---
name: "iked"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "openiked"
version: "7.4-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/iked"
---

# iked(8)

Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) daemon

## NAME

**iked** – Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) daemon

## SYNOPSIS

**iked** \[**-dnSTtVv**\] \[**-D** *macro*=*value*\] \[**-f** *file*\] \[**-p** *udpencap\_port*\] \[**-s** *socket*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**iked** is an Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2) daemon which performs mutual authentication and which establishes and maintains IPsec flows and security associations (SAs) between the two peers.

The IKEv2 protocol is defined in RFC 7296, which combines and updates the previous standards: ISAKMP/Oakley (RFC 2408), IKE (RFC 2409), and the Internet DOI (RFC 2407). **iked** only supports the IKEv2 protocol; support for ISAKMP/Oakley and IKEv1 is provided by [isakmpd(8)](/isakmpd/8.md).

**iked** supports mutual authentication using RSA or ECDSA public keys and X.509 certificates. See the PUBLIC KEY AUTHENTICATION section below and PKI AND CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY COMMANDS in [ikectl(8)](/ikectl/8.md) for more information about creating and maintaining the public key infrastructure.

The options are as follows:

- **-D** *macro*=*value*

  Define *macro* to be set to *value* on the command line. Overrides the definition of *macro* in the configuration file.

- **-d**

  Do not daemonize and log to *stderr*.

- **-f** *file*

  Use *file* as the configuration file, instead of the default */etc/iked.conf*.

- **-n**

  Configtest mode. Only check the configuration file for validity.

- **-p** *udpencap\_port*

  Specify the listen port for encapsulated UDP that the daemon will bind to as well as the UDP encapsulation port set in resulting IPsec SAs. In order to receive UDP encapsulated IPsec packets on ports other than 4500, the *net.inet.esp.udpencap\_port* [sysctl(2)](/sysctl/2.md) variable has to be set accordingly. Implies -t.

- **-S**

  Start **iked** in passive mode. See the **set** **passive** option in [iked.conf(5)](/iked.conf/5.md) for more information.

- **-s** *socket*

  Use *socket* as the control socket, instead of the default */var/run/iked.sock*.

- **-T**

  Disable NAT-Traversal and do not propose NAT-Traversal support to the peers.

- **-t**

  Enforce NAT-Traversal and only listen to NAT-Traversal messages. This option is only recommended for testing; the default is to negotiate NAT-Traversal with the peers.

- **-V**

  Show the version and exit.

- **-v**

  Produce more verbose output.

## PUBLIC KEY AUTHENTICATION

It is possible to store trusted public keys to make them directly usable by **iked**, bypassing the need to use certificates. The keys should be saved in PEM format (see [openssl(1)](/openssl/1.md)) and named and stored as follows:

- For IPv4 identities:

  /etc/iked/pubkeys/ipv4/A.B.C.D

- For IPv6 identities:

  /etc/iked/pubkeys/ipv6/abcd:abcd::ab:bc

- For FQDN identities:

  /etc/iked/pubkeys/fqdn/foo.bar.org

- For UFQDN identities:

  /etc/iked/pubkeys/ufqdn/user@foo.bar.org

Depending on the **srcid** and **dstid** specifications in [iked.conf(5)](/iked.conf/5.md), keys may be named after their IPv4 address, IPv6 address, fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or user fully qualified domain name (UFQDN).

For example, **iked** can authenticate using the pre-generated keys if the local public key, by default */etc/iked/local.pub*, is copied to the remote gateway as */etc/iked/pubkeys/ipv4/local.gateway.ip.address* and the remote gateway's public key is copied to the local gateway as */etc/iked/pubkeys/ipv4/remote.gateway.ip.address*. Of course, new keys may also be generated (the user is not required to use the pre-generated keys). In this example, **srcid** and **dstid** would also have to be set to the specified addresses in [iked.conf(5)](/iked.conf/5.md).

## FILES

- */etc/iked.conf*

  The default **iked** configuration file.

- */etc/iked/ca/*

  The directory where CA certificates are kept.

- */etc/iked/certs/*

  The directory where IKE certificates are kept, both the local certificate(s) and those of the peers, if a choice to have them kept permanently has been made.

- */etc/iked/crls/*

  The directory where CRLs are kept.

- */etc/iked/private/*

  The directory where local private keys used for public key authentication are kept. The file *local.key* is used to store the local private key.

- */etc/iked/pubkeys/*

  The directory in which trusted public keys are kept. The keys must be named in the fashion described above.

- */var/run/iked.sock*

  The default **iked** control socket.

## SEE ALSO

[iked.conf(5)](/iked.conf/5.md), [ikectl(8)](/ikectl/8.md), [isakmpd(8)](/isakmpd/8.md)

## STANDARDS

C. Kaufman, P. Hoffman, Y. Nir, P. Eronen, and T. Kivinen, *Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2 (IKEv2)*, RFC 7296, October 2014.

## HISTORY

The **iked** program first appeared in OpenBSD 4.8.

## AUTHORS

The **iked** program was written by Reyk Floeter ⟨*reyk@openbsd.org*⟩.