Configure Keep-Alives And Dead Peer Detection; Configure Keep-Alives - NETGEAR UTM5 Reference Manual

Configure Keep-Alives and Dead Peer Detection

In some cases, you might not want a VPN tunnel to be disconnected when traffic is idle, for
example, when client-server applications over the tunnel cannot tolerate the tunnel
establishment time. If you require a VPN tunnel to remain connected, you can use the
keep-alive and Dead Peer Detection (DPD) features to prevent the tunnel from being
disconnected and to force a reconnection if the tunnel disconnects for any reason.
For DPD to function, the peer VPN device on the other end of the tunnel also needs to
support DPD. Keep-alive, though less reliable than DPD, does not require any support from
the peer device.

Configure Keep-Alives

The keep-alive feature maintains the IPSec SA by sending periodic ping requests to a host
across the tunnel and monitoring the replies.
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To configure the keep-alive feature on a configured VPN policy:
1. Select VPN > IPSec VPN > VPN Policies. The VPN Policies screen displays (see
Figure 173 on page 283).
2. In the List of VPN Policies table, click the Edit table button to the right of the VPN policy that
you want to edit. The Edit VPN Policy screen displays. (The following figure shows only the
top part of a UTM50 screen with the General section).
Figure 188.
ProSecure Unified Threat Management (UTM) Appliance
Virtual Private Networking Using IPSec Connections
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