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General configuration steps

The FortiGate units at both ends of the tunnel must be operating in NAT mode and have static public IP addresses.

When a FortiGate unit receives a connection request from a remote VPN peer, it uses IPsec Phase 1 parameters to establish a secure connection and authenticate that VPN peer. Then, if the security policy permits the connection, the FortiGate unit establishes the tunnel using IPsec Phase 2 parameters and applies the IPsec security policy. Key management, authentication, and security services are negotiated dynamically through the IKE protocol.

To support these functions, the following general configuration steps must be performed by both FortiGate units:

• Define the Phase 1 parameters that the FortiGate unit needs to authenticate the remote peer and establish a secure connection.
• Define the Phase 2 parameters that the FortiGate unit needs to create a VPN tunnel with the remote peer.
• Create security policies to control the permitted services and permitted direction of traffic between the IP source and destination addresses.