strongSwan

h1. strongswan.conf

h2. Overview

While the [[IpsecConf|ipsec.conf]] configuration file is well suited to define 

IPsec related configuration parameters, it is not useful for other strongSwan 

applications to read options from this file. The file is hard to parse and 

only starter is capable of doing so.

As the number of components of the strongSwan project is growing, we need a 

more flexible configuration file, easy to extend and useable by all components. 

The configuration format uses hierarchal sections and a list of key/value 

pairs in each section. 

Since 4.2.1, a default strongswan.conf gets installed in your 

sysconfdir, e.g. _/etc/strongswan.conf_.

h2. Syntax

Each section has a name, followed by C-Style curly brackets defining the 

sections body. Each section body contains a set of subsections and key/value 

pairs:

<pre>

settings := (section|keyvalue)*

section  := name { settings }

keyvalue := key = value\n

</pre>

Values must be terminated by a newline. Comments are possible using the 

#-character, but be careful: The parser implementation is currently limited 

and does not like brackets in comments. Section names and keys may contain 

any printable character except:

<pre>

. { } # \n \t space

</pre>

An example might look like this:

<pre>

a = b

section-one {

  somevalue = asdf

  subsection {

    othervalue = xxx

  }

  # yei, a comment 

  yetanother = zz

}

section-two {

  x = 12

}

</pre>

Indentation is optional, you may use tabs or spaces.

h2. Reading values

The config file is read by libstrongswan during library initialization. Values 

are accessed using a dot-separated section list and a key: 

Accessing *section-one.subsection.othervalue* will return *xxx*.

Have a look at the [source:trunk/src/libstrongswan/settings.h settings interface] 

how to query values.

h2. Defined keys

The following keys are currently defined (using dot notation).

|Key                                                |Default   |Description|

|\3. *charon section*                               |

|charon.block_threshold                             |5         |Maximum number of half-open IKE_SAs for a single peer IP|

|charon.close_ike_on_child_failure                  |no        |Close the IKE_SA if setup of the CHILD_SA along with IKE_AUTH failed|

|charon.cookie_threshold                            |10        |Number of half-open IKE_SAs that activate the cookie mechanism| 

|charon.dns1                                        |          |DNS server 1 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|charon.dns2                                        |          |DNS server 2 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|charon.dos_protection                              |yes       |Enable Denial of Service protection using cookies and aggressiveness checks|

|charon.hash_and_url                                |no        |Enable hash and URL support|

|charon.install_routes                              |yes       |Install routes into a separate routing table for established IPsec tunnels|

|charon.keep_alive                                  |20s       |NAT keep alive interval|

|charon.load                                        |          |Plugins to load in charon|

|charon.multiple_authentication                     |yes       |Enable multiple authentication exchanges (RFC 4739)|

|charon.process_route                               |yes       |Process RTM_NEWROUTE and RTM_DELROUTE events|

|charon.reuse_ikesa                                 |yes       |Initiate CHILD_SA within existing IKE_SAs|

|charon.routing_table                               |          |Numerical routing table to install routes to|

|charon.routing_table_prio                          |          |Priority of the routing table|

|charon.send_vendor_id                              |no        |Send strongSwan vendor ID payload|

|charon.threads                                     |16        |Number of worker threads in charon|

|charon.ikesa_table_size                            |1         |Size of the IKE_SA hash table|

|charon.ikesa_table_segments                        |1         |Number of exclusively locked segments in the hash table|

|charon.nbns1                                       |          |WINS server 1 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|charon.nbns2                                       |          |WINS server 2 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|charon.retransmit_tries                            |5         |Number of times to retransmit a packet before giving up|

|charon.retransmit_timeout                          |4.0       |Timeout in seconds before sending first retransmit|

|charon.retransmit_base                             |1.8       |Base to use for calculating exponential back off, see [[Retransmission]]|

|charon.inactivity_timeout                          |0         |Timeout before closing inactive CHILD_SAs|

|charon.inactivity_close_ike                        |no        |Whether to close IKE_SA if the only CHILD_SA was inactive|

|charon.plugins.sql.database                        |          |Database URI for charons [[SQL]] plugin|

|charon.plugins.sql.loglevel                        |-1        |Loglevel for logging to [[SQL]] database|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.enable                  |no        |Enable the load testing plugin. Read [[LoadTests]] first!|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.initiators              |0         |Number of concurrent initiator threads to use in load test|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.iterations              |1         |Number of IKE_SAs to initate to self by each initiator in load test|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.delay                   |0         |Delay between initiatons for each thread|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.proposal                |aes128-sha1-modp1024|IKE proposal to use in load test|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.initiator_auth          |pubkey    |Authentication method(s) the intiator uses|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.responder_auth          |pubkey    |Authentication method(s) the responder uses|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.fake_kernel             |no        |Fake the kernel interface to allow load-testing against self|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.delete_after_established|no        |Delete an IKE_SA as soon as it has been established|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.request_virtual_ip      |no        |Request an INTERNAL_IPV4_ADDR from the server|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.pool                    |NULL      |Provide INTERNAL_IPV4_ADDRs from a named pool|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.remote                  |127.0.0.1 |Address to initiation connections to|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.ike_rekey               |0         |Seconds to start IKE_SA rekeying after setup|

|charon.plugins.load-tester.child_rekey             |600       |Seconds to start CHILD_SA rekeying after setup|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.secret                   |          |Shared secret between RADIUS and NAS|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.server                   |          |IP/Hostname of RADIUS server|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.port                     |1812      |Port of RADIUS server (authentication)|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.sockets                  |5         |Number of sockets (ports) to use, increase for high load|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.nas_identifier           |strongSwan|NAS-Identifier to include in RADIUS messages|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.eap_start                |no        |Send EAP-Start instead of EAP-Identity to start RADIUS conversation|

|charon.plugins.eap-radius.id_prefix                |          |Prefix to EAP-Identity, some AAA servers use a IMSI prefix to select the EAP method|

|Flexible logger configuration                      |          |see [[LoggerConfiguration]]|

|\3. *libstrongswan section*                        |

|libstrongswan.dh_exponent_ansi_x9_42               |yes       |Use ANSI X9.42 DH exponent size or optimum size matched to cryptographical strength| 

|libstrongswan.crypto_test.on_add                   |no        |Test crypto algorithms during registration| 

|libstrongswan.crypto_test.on_create                |no        |Test crypto algorithms on each crypto primitive instantiation|

|libstrongswan.crypto_test.required                 |no        |Strictly require at least one test vector to enable an algorithm|

|libstrongswan.crypto_test.rng_true                 |no        |Whether to test RNG with TRUE quality; requires a lot of entropy|

|libstrongswan.ecp_x_coordinate_only                |yes       |Compliance with the errata for RFC 4753 | 

|libstrongswan.integrity_test                       |no        |Check daemon, libstrongswan and plugin integrity at startup|

|libstrongswan.plugins.gcrypt.quick_random          |no        |Use faster random numbers in gcrypt; for testing only, produces weak keys!|

|libstrongswan.plugins.attr-sql.database            |          |Database URI for attr-sql plugin used by charon and pluto |

|libstrongswan.plugins.attr-sql.lease_history       |yes       |Enable logging of [[SQL]] IP pool leases|

|libstrongswan.plugins.x509.enforce_critical        |no        |Discard certificates with unsupported or unknown critical extensions|

|\3. *manager section*                              |

|manager.database                                   |          |Credential database URI for manager|

|manager.debug                                      |no        |Enable debugging in manager|

|manager.load                                       |          |Plugins to load in manager|

|manager.socket                                     |          |FastCGI socket of manager, to run it statically|

|manager.threads                                    |10        |Threads to use for request handling|

|manager.timeout                                    |15m       |Session timeout for manager|

|\3. *mediation client section*                     |

|medcli.database                                    |          |Mediation client database URI|

|medcli.dpd                                         |5m        |DPD timeout to use in mediation client plugin|

|medcli.rekey                                       |20m       |Rekeying time on mediation connections in mediation client plugin|

|\3. *mediation server section*                     |

|medsrv.database                                    |          |Mediation server database URI|

|medsrv.debug                                       |no        |Debugging in mediation server web application|

|medsrv.dpd                                         |5m        |DPD timeout to use in mediation server plugin|

|medsrv.load                                        |          |Plugins to load in mediation server plugin|

|medsrv.password_length                             |6         |Minimum password length required for mediation server user accounts|

|medsrv.rekey                                       |20m       |Rekeying time on mediation connections in mediation server plugin|

|medsrv.socket                                      |          |Run Mediation server web application statically on socket|

|medsrv.threads                                     |5         |Number of thread for mediation service web application|

|medsrv.timeout                                     |15m       |Session timeout for mediation service|

|\3. *openac section*                               |

|openac.load                                        |          |Plugins to load in ipsec openac tool|

|\3. *pluto section*                                |

|pluto.dns1                                         |          |DNS server 1 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|pluto.dns2                                         |          |DNS server 2 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|pluto.load                                         |          |Plugins to load in ipsec pluto daemon|

|pluto.nbns1                                        |          |WINS server 1 assigned to peer via configuration payload (CP)|

|pluto.nbns2                                        |          |WINS server 2 assigned to peer via configu+ration payload (CP)|

|\3. *pool section*                                 |

|pool.load                                          |          |Plugins to load in ipsec pool tool|

|\3. *scepclient section*                           |

|scepclient.load                                    |          |Plugins to load in ipsec scepclient tool|