VPN and Cryptographic Tunneling

Synopsis #

This chapter covers site-to-site virtual private networks (VPNs) and host-to-host cryptographic tunnels on OpenBSD. It focuses on IKEv2 using the base system iked(8) and the kernel IPsec stack ipsec(4) , with practical patterns for NAT traversal, selector design, and observability. It also shows a minimal pattern for WireGuard-style tunnels with the in-kernel interface wg(4) . Runtime management uses ikectl(8) , packet filtering is handled by pf.conf(5) and pfctl(8) , and link inspection uses tcpdump(8) . The encrypted interface for IPsec is enc(4) .

Use these patterns to interconnect sites over untrusted networks, to publish internal services across providers securely, or to replace legacy tunnels with modern cryptography.

Design Considerations #

Selectors and scope. Define traffic by networks (for example, 10.0.0.0/24 ↔ 10.20.0.0/24) rather than any. Keep selectors minimal and symmetric on both peers.
Authentication. Pre-shared key (PSK) is simplest for site-to-site. Certificates scale better and are preferred where third-party trust or revocation is needed.
NAT traversal. Permit UDP ports 500 and 4500 and protocol ESP on WAN. IKEv2 NAT-T is automatic when address translation is detected.
Routing. For routed sites, enable IPv4/IPv6 forwarding and add static routes (or dynamic routing inside the tunnel).
Performance. Prefer AES-GCM proposals to offload integrity to the cipher. Keep MTU and MSS in mind where encapsulation crosses constrained links.
Operations. Ensure time sync on all peers (for example, with ntpd(8) ). Log IKE and PF events during rollout.

Configuration #

The examples assume:

Site A WAN: 198.51.100.10, LAN: 10.0.0.0/24
Site B WAN: 203.0.113.10, LAN: 10.20.0.0/24

Adjust interface names and addresses to match your environment.

Baseline system settings (both sites) #

# printf '%s\n' \
    'net.inet.ip.forwarding=1' \
    'net.inet6.ip6.forwarding=1' \
    >> /etc/sysctl.conf
  # Enable L3 forwarding for routed traffic through the firewall/router

# sysctl net.inet.ip.forwarding=1 net.inet6.ip6.forwarding=1
  # Apply immediately

PF allowances for IKEv2 and ESP (both sites) #

Permit IKE (UDP 500/4500) and ESP on the WAN, and allow traffic between the protected subnets on the inside. Syntax is defined in pf.conf(5) .

## /etc/pf.conf — minimal allowances for IKEv2/IPsec

set skip on lo

wan     = "em0"           # adjust
lan_net = "{ 10.0.0.0/24, 10.20.0.0/24 }"

block all

# IKE and IPsec on the WAN
pass in on $wan proto udp to ($wan) port { 500, 4500 } keep state
pass in on $wan proto esp keep state
pass out on $wan proto { udp, esp } keep state

# Permit protected subnets after decryption
pass on enc0 from 10.0.0.0/24 to 10.20.0.0/24 keep state
pass on enc0 from 10.20.0.0/24 to 10.0.0.0/24 keep state

Reload and confirm with pfctl(8) .

# pfctl -f /etc/pf.conf
# pfctl -sr | egrep 'udp .* (500|4500)|proto esp|enc0'

Site-to-site IKEv2 with PSK #

Configuration is in iked.conf(5) . One side initiates (active), the other listens (passive). Proposals below use AES-GCM.

Site A (initiator) #

## /etc/iked.conf — Site A

ikev2 "s2s-a2b" active esp from 10.0.0.0/24 to 10.20.0.0/24 \
    peer 203.0.113.10 \
    ikesa enc aes-256-gcm prf sha256 group 14 \
    childsa enc aes-256-gcm \
    psk "change-this-shared-secret"

Site B (responder) #

## /etc/iked.conf — Site B

ikev2 "s2s-b2a" passive esp from 10.20.0.0/24 to 10.0.0.0/24 \
    ikesa enc aes-256-gcm prf sha256 group 14 \
    childsa enc aes-256-gcm \
    psk "change-this-shared-secret"

Enable and start iked(8) on both peers with rcctl(8) ):

# rcctl enable iked
  # Start at boot
# rcctl start iked
  # Launch now (initiator will dial the responder)

If either peer is behind NAT, IKEv2 will encapsulate ESP in UDP 4500 automatically (NAT-T). Ensure the upstream allows those ports.

Minimal WireGuard-style tunnel with wg(4) #

The wg(4) interface provides a compact, static-key tunnel. Keys are Curve25519; generate them per the wg(4) documentation and place the private key on each host (for example, /etc/wg/private.key). Interface attributes are set with ifconfig(8) .

Example: point-to-point /30 between hosts with inside addresses 10.99.0.1/30 (Site A) and 10.99.0.2/30 (Site B), UDP port 51820.

Site A #

# ifconfig wg0 create
  # Create the interface
# ifconfig wg0 inet 10.99.0.1/30
  # Assign inside address
# ifconfig wg0 wgport 51820
  # Listen on UDP/51820
# ifconfig wg0 wgkey `cat /etc/wg/private.key`
  # Load this host's private key
# ifconfig wg0 wgpeer <SITE_B_PUBLIC_KEY> wgendpoint 203.0.113.10 51820
  # Configure peer's public key and endpoint
# ifconfig wg0 wgpeer <SITE_B_PUBLIC_KEY> wgaip 10.99.0.2/32
  # Allowed-IPs for the peer (peer's inside address)
# route add -net 10.20.0.0/24 10.99.0.2
  # Route a remote LAN via the tunnel if needed

Site B #

# ifconfig wg0 create
# ifconfig wg0 inet 10.99.0.2/30
# ifconfig wg0 wgport 51820
# ifconfig wg0 wgkey `cat /etc/wg/private.key`
# ifconfig wg0 wgpeer <SITE_A_PUBLIC_KEY> wgendpoint 198.51.100.10 51820
# ifconfig wg0 wgpeer <SITE_A_PUBLIC_KEY> wgaip 10.99.0.1/32
# route add -net 10.0.0.0/24 10.99.0.1

Permit the WireGuard UDP port on each WAN and allow the inside prefixes on wg0 in PF as appropriate.

Verification #

IKEv2 state and flows with ikectl(8) :

$ ikectl show sa
  # IKE_SA and CHILD_SA state, SPIs, lifetimes
$ ikectl show flows
  # Traffic selectors currently installed

Encapsulated traffic on the wire with tcpdump(8) :

# tcpdump -ni em0 port 500 or port 4500 or proto esp
  # IKE_SA negotiation and ESP/NAT-T on the WAN
# tcpdump -ni enc0 host 10.20.0.50
  # Plaintext (post-decrypt) traffic on enc0 for IPsec
# tcpdump -ni em0 udp port 51820
  # WireGuard UDP transport

Path testing:

$ ping -n -c 3 10.20.0.1
  # From a host behind Site A to a host behind Site B (IKEv2)
$ ping -n -c 3 10.99.0.2
  # Between tunnel endpoints (WireGuard)

PF and routes:

$ pfctl -vvsr | egrep 'udp .* (500|4500)|proto esp|udp .* 51820'
  # Confirm allowances
$ netstat -rn | egrep '10\.99\.0\.|10\.20\.0\.'
  # Confirm inside/tunnel routes

Troubleshooting #

No IKE negotiation. Verify UDP 500/4500 reachability and that the responder is in passive mode. Inspect logs in /var/log/daemon for iked.
Selector mismatch. If one side uses 10.0.0.0/24 ↔ 10.20.0.0/24 and the other uses 10.0.0.0/24 ↔ 10.0.0.0/24, CHILD_SA will not install. Align from/to networks. Check ikectl show flows.
NAT or path asymmetry. Ensure upstreams carry UDP 4500 unchanged and that return traffic follows the same egress. For IPsec, enc0 rules should allow the protected subnets.
MTU black holes. If large transfers stall, clamp MSS on the WAN during testing in PF (scrub in max-mss ...) and refine after measuring path MTU.
Clock skew. Certificates and IKE lifetimes are time-sensitive. Ensure NTP is working with ntpd(8) .
WireGuard handshake fails. Confirm the correct public keys, matching wgport, reachable wgendpoint, and that each side has the other’s inside /32 as an allowed IP. Use ifconfig wg0 to view current peers and statistics.