Redirect Mechanism for the Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2 (IKEv2)
RFC 5685

Network Working Group                                     V. Devarapalli
Request for Comments: 5685                                      WiChorus
Category: Standards Track                                     K. Weniger
                                                            Unaffiliated
                                                           November 2009

                        Redirect Mechanism for
          the Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2 (IKEv2)

Abstract

   The Internet Key Exchange Protocol version 2 (IKEv2) is a protocol
   for setting up Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnels from a remote
   location to a gateway so that the VPN client can access services in
   the network behind the gateway.  This document defines an IKEv2
   extension that allows an overloaded VPN gateway or a VPN gateway that
   is being shut down for maintenance to redirect the VPN client to
   attach to another gateway.  The proposed mechanism can also be used
   in Mobile IPv6 to enable the home agent to redirect the mobile node
   to another home agent.

Status of This Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2009 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this

Devarapalli & Weniger       Standards Track                     [Page 1]
RFC 5685                     IKEv2 Redirect                November 2009

   material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
   modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
   Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
   the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
   outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
   not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
   it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
   than English.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Terminology .....................................................3
   3. IKEv2 Initial Exchange with Redirect ............................3
   4. Use of Anycast Addresses with the Redirect Mechanism ............5
   5. Redirect during an Active Session ...............................6
   6. Redirect during IKE_AUTH Exchange ...............................7
   7. Handling Redirect Loops .........................................8
   8. Using the Redirect Mechanism with Mobile IPv6 ...................8
   9. Redirect Messages ...............................................9
      9.1. REDIRECT_SUPPORTED .........................................9
      9.2. REDIRECT ..................................................10
      9.3. REDIRECTED_FROM ...........................................11
   10. Use of the Redirect Mechanism between IKEv2 Peers .............12
   11. Security Considerations .......................................12
   12. IANA Considerations ...........................................13
   13. Acknowledgements ..............................................13
   14. References ....................................................14
      14.1. Normative References .....................................14
      14.2. Informative References ...................................14

1.  Introduction

   IKEv2 [2] is used for setting up IPsec-based [7] VPNs.  The IP
   address of the VPN gateway can be configured on the VPN client.  But
   this does not scale well when the number of VPN gateways is large.
   Dynamic discovery of VPN gateways using DNS is quite widely used too.
   However, using DNS is not flexible when it comes to assigning a VPN
   gateway to the VPN client based on the load on the VPN gateways.  The