xsadb is a Tcl/TK X11 graphical interface for the managing the security association database (SADB). xsadb can be used to monitor, add, and delete security associations (SAs) in the SADB. This document provides screen shots of the xsadb utility and its menus along with brief instructions on how to use it.
The right hand list box contains a scrollable listing of all of the SAs. The left hand side of xsadb shows the parameters of the specific SA that is highlighted (by clicking on the SA) on the right hand side. Refer to sadb.n for a complete description of each of the fields.
The
The Authentication Algorithm menu provides a list of the possible authentication algorithms that can be used with either ESP or AH to provide authentication.
The Crypto Algorithm menu provides a list of the possible encryption algorithms that can be used with either ESP to provide confidentiality.
When xsadb is started it loads and displays all of the SAs currently in the kernel SADB. xsadb will also re-load and display the current SAs when any changes are made to the SADB using xsadb or by clicking the Refresh button at the bottom of the window. Refresh is particularly useful when SAs are added by PlutoPlus or the manual sadb command.
Flush
The Flush button deletes all of the SAs in the sadb and is equivalent
to the
Delete
Highlighting an SA and clicking the Delete button will delete the SA from the SADB.
Add
Adding an SA with xsadb is a little bit tricky and has some short-comings that will hopefully disappear in a future version. First you should click on the Clear button to clear most of the SA parameters. Some defaults will remain (e.g. flag settings, prefix length) however most of these can be changed. Then you simply enter in the SA parameters and click the Add button. In each of the algorithm sections, there is a button with a key on it. By clicking this button, xsadb will generate a random key of the appropriate size.
A failure will result in no SA being added and everything you typed will disappear. A success will result in the SA showing up in the right hand list. A future version will have a separate pop-up window for adding SAs that will retain information in the case of a failure and will provide diagnostics resulting from errors. For now, it may prove easier to use the File menu to Save the SADB to a file, modify the file using your favorite editor (adding new SAs or changing existing ones), and Load in the new SADB after doing a Flush.
File
The File menu provides options to save and load SAs or the entire SADB
to an executable file.
View
The View menu is mostly just a place holder for future expansion. It currently contains to options, Clear and Refresh, that duplicate the functionality of the Clear and Refresh buttons at the bottom of the window.
Operations
The Operations menu contains duplicates for the Add, Delete, and Flush
buttons. It also has to additional functions. The
The System IPsec Policy Settings menu allows a user to set system traffic policy for both inbound and outbound packets. The most common settings are IPsec & NULL SAs and All Traffic (default). See the section on System Policy Management on the Cerberus page for more information regarding these settings.
When the Automatic updates box is checked, xsadb will periodically and automatically do a refresh and reload the SADB. This is particularly useful when PlutoPlus is running and users want to monitor the dynamic adding, deleting, and re-keying of SAs. It is recommended to turn this feature off (default) before trying to use xsadb to add an SA. If Automatic updates are on, the new SA information will be cleared when xsadb does an automatic refresh.
Preferences
By default, IP addresses are displayed in xsadb instead of host names. The Preferences menu contains a checkbox that enables xsadb to display host names instead of IP addresses. If no host name exists for an IP address, the address is displayed instead. Because host name string lengths have less length constraints than IP addresses, the right hand side of xsadb will not be formatted correctly when Show Host Names is checked.
The Preferences menu also allows users to set the Auto update interval. By default this is set to 5 seconds. This is the interval that determines how often xsadb automatically refreshes itself when Automatic updates is turned on.
Disclaimer
xsadb is not a particularly well written piece of Tcl/Tk code. It was primarily used by the authors to learn Tcl/TK. As a result, there may be some bugs, and the Add function is weak. If you do find any bugs, please report them to ipsec-dev@antd.nist.gov Feel free to also send suggestions for future releases.
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