Create an IPsec Profile

1. Select ConfigurationPrisma SD-WANProfiles and Templates and then select IPSec.
2. To add a new IPsec Profile, click Add IPsec Profile.

   If there are previously created IPsec profiles, these will display.
3. On the Info screen, enter a name for the IPsec Profile and (optional) enter a description and tags.
4. Click Next and proceed to define the IKE Group.

   1. For the Key Exchange field, select IKEv1 or IKEv2.
   2. Enter a life time for the IKE Group from the Lifetime drop-down if required.
      The default lifetime of an IKE Group is 24 hours. The tunnel will have to be re-established after the life time expires.
   3. Enter the port number of the communication port in the Port field.
      The default port is 500. The port number configured in the IKE group has to be the same as the port number configured in the standard VPN endpoint IKE group.
   4. Select the mode of operation from the Mode drop-down.
      IKEv2 – ReAuth: When selected, a new tunnel is re-negotiated when the lifetime is reached. For NAT traversal and multi-tunnel scenarios, use IKEv2 with NAT-T, which supports these configurations securely.
      IKEv1 – Main: Standard IKEv1 negotiation mode. Recommended for IKEv1 deployments where neither NAT nor multiple tunnels to the same remote endpoint are involved.
      Compatibility Note (Legacy Peers Only) IKEv1 Aggressive Mode is available for interoperability with legacy peers that do not support IKEv2. It is not recommended for production deployments — Aggressive Mode transmits the pre-shared key hash in cleartext, making it vulnerable to offline brute-force attacks. If your source interface or endpoint is behind NAT, or you have multiple tunnels to the same remote endpoint, migrate to IKEv2 with NAT-T instead.
   5. On the Proposals screen, select a DH Group, Encryption and Hash.
      Proposals is a list of crypto parameters to be used to secure the IKE and ESP sessions between the ION device and the endpoint.
      The set of parameters selected in the Proposals screen have to be identical to the set of parameters selected for the standard VPN endpoint. You can add a proposal by clicking Add Proposal. Up to 8 proposals can be added. While establishing the IPsec tunnel, the system checks for a proposal match with the standard VPN endpoint.
      • DH Group—The Diffie-Hellman (DH) group is used for certain cryptographic operations. Prisma SD-WAN supports the DH groups specified by IKE.
      • Encryption— Select one of the cryptographic algorithms for encryption. The ION devices encrypt and decrypt traffic based on the algorithm that you choose.
        Only IKEv2 supports the AES-GCM algorithms.
      • HASH/PRF—Select the cryptographic hash function.
        If you have selected AES-GCM as the Encryption, then the value entered for HASH/PRFwill be used as PRF.
        If you select any algorithm other than GCM, Hash must be selected. For GCM, Prisma SD-WAN supports only two PRF algorithms— SHA-256 and SHA-512.
   6. Select if Dead Peer Detection (DPD) is to be enabled from the DPD tab.
      If enabled, enter the DPD delay and DPD timeout in seconds for IKEv1. If DPD fails within the configured timeout period, a new tunnel is attempted. For IKEv2, there is no DPD timeout; instead a series of 5 retransmissions is used.
   7. (Optional) To configure Additional Key Exchanges using RFC 9370, a more advanced quantum-resistant approach that provides cryptographic agility through multiple rounds of hybrid key exchanges, enable Post-Quantum Key Exchange.
      When enabled, you can configure up to 7 additional key exchange rounds (Round 1 through Round 7). For each round, you can select up to 8 algorithms that combine classical and post-quantum algorithms. This hybrid approach protects your VPN tunnels against future quantum computer attacks. For maximum quantum resistance, combine Additional Key Exchanges with PPK (RFC 8784) for defense-in-depth protection.
      Supported PQC algorithms include ML-KEM-512, ML-KEM-768, and ML-KEM-1024. You can also select classical algorithms (MODP-1024, MODP-1536, MODP-2048, ECP-256, ECP-384) or select None to skip a round.
      For most deployments, ML-KEM-768 is recommended as it provides strong security with reasonable performance. Use ML-KEM-1024 for high-security environments that require maximum protection against quantum attacks. ML-KEM-512 offers faster performance with lower security and is suitable for less sensitive data.
      IKEv2 fragmentation is automatically enabled when you enable Additional Key Exchanges to handle the larger key sizes required by PQC algorithms.
5. Click Next and proceed to define the ESP Group.

   1. Enter a life time for the ESP Group from the Lifetime drop-down if required.
      The default lifetime of an ESP Group is 24 hours.
   2. Choose the type of encapsulation from the Encapsulation drop-down.
      You can choose Auto or Force UDP. The type of encapsulation selected has to match the encapsulation configured at the standard VPN endpoint.
   3. Configure parameters in the Proposal tab, and then click Next.
   4. (Optional) If you enabled Additional Key Exchanges in the IKE Group, you can also configure Additional Key Exchanges for the ESP Group using the same algorithm options.
      Unlike the IKE Group which allows multiple algorithms per round, the ESP Group supports only one algorithm per round.
6. On the Authentication screen, select the authentication type as either PSK or Certificates from the Type drop-down.

   • For PSK authentication:
     1. Enter a secret in the Secret field.
        This field is mandatory.
     2. For the Local ID Type, choose between Interface IP Address, Hostname or Custom.
     3. Enter an optional ID for the standard VPN endpoint in the Remote ID field.
   • For Certificate authentication:
     1. For the Certificate field, upload the certificate by clicking Import File.
     2. Similarly upload a CA certificate in the Local CA Certificate field and a private key file in the Private Key field.
     3. (Optional) You can choose to upload the standard VPN endpoint CA certificate in the Remote CA Certificate field.
7. (Optional) To configure a Post-Quantum Pre-shared Key (PPK), the recommended first step for quantum resistance using RFC 8784, enable PQ-PPK on the Authentication screen.

   PPK is the easiest way to introduce quantum resistance to your VPN connections. It provides an out-of-band quantum-resistant secret that is mixed with the classical Diffie-Hellman key material to protect against "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" attacks. PPK adds virtually no latency and consumes no extra network resources. You can combine PPK with Additional Key Exchanges (RFC 9370) for defense-in-depth protection.

   1. For PPK KeyID, enter an identifier for the pre-shared key. This identifier is transmitted during IKE negotiation to locate the matching PPK on both peers.
   2. For PPK Secret, enter a quantum-resistant pre-shared secret or click Generate to create one automatically.
      The secret must be between 64 and 512 hexadecimal characters (32 to 256 bytes), using hexadecimal format only (0–9, A–F). If you use the Generate button, the generated secret is between 32 and 128 bytes in multiples of 8 bytes. For strong quantum resistance, use a minimum of 32 bytes (64 hexadecimal characters) for 128 bits of post-quantum security. For maximum protection, use 128 bytes (256 hexadecimal characters) for 256 bits of post-quantum security.
      The PPK Secret must be configured identically on both VPN peers. The secret is never transmitted over the network and must be shared out-of-band using a secure method such as encrypted email or centralized management.
   3. For PPK Mode, select:
      • Mandatory—The tunnel is established only if both peers support PPK and have matching PPK KeyID and Secret. If PPK cannot be used, the connection fails.
      • Preferred—The tunnel prefers to use PPK but falls back to standard IKEv2 if the remote peer does not support PPK or if the PPK KeyID does not match.

   You can also configure a per-servicelink PPK secret directly on a Standard VPN interface, independently of the IPsec profile-level PPK. This lets different tunnels on the same profile use different PPK secrets. The per-interface PPK takes precedence over the profile PPK when both are configured. To configure per-interface PPK, navigate to the Standard VPN interface settings under Authentication → PPK. This feature requires ION device software version 6.8.1 or later and IKEv2 profile. The controller blocks this configuration with an error on older ION versions.
8. Click Next to proceed to the Summary screen.
9. Review the parameters selected and click Save and Exit.

   All new customer tenants should have the default IPsec profiles allocated which match the best practices of some of our cloud partners. These default profiles can be copied and manipulated to meet the needs specific to standard VPN services. If these default profiles are not present on your tenant, open a support case to have them allocated.
10. After you assign the IPsec profile to a Standard VPN interface, verify that quantum-resistant cryptography is active.

    Use the CLI command dump ipsecprofiles profile=<profile-name> to verify your PQC configuration. The output displays the following quantum-resistant settings:

    • IKE Additional Key Exchanges—Shows up to 7 rounds of hybrid key exchange algorithms (ADDKE1 through ADDKE7). Each round can specify a post-quantum algorithm (mlkem512, mlkem768, mlkem1024) or classical algorithm (ecp256, ecp384, modp1024, modp1536, modp2048).
    • ESP Additional Key Exchanges—Shows up to 7 rounds of additional key exchanges for the ESP Child SA (ADDKE1 through ADDKE7).
    • PPK—Shows Post-Quantum Pre-shared Key configuration with negotiation mode (preferred or mandatory) and key identifier. The mode determines whether the VPN tunnel can fall back to standard IKEv2 if the peer does not support PPK. The key identifier must match exactly on both VPN peers.

    Use dump servicelink status <interface-name> or dump interface status <interface-name> to verify the active tunnel uses the configured quantum-resistant algorithms. The active tunnel output displays algorithms in a different notation format (/KE1_ML_KEM_768) than the configuration (ADDKE1=mlkem768).

    For detailed command syntax and example outputs, see dump ipsecprofiles and dump servicelink status in the ION CLI Reference.