYNMAP 1 set reverse-route
hostname(config)# crypto map CMAP 1 ipsec-isakmp dynamic DYNMAP
hostname(config)# crypto map CMAP interface outside

Configuration Examples for Standards-Based IPSec IKEv2 Remote Access VPN in Multiple-Context Mode

The following examples show how to configure ASA for Standards-based remote access IPsec/IKEv2 VPN in multi-context mode. The examples provide information for the System Context and User Context configurations respectively.

For the System Context configuration:


class default
  limit-resource All 0
  limit-resource Mac-addresses 65536
  limit-resource ASDM 5
  limit-resource SSH 5
  limit-resource Telnet 5
  limit-resource VPN AnyConnect 4.0%

hostname(config)#context CTX2
hostname(config-ctx)#member default   ===============> License allotment for contexts using class
hostname(config-ctx)#allocate-interface Ethernet1/1.200
hostname(config-ctx)#allocate-interface Ethernet1/3.100
hostname(config-ctx)#config-url disk0:/CTX2.cfg

For the User Context configuration:


hostname/CTX2(config)#ip local pool CTX2-pool 1.1.2.1-1.1.2.250 mask 255.255.255.0
hostname/CTX2(config)#aaa-server ISE protocol radius
hostname/CTX2(config)#aaa-server ISE (inside) host 10.10.190.100
hostname/CTX2(config-aaa-server-host)#key *****
hostname/CTX2(config-aaa-server-host)#exit
hostname/CTX2(config)#

hostname/CTX2(config)#group-policy GroupPolicy_CTX2-IKEv2 internal
hostname/CTX2(config)#group-policy GroupPolicy_CTX2-IKEv2 attributes
hostname/CTX2(config-group-policy)#vpn-tunnel-protocol ikev2
hostname/CTX2(config-group-policy)#exit
hostname/CTX2(config)#

hostname/CTX2(config)#crypto dynamic-map SYSTEM_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_MAP 65535 set ikev2 ipsec-proposal AES256 AES192 AES 3DES DES
hostname/CTX2(config)#crypto map outside_map 65535 ipsec-isakmp dynamic SYSTEM_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_MAP
hostname/CTX2(config)#crypto map outside_map interface outside

IPSec/IKEv2 Remote Access Connections from Standard-based Clients by default fall on tunnel group "DefaultRAGroup".

hostname/CTX2(config)#tunnel-group DefaultRAGroup type remote-access
hostname/CTX2(config)#tunnel-group DefaultRAGroup general-attributes
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-general)#default-group-policy GroupPolicy_CTX2-IKEv2
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-general)#address-pool CTX2-pool
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-general)#authentication-server-group ISE
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-general)#exit
hostname/CTX2(config)#
hostname/CTX2(config)#tunnel-group DefaultRAGroup ipsec-attributes
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-ipsec)#ikev2 remote-authentication eap query-identity
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-ipsec)#ikev2 local-authentication certificate ASDM_TrustPoint0
hostname/CTX2(config-tunnel-ipsec)#exit
hostname/CTX2(config)#

Configuration Examples for AnyConnect IPSec IKEv2 Remote Access VPN in Multiple-Context Mode

The following examples show how to configure ASA for AnyConnect remote access IPsec/IKEv2 VPN in multi-context mode. The examples provide information for the System Context and User Context configurations respectively.

For the System Context configuration:


class default
    limit-resource All 0
    limit-resource Mac-addresses 65536
    limit-resource ASDM 5
    limit-resource SSH 5
    limit-resource Telnet 5
    limit-resource VPN AnyConnect 4.0%


hostname(config)#context CTX3
hostname(config-ctx)#member default   ===============> License allotment for contexts using class
hostname(config-ctx)#allocate-interface Ethernet1/1.200
hostname(config-ctx)#allocate-interface Ethernet1/3.100
hostname(config-ctx)#config-url disk0:/CTX3.cfg

Virtual File System creation for each context can have Cisco Anyconnect files like Image and profile.

hostname(config-ctx)#storage-url shared disk0:/shared disk0

For the User Context configuration:


hostname/CTX3(config)#ip local pool ctx3-pool 1.1.3.1-1.1.3.250 mask 255.255.255.0
hostname/CTX3(config)#webvpn
hostname/CTX3(config-webvpn)#enable outside
hostname/CTX3(config-webvpn)# anyconnect image disk0:/anyconnect-win-4.6.00010-webdeploy-k9.pkg 1
hostname/CTX3(config-webvpn)#anyconnect profiles IKEv2-ctx1 disk0:/ikev2-ctx1.xml
hostname/CTX3(config-webvpn)#anyconnect enable
hostname/CTX3(config-webvpn)#tunnel-group-list enable



hostname/CTX3(config)#username cisco password ***** 
hostname/CTX3(config)#ssl trust-point ASDM_TrustPoint0 outside
hostname/CTX3(config)#group-policy GroupPolicy_CTX3-IKEv2 internal
hostname/CTX3(config)#group-policy GroupPolicy_CTX3-IKEv2 attributes



hostname/CTX3(config-group-policy)#vpn-tunnel-protocol ikev2 ssl-client
hostname/CTX3(config-group-policy)#dns-server value 10.3.5.6
hostname/CTX3(config-group-policy)#wins-server none
hostname/CTX3(config-group-policy)#default-domain none
hostname/CTX3(config-group-policy)#webvpn
hostname/CTX3(config-group-webvpn)#anyconnect profiles value IKEv2-ctx1 type user



hostname/CTX3(config)#crypto ikev2 enable outside client-services port 443
hostname/CTX3(config)#crypto ikev2 remote-access trustpoint ASDM_TrustPoint0
hostname/CTX3(config)#crypto dynamic-map SYSTEM_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_MAP 65535 set ikev2 ipsec-proposal AES256 AES192 AES 3DES DES
hostname/CTX3(config)#crypto map outside_map 65535 ipsec-isakmp dynamic SYSTEM_DEFAULT_CRYPTO_MAP
hostname/CTX3(config)#crypto map outside_map interface outside



hostname/CTX3(config)#tunnel-group CTX3-IKEv2 type remote-access
hostname/CTX3(config)#tunnel-group CTX3-IKEv2 general-attributes
hostname/CTX3(config-tunnel-general)#default-group-policy GroupPolicy_CTX3-IKEv2
hostname/CTX3(config-tunnel-general)#address-pool ctx3-pool
hostname/CTX3(config)#tunnel-group CTX3-IKEv2 webvpn-attributes
hostname/CTX3(config-tunnel-webvpn)#group-alias CTX3-IKEv2 enable

Feature History for Remote Access VPNs

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Information

Remote access VPNs for IPsec IKEv1 and SSL.

7.0

Remote access VPNs allow users to connect to a central site through a secure connection over a TCP/IP network such as the Internet.

Remote access VPNs for IPsec IKEv2.

8.4(1)

Added IPsec IKEv2 support for the AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.

Automatic mobike support for remote access VPNs.

9.8(1)

Added Mobile IKE (mobike) support for IPsec IKEv2 RA VPNs. Mobike is always on.

Added ikev2 mobike-rrc command to enable return routability checking during mobike communications for IKEv2 RA VPN connections.

Remote access VPNs for IPsec IKEv2 in Multi-Context mode

9.9(2)

Support for configuring ASA to allow Anyconnect and third party Standards-based IPSec IKEv2 VPN clients to establish Remote Access VPN sessions to ASA operating in multi-context mode.

Added the ikev2 rsa-sig-hash sha1 command to sign the authentication payload.

RSA with SHA-1 hash algorithm for signing the authentication payload

9.12(1)

Support for signing authentication payload with SHA-1 hash algorithm while using a third party Standards-based IPSec IKEv2 VPN clients to establish Remote Access VPN sessions to ASA.