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=head1 NAME |
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vpe - Overview of the virtual private ethernet suite. |
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=head1 DESCRIPTION |
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Vpe is a suite designed to provide a virtual private network for multiple |
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nodes over an untrusted network. |
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"Virtual" means that no physical network is created (of course), but an |
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ethernet is emulated by creating multiple tunnels between the member |
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nodes. |
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"Private" means that non-participating nodes cannot decode ("sniff)" nor |
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inject ("spoof") packets. |
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In the case of vpe, even participating nodes cannot sniff packets send to |
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other nodes or spoof packets as if sent from other nodes. |
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"Network" means that more than two parties can participate in the |
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network, so for instance it's possible to connect multiple branches of a |
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company into a single network. Many so-called "vpn" solutions only create |
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point-to-point tunnels. |
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=head2 DESIGN GOALS |
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=over 4 |
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=item SIMPLE DESIGN |
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Cipher, HMAC algorithms and other key parameters must be selected |
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at compile time - this makes it possible to only link in algorithms |
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you actually need. It also makes the crypto part of the source very |
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transparent and easy to inspect. |
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=item EASY TO SETUP |
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A few lines of config (the config file is shared unmodified between all |
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hosts) and a single run of C<vpectrl> to generate the keys suffices to |
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make it work. |
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=item MAC-BASED SECURITY |
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Since every host has it's own private key, other hosts cannot spoof |
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traffic from this host. That makes it possible to filter packest by MAC |
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address, e.g. to ensure that packets from a specific IP address come, in |
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fact, from a specific host. |
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=back |
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=head1 PROGRAMS |
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Vpe comes with two programs: one daemon (C<vped>) and one control program |
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(C<vpectrl>). |
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=over 4 |
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=item vpectrl |
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Is used to generate the keys, check and give an overview of of the |
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configuration and contorl the daemon (restarting etc.). |
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=item vped |
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Is the daemon used to establish and maintain conenctions to the other |
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network members. It should be run on the gateway machine. |
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=back |
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=head1 COMPILETIME CONFIGURATION |
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Here are a few recipes for compiling your vpe: |
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=head2 AS LOW PACKET OVERHEAD AS POSSIBLE |
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./configure --enable-hmac-length=4 --enable-rand-length=0 |
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Minimize the header overhead of VPN packets (the above will result in only |
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4 bytes of overhead over the raw ethernet frame). |
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=head2 MINIMIZE CPU TIME REQUIRED |
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./configure --enable-cipher=bf --enable-digest=md4 |
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Use the fastest cipher and digest algorithms currently available in vpe. |
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=head2 MAXIMIZE SECURITY |
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./configure --enable-hmac-length=16 --enable-rand-length=8 --enable-digest=sha1 |
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This uses a 16 byte HMAC checksum to authenticate packets (I guess 8-12 |
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would also be pretty secure ;) and will additionally prefix each packet |
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with 8 bytes of random data. |
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In general, remember that AES-128 seems to be more secure and faster than |
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AES-192 or AES-256, more randomness helps against sniffing and a longer |
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HMAC helps against spoofing. MD4 is a fast digest, SHA1 or RIPEMD160 are |
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better, and Blowfish is a fast cipher (and also quite secure). |
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=head1 HOW TO SET UP A SIMPLE VPN |
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In this section I will describe how to get a simple VPN consisting of |
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three hosts up and running. |
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=head2 STEP 1: configuration |
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First you have to create a daemon configuation file and put it into the |
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configuration directory. This is usually C</etc/vpe>, depending on how you |
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configured vpe, and can be overwritten using the C<-c> commandline switch. |
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Put the following lines into C</etc/vpe/vped.conf>: |
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udp-port = 50000 # the external port to listen on (configure your firewall) |
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mtu = 1400 # minimum MTU of all outgoing interfaces on all hosts |
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ifname = vpn0 # the local network device name |
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node = first # just a nickname |
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hostname = first.example.net # the DNS name or IP address of the host |
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node = second |
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hostname = 133.55.82.9 |
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node = third |
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hostname = third.example.net |
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The only other file neccessary if the C<if-up> script that initializes the |
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local ethernet interface. Put the following lines into C</etc/vpe/if-up> |
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and make it execute (C<chmod 755 /etc/vpe/if-up>): |
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#!/bin/sh |
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ip link set $IFNAME address $MAC mtu $MTU up |
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[ $NODENAME = first ] && ip addr add 10.0.1.1 dev $IFNAME |
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[ $NODENAME = second ] && ip addr add 10.0.2.1 dev $IFNAME |
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[ $NODENAME = third ] && ip addr add 10.0.3.1 dev $IFNAME |
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ip route add 10.0.0.0/16 dev $IFNAME |
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This script will give each node a different IP address in the C<10.0/16> |
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network. The internal network (e.g. the C<eth0> interface) should then be |
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set to a subset of that network, e.g. C<10.0.1.0/24> on node C<first>, |
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C<10.0.2.0/24> on node C<second>, and so on. |
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By enabling routing on the gateway host that runs C<vped> all nodes will |
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be able to reach the other nodes. You can, of course, also use proxy arp |
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or other means of pseudo-bridging (or even real briding), or (best) full |
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routing - the choice is yours. |
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=head2 STEP 2: create the RSA key pairs for all hosts |
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Run the following command to generate all key pairs (that might take a |
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while): |
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vpectrl -c /etc/vpe -g |
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This command will put the public keys into C<< |
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/etc/vpe/pubkeys/I<nodename> >> and the private keys into C<< |
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/etc/vpe/hostkeys/I<nodename> >>. |
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=head2 STEP 3: distribute the config files to all nodes |
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Now distribute the config files to the other nodes. This should be done in two steps, since the |
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private keys should not be distributed. The example uses rsync-over-ssh |
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First all the config files without the hostkeys should be distributed: |
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rsync -avzessh /etc/vpe first.example.net:/etc/. --exclude hostkeys |
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rsync -avzessh /etc/vpe 133.55.82.9:/etc/. --exclude hostkeys |
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rsync -avzessh /etc/vpe third.example.net:/etc/. --exclude hostkeys |
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Then the hostkeys should be copied: |
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rsync -avzessh /etc/vpe/hostkeys/first first.example.net:/etc/hostkey |
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rsync -avzessh /etc/vpe/hostkeys/second 133.55.82.9:/etc/hostkey |
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rsync -avzessh /etc/vpe/hostkeys/third third.example.net:/etc/hostkey |
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You should now check the configration by issuing the command C<vpectrl -c |
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/etc/vpe -s> on each node and verify it's output. |
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=head2 STEP 4: starting vped |
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You should then start vped on each node by issuing a command like: |
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vped -D -linfo first # first is the nodename |
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This will make the vped stay in foreground. You should then see |
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"connection established" messages. If you don't see them check your |
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firewall and routing (use tcpdump ;). |
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If this works you should check your networking setup by pinging various |
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endpoints. |
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To make vped run more permanently you can either run it as a daemon |
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(by starting it without the C<-D> switch), or, much better, from your |
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inittab. I use a line like this on my systems: |
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t1:2345:respawn:/opt/vpe/sbin/vped -D -L first >/dev/null 2>&1 |
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=head2 STEP 5: enjoy |
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... and play around. Sending a -HUP (C<vpectrl -kHUP>) to the daemon |
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will make it try to connect to all other nodes again. If you run it from |
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inittab, as is recommended, C<vpectrl -k> (or simply C<killall vped>) will |
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kill the daemon, start it again, making it read it's configuration files |
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again. |
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=head1 SEE ALSO |
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vpe(5), vped.conf(5), vpectrl(8). |
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=head1 AUTHOR |
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Marc Lehmann <vpe@plan9.de> |
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