IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

The IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option feature allows you to configure your router to query the liveliness of its Internet Key Exchange (IKE) peer at regular intervals. The benefit of this approach over the default approach (on-demand dead peer detection) is earlier detection of dead peers.

Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the feature information table.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to https://cfnng.cisco.com/. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Prerequisites for IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

Before configuring the IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option feature, you should have the following:

  • Familiarity with configuring IP Security (IPsec).

  • An IKE peer that supports DPD (dead peer detection). Implementations that support DPD include the Cisco VPN 3000 concentrator, Cisco PIX Firewall, Cisco VPN Client, and Cisco IOS XE software in all modes of operation--site-to-site and Easy VPN server.

Restrictions for IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

Using periodic DPD potentially allows the router to detect an unresponsive IKE peer with better response time when compared to on-demand DPD. However, use of periodic DPD incurs extra overhead. When communicating to large numbers of IKE peers, you should consider using on-demand DPD instead.

Information About IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

How DPD and Cisco IOS XE Keepalive Features Work

DPD and Cisco IOS XE keepalives function on the basis of the timer. If the timer is set for 10 seconds, the router will send a “hello” message every 10 seconds (unless, of course, the router receives a “hello” message from the peer). The benefit of IOS keepalives and periodic DPD is earlier detection of dead peers. However, IOS keepalives and periodic DPD rely on periodic messages that have to be sent with considerable frequency. The result of sending frequent messages is that the communicating peers must encrypt and decrypt more packets.

DPD also has an on-demand approach. The contrasting on-demand approach is the default. With on-demand DPD, messages are sent on the basis of traffic patterns. For example, if a router has to send outbound traffic and the liveliness of the peer is questionable, the router sends a DPD message to query the status of the peer. If a router has no traffic to send, it never sends a DPD message. If a peer is dead, and the router never has any traffic to send to the peer, the router will not find out until the IKE or IPsec security association (SA) has to be rekeyed (the liveliness of the peer is unimportant if the router is not trying to communicate with the peer). On the other hand, if the router has traffic to send to the peer, and the peer does not respond, the router will initiate a DPD message to determine the state of the peer.

Using the IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

With the IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option feature, you can configure your router so that DPD messages are “forced” at regular intervals. This forced approach results in earlier detection of dead peers. For example, if a router has no traffic to send, a DPD message is still sent at regular intervals, and if a peer is dead, the router does not have to wait until the IKE SA times out to find out.

If you want to configure the DPD periodic message option, you should use the crypto isakmp keepalive command with the periodic keyword. If you do not configure the periodic keyword, the router defaults to the on-demand approach.


Note

When the crypto isakmp keepalive command is configured, the Cisco IOS software negotiates the use of Cisco IOS keepalives or DPD, depending on which protocol the peer supports.

Using DPD and Cisco IOS XE Keepalive Featureswith Multiple Peers in the Crypto Map

DPD and Cisco IOS XE keepalive features can be used in conjunction with multiple peers in the crypto map to allow for stateless failover. DPD allows the router to detect a dead IKE peer, and when the router detects the dead state, the router deletes the IPsec and IKE SAs to the peer. If you configure multiple peers, the router will switch over to the next listed peer for a stateless failover.

How to Configure IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

Configuring a Periodic DPD Message

To configure a periodic DPD message, perform the following steps.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. configure terminal
  3. crypto isakmp keepalive seconds [retries ] [periodic | on-demand ]

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

enable

Example:


Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:


Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

crypto isakmp keepalive seconds [retries ] [periodic | on-demand ]

Example:


Router (config)# crypto isakmp keepalive 10 periodic

Allows the gateway to send DPD messages to the peer.

  • seconds --When the periodic keyword is used, this argument is the number of seconds between DPD messages; the range is from 10 to 3600 seconds.

When the on-demand keyword is used, this argument is the number of seconds during which traffic is not received from the peer before DPD retry messages are sent if there is data (IPSec) traffic to send; the range is from 10 to 3600 seconds.

Note 

If you do not specify a time interval, an error message appears.

  • retry-seconds --(Optional) Number of seconds between DPD retry messages if the DPD retry message is missed by the peer; the range is from 2 to 60 seconds.

Once 1 DPD message is missed by the peer, the router moves to a more aggressive state and sends the DPD retry message at the faster retry interval, which is the number of seconds between DPD retries if the DPD message is missed by the peer. The default DPD retry message is sent every 2 seconds. Five aggressive DPD retry messages can be missed before the tunnel is marked as down.

Note 

To configure DPD with IPsec High Availability (HA), the recommendation is to use a value other than the default (which is 2 seconds). A keepalive timer of 10 seconds with 5 retries seems to work well with HA because of the time that it takes for the router to get into active mode.

  • periodic --(Optional) DPD messages are sent at regular intervals.

  • on-demand --(Optional) The default behavior. DPD retries are sent on demand.

Note 

Because this option is the default, the on-demand keyword does not appear in configuration output.

Configuring DPD and Cisco IOS XE Keepalives with Multiple Peersin the Crypto Map

To configure DPD and IOS keepalives to be used in conjunction with the crypto map to allow for stateless failover, perform the following steps. This configuration will cause a router to cycle through the peer list when it detects that the first peer is dead.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. configure terminal
  3. crypto map map-name seq-num ipsec-isakmp
  4. set peer {host-name [dynamic ] | ip-address }
  5. set transform-set transform-set-name
  6. match address [access-list-id | name ]

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

enable

Example:


Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:


Router# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

crypto map map-name seq-num ipsec-isakmp

Example:


Router (config)# crypto map green 1 ipsec-isakmp

Enters crypto map configuration mode and creates or modifies a crypto map entry.

  • The ipsec-isakmp keyword indicates that IKE will be used to establish the IPsec SAs for protecting the traffic specified by this crypto map entry.

Step 4

set peer {host-name [dynamic ] | ip-address }

Example:


Router (config-crypto-map)# set peer 10.12.12.12

Specifies an IPsec peer in a crypto map entry.

  • You can specify multiple peers by repeating this command.

Step 5

set transform-set transform-set-name

Example:


Router (config-crypto-map)# set transform-set txfm

Specifies which transform sets can be used with the crypto map entry.

  • You can specify more than one transform set name by repeating this command.

Step 6

match address [access-list-id | name ]

Example:


Router (config-crypto-map)# match address 101

Specifies an extended access list for a crypto map entry.

Verifying That DPD Is Enabled

DPD allows the router to clear the IKE state when a peer becomes unreachable. If DPD is enabled and the peer is unreachable for some time, you can use the clear crypto session command to manually clear IKE and IPsec SAs.

The debug crypto isakmp command can be used to verify that DPD is enabled.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. clear crypto session [local ip-address [port local-port ]] [remote ip-address [port remote-port ]] | [fvrf vrf-name ] [ivrf vrf-name ]
  3. debug crypto isakmp

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose
Step 1

enable

Example:


Router> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

  • Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

clear crypto session [local ip-address [port local-port ]] [remote ip-address [port remote-port ]] | [fvrf vrf-name ] [ivrf vrf-name ]

Example:


Router# clear crypto session

Deletes crypto sessions (IPsec and IKE SAs).

Step 3

debug crypto isakmp

Example:


Router# debug crypto isakmp

Displays messages about IKE events.

Configuration Examples for IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

Site-to-Site Setup with Periodic DPD Enabled Example

The following configurations are for a site-to-site setup with periodic DPD enabled. The configurations are for the IKE Phase 1 policy and for the IKE preshared key.

IKE Phase 1 Policy


crypto isakmp policy 1
  encryption aes
  authentication pre-share
  group 14
!

IKE Preshared Key


crypto isakmp key kd94j1ksldz address 10.2.80.209 255.255.255.0
crypto isakmp keepalive 10 periodic
crypto ipsec transform-set Trans1 esp-aes esp-sha-hmac

!
!
interface 
  ip address 10.1.32.14 255.255.255.0
  speed auto
  
!

Verifying DPD Configuration Using the debug crypto isakmp Command Example

The following sample output from the debug crypto isakmp command verifies that IKE DPD is enabled: 


*Mar 25 15:17:14.131: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):IKE_DPD is enabled, initializing timers

To see that IKE DPD is enabled (and that the peer supports DPD): when periodic DPD is enabled, you should see the following debug messages at the interval specified by the command: 


*Mar 25 15:18:52.107: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:18:52.107: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node 899852982 *Mar 25 15:18:52.111: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_IM_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:18:52.111: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE

The above message corresponds to sending the DPD R_U_THERE message. 


*Mar 25 15:18:52.123: ISAKMP (0:268435457): received packet from 10.2.80.209 
dport 500 sport 500 Global (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:18:52.123: ISAKMP: set new node -443923643 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:18:52.131: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): processing HASH payload. message ID = 
-443923643
*Mar 25 15:18:52.131: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): processing NOTIFY R_U_THERE_ACK protocol 1
	spi 0, message ID = -443923643, sa = 81BA4DD4
*Mar 25 15:18:52.135: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): DPD/R_U_THERE_ACK received from peer 
10.2.80.209, sequence 0x9
*Mar 25 15:18:52.135: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -443923643 error FALSE 
reason "informational (in) state 1"
*Mar 25 15:18:52.135: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_PEER, IKE_INFO_NOTIFY *Mar 25 15:18:52.135: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE

The above message corresponds to receiving the acknowledge (ACK) message from the peer. 


Router#
*Mar 25 15:47:35.335: ISAKMP: set new node -90798077 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:47:35.343: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:47:35.343: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node -90798077 *Mar 25 15:47:35.347: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_IM_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:47:35.347: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE
*Mar 25 15:47:36.611: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node 1515050537 *Mar 25 15:47:37.343: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):incrementing error counter on sa: 
PEERS_ALIVE_TIMER
*Mar 25 15:47:37.343: ISAKMP: set new node -1592471565 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:47:37.351: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:47:37.351: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node -1592471565 *Mar 25 15:47:37.355: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_PEERS_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:47:37.355: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE
*Mar 25 15:47:39.355: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):incrementing error counter on sa: 
PEERS_ALIVE_TIMER
*Mar 25 15:47:39.355: ISAKMP: set new node 1758739401 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:47:39.363: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:47:39.363: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node 1758739401 *Mar 25 15:47:39.367: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_PEERS_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:47:39.367: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE
*Mar 25 15:47:41.367: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):incrementing error counter on sa: 
PEERS_ALIVE_TIMER
*Mar 25 15:47:41.367: ISAKMP: set new node 320258858 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:47:41.375: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:47:41.379: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node 320258858 *Mar 25 15:47:41.379: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_PEERS_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:47:41.379: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE
*Mar 25 15:47:43.379: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):incrementing error counter on sa: 
PEERS_ALIVE_TIMER
*Mar 25 15:47:43.379: ISAKMP: set new node -744493014 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:47:43.387: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:47:43.387: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node -744493014 *Mar 25 15:47:43.391: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_PEERS_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:47:43.391: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_P1_COMPLETE
*Mar 25 15:47:45.391: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):incrementing error counter on sa: 
PEERS_ALIVE_TIMER
*Mar 25 15:47:45.391: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):peer 10.2.80.209 not responding! *Mar 25 15:47:45.391: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):peer does not do paranoid keepalives.
*Mar 25 15:47:45.391: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting SA reason "peers alive" state 
(I) QM_IDLE       (peer 10.2.80.209) input queue 0
*Mar 25 15:47:45.395: ISAKMP: Unlocking IPSEC struct 0x81E5C4E8 from 
delete_siblings, count 0
*Mar 25 15:47:45.395: %CRYPTO-5-SESSION_STATUS: Crypto tunnel is DOWN.  Peer 
10.2.80.209:500       Id: 10.2.80.209
*Mar 25 15:47:45.399: ISAKMP: set new node -2061951065 to QM_IDLE *Mar 25 15:47:45.411: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2): sending packet to 10.2.80.209 my_port 
500 peer_port 500 (I) QM_IDLE
*Mar 25 15:47:45.411: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):purging node -2061951065 *Mar 25 15:47:45.411: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_TIMER, 
IKE_TIMER_PEERS_ALIVE
*Mar 25 15:47:45.411: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_P1_COMPLETE  New State = 
IKE_DEST_SA
*Mar 25 15:47:45.415: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting SA reason "peers alive" state 
(I) QM_IDLE       (peer 10.2.80.209) input queue 0
*Mar 25 15:47:45.415: ISAKMP: Unlocking IKE struct 0x81E5C4E8 for 
isadb_mark_sa_deleted(), count 0
*Mar 25 15:47:45.415: ISAKMP: Deleting peer node by peer_reap for 10.2.80.209: 
81E5C4E8
*Mar 25 15:47:45.415: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -1067612752 error TRUE 
reason "peers alive"
*Mar 25 15:47:45.415: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -114443536 error TRUE 
reason "peers alive"
*Mar 25 15:47:45.419: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node 2116015069 error TRUE 
reason "peers alive"
*Mar 25 15:47:45.419: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -1981865558 error TRUE 
reason "peers alive"
*Mar 25 15:47:45.419: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_INTERNAL, IKE_PHASE1_DEL *Mar 25 15:47:45.419: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_DEST_SA  New State = 
IKE_DEST_SA
*Mar 25 15:47:45.419: ISAKMP: received ke message (4/1)
*Mar 25 15:47:45.419: ISAKMP: received ke message (3/1)
*Mar 25 15:47:45.423: ISAKMP: ignoring request to send delete notify (no ISAKMP 
sa) src 10.1.32.14 dst 10.2.80.209 for SPI 0x3A7B69BF
*Mar 25 15:47:45.423: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting SA reason "" state (I) 
MM_NO_STATE (peer 10.2.80.209) input queue 0
*Mar 25 15:47:45.423: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -1067612752 error FALSE 
reason ""
*Mar 25 15:47:45.423: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -114443536 error FALSE 
reason ""
*Mar 25 15:47:45.423: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node 2116015069 error FALSE 
reason ""
*Mar 25 15:47:45.427: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):deleting node -1981865558 error FALSE 
reason ""
*Mar 25 15:47:45.427: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Input = IKE_MESG_FROM_PEER, IKE_MM_EXCH *Mar 25 15:47:45.427: ISAKMP:(0:1:HW:2):Old State = IKE_DEST_SA  New State = 
IKE_DEST_SA

The above message shows what happens when the remote peer is unreachable. The router sends one DPD R_U_THERE message and four retransmissions before it finally deletes the IPsec and IKE SAs.

DPD and Cisco IOS XE Keepalives Used in Conjunction with Multiple Peers in a Crypto Map Example

The following example shows that DPD and Cisco IOS XE keepalives are used in conjunction with multiple peers in a crypto map configuration when IKE will be used to establish the security associations (SAs). In this example, an SA could be set up to the IPsec peer at 10.0.0.1, 10.0.0.2, or 10.0.0.3. 


crypto isakmp keepalive 10 periodic
crypto map green 1 ipsec-isakmp
  set peer 10.0.0.1
  set peer 10.0.0.2
  set peer 10.0.0.3
  set transform-set txfm
  match address 101

Additional References

The following sections provide references related to IPsec Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option.

Related Documents

Related Topic

Document Title

Configuring IPsec

Configuring Security for VPNs with IPsec

IPsec commands

Cisco IOS Security Command Reference

Standards

Standards

Title

No new or modified standards are supported by this feature, and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature.

--

MIBs

MIBs

MIBs Link

No new or modified MIBs are supported by this feature, and support for existing MIBs has not been modified by this feature.

To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

http://www.cisco.com/go/mibs

RFCs

RFCs

Title

DPD conforms to the Internet draft “draft-ietf-ipsec-dpd-04.txt,” which is pending publication as an Informational RFC (a number has not yet been assigned).

--

Technical Assistance

Description

Link

The Cisco Support website provides extensive online resources, including documentation and tools for troubleshooting and resolving technical issues with Cisco products and technologies.

To receive security and technical information about your products, you can subscribe to various services, such as the Product Alert Tool (accessed from Field Notices), the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds.

Access to most tools on the Cisco Support website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport

Feature Information for Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Table 1. Feature Information for Dead Peer Detection

Feature Name

Releases

Feature Information

Dead Peer Detection Periodic Message Option

Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1

This feature allows you to configure your router to query the liveliness of its IKE peer at regular intervals. The benefit of this approach over the default approach (on-demand dead peer detection) is earlier detection of dead peers.

The following command was introduced or modified: crypto isakmp keepalive .